Queries 2485Q and 2588Q

This article provides guidance on resolving queries 2485Q and 2588Q related to student attendance and behaviour records. It outlines steps to verify and update suspension and exclusion records based on census periods, including checking attendance marks, managing exclusion logs, and addressing suspensions that span terms. It also highlights the importance of correctly recording daily start and end times for suspensions to avoid triggering these queries.

For both of these queries, you'll need to make sure the information recorded for the student in Behaviour and attendance is correct:

• 2485Q: Pupil attendance indicates they are excluded but no exclusion is recorded.
• 2588Q: Pupil attendance for the second half of the summer term indicates they are suspended or permanently excluded but no suspension or permanent exclusion is recorded.

What to check and update

You'll need to know whether the student should have a suspension recorded or not.

The date range that will need to be checked varies depending on which census is taking place, as the census monitors suspensions for the previous two terms:

• In the Autumn census, you will need to check the previous Spring and Summer terms.
• In the Spring census, you will need to check the previous Summer and Autumn terms.
• In the Summer census, you will need to check the previous Autumn and Spring terms.

Go to the student's profile and click on Attendance > Marks (By Date) on the left. Make sure your looking at the Roll Call attendance tab, not Lesson by Lesson.

• If the student was not suspended, make sure no attendance sessions in the relevant terms have been recorded as E.
• If the student was suspended in the relevant terms, make sure the right sessions are marked with E.

Once you have checked this, go to Behaviour on the student's profile and click on the Exclusion tab.

• If the student was not excluded, make sure you remove the log of the exclusion.
• If the student was excluded, make sure an exclusion has been recorded for the dates of the E marks. If there isn't one then click on the +Add button to add it.
• If it's a Permanent Exclusion, click into the exclusion to make sure Exclude from school census is set to No. If this says yes, edit the exclusion and untick this box.

What to do if a student has a suspension that starts in one term, and continues into the next term

Query 2485Q will be triggered if a student has a suspension that runs from one term into another (for example, the suspension began at the end of the Spring term, but did not end until after the Summer term started).

Query 2588Q will be triggered if a student has a suspension that begins in the first half of the summer term, and runs into the second half of the summer term.

Where either of the two scenarios above has happened for a student, you will not be able to resolve the query, and it will be present on your census return for submission to the DfE.

You will need to provide a validation note to explain the circumstances. Click here to download the DfE's list of acceptable notepad entries

Daily Start and End Times

A suspension recorded with a Daily Start Time and Daily End Time will not be returned in the census, as this will be treated as a Lunchtime Suspension, which the DfE do not require as part of the census return.

If a daily start time and end time is erroneously recorded, this can lead to instances of 2485Q and 2588Q being triggered, as the suspension will not be part of the census, but any E codes the student has been recorded with will be included.

You can check for a daily start and end time on an exclusion by:

1. Heading to the Behaviour page on a student profile, then the Exclusions tab.
2. Clicking on a suspension.
3. The slide over menu will display the Daily start time and Daily end time.
4. If the suspension is not a lunchtime exclusion, you'll need to click the Edit button, then remove the values in the Daily start time and Daily end time fields under Lunchtime Details, then save the changes.
5. Once you've removed the Daily start time and Daily end time, you'll then need to regenerate your census.