Updating Ethnicity and Language Sources for PLASC

For the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC), schools are required to record not only a pupil's Ethnicity and First Language but also the Source of that information.

This guide explains why this data is required and how to update it efficiently using our bulk update tools.

Permissions

• Student Profile: Identity: Administer All Students - Lets you update student Ethnicity and Language Sources in bulk
• Student Profile: Identity: Administer All/My Students - Lets you update Ethnicity and Language Sources from student profiles.

If you don't have the relevant permissions, ask your admin team to give you permission using these instructions.
 

Why do I need to update the source?

The Welsh Government requires schools to declare how they obtained demographic data. It is not enough to report that a pupil is "Welsh" or speaks "English"; you must indicate whether this information was:

• Provided by the parent
• Provided by the child
• Ascribed by a previous school (a CTF would have transferred this).
• Ascribed by the current school (only used in rare specific circumstances).

If the Ethnicity Source or Language Source fields are left blank, your PLASC return will trigger validation errors that must be resolved before submission.
 

How do I update Language and Ethnicity Sources

Method 1: Bulk Updating (Recommended)

Arbor has a dedicated Bulk Update functionality to give you better visibility of these specific fields. This is the fastest way to check and fix missing sources for the whole school or specific year groups.

• Step 1: Access the Bulk Update page
   
  • Go to School > Data > Data Quality > Students > Demographics > Bulk Update Basic Details
    
    

• Step 2: Review the Data. On this page, you will see a list of students. We have added two specific columns for this task:

  • Ethnicity Source
  • Language Source

  You can quickly scan these columns to see which students have "Not set" or blank entries.
   

• Step 3: Update the Source
   
  • Tick the boxes next to the students you need to update (you can select all students using the top tickbox, filter the table by Year Group using the grey dropdown above the table or use the table filter to bring up all students with a specific status)
  • Click the green Bulk Action button
  • Select Bulk Update Ethnicity Source or Bulk Update Language Source from the menu
  • In the slide-over, choose the correct source (e.g., Provided by the parent)
  • Click Bulk Edit Language Source/Bulk Edit Ethnicity Source

Method 2: Updating Individual Students

If you only need to correct the data for a single student (e.g., a new admission), you can do this from their profile with these steps.
 

Updating an Ethnicity Source from a Student Profile

• Go to the Student Profile.
• Navigate to the Identity section
• Click on Ethnicity
• In the slide-over, ensure the Ethnicity Source field is completed
• Click Save Changes

Updating a Language Source from a Student Profile

• Go to the Student Profile.
• Navigate to the Language Abilities & Teaching section
• Click on Language Source
• In the slide-over, ensure the Language Source field is completed
• Click Save Changes

Common PLASC Errors

Outlined below are some of the common related Language and Ethnicity Sources you might run into, including what triggers the error and how to correct it. Once you have corrected the data, ensure your Regenerate your census to push through these changes.
 

First Language Source Errors

The most common errors occur when a language is recorded, but the required source (how that information was obtained) is missing.

• Error 12321: Pupil missing language source
   
  • Welsh: Ffynhonnel iaith y disgybl ar goll
  • Trigger: This error triggers if a First Language is present, but the Language Source is missing.
  • How to correct: Record the Language Source
     
• Error 12842: Pupil (aged 5 or over) with language source missing
   
  • Welsh: Disgybl (5 oed neu’n hŷn) â’r ffynhonnell iaith ar goll
  • Trigger: This error triggers for any pupil aged 5 or over at the start of the school year (August 31st) who does not have a Language Source recorded.
  • How to correct: Record the Language Source
     
• Error 12317: Pupil language source not a valid code
   
  • Welsh: Cod annilys ar gyfer ffynhonnell iaith y disgybl
  • Trigger: This triggers if a source is recorded, but the code used for the source is not one of the permitted values 
  • How to correct: Re-record the Language Source with one of the permitted values
     
• Error 12320: Pupil language source not valid
   
  • Welsh: Ffynhonnell iaith y disgybl yn annilys
  • Trigger: If the First Language is recorded as "Not Known", you cannot list the "Current School" as the source for "Not Known" data.
  • How to correct: Re-record the Language Source with one of the permitted values
     

Ethnicity Source Errors

• Error 12141: Ethnicity Source is invalid
   
  • Welsh: Ethnigrwydd yn annilys
  • Trigger: This triggers if the Ethnicity Source code entered is not a recognised value 
  • How to correct: Re-record the Ethnicity Source with one of the permitted values
     
• Error 12217: Source of pupil’s ethnic group is not ‘S’ when ethnicity = NOBT
   
  • Welsh: Ffynhonnell grwp ethnig y disgybl ddim yn 'S' os mai NOBT yw'r cod ethnig
  • Trigger: This is a consistency check. If the Ethnicity is recorded as Information Not Obtained, the Source must be recorded as "Ascribed by the School". You cannot attribute "Not Obtained" to a parent or pupil.
  • How to correct: Re-record the Ethnicity Source as "Ascribed by the School" (if applicable) or change the Ethnicity record for the student if their Ethnicity is known.