Can I change the time or date for our spring census?

Why has this time been selected for our census?

Arbor will automatically choose a census time for you, based on the rules given by the DfE in their online guidance for Class information.

The ‘selected time’ of the census is based on the last digit of a school’s departmental establishment number (found in School > School Details):

• 4, 7, 8 or 9 - is one hour after the start of morning school
• 0, 1 or 5 - one hour before the end of morning school
• 2, 3 or 6 - one hour after the start of afternoon school

Can we change the time of our census?

You can see and amend the time of your census by going to School > Data > Export > Data Returns and selecting your Spring Census. Go to Classes from the left-hand menu.

Click +Add to select a new time.

What time should we choose?

If different parts of the school use different timetable structures, you should use the time that applies to key stage 1. For example, if lunch is at 12 pm for key stage 1 but 1 pm for key stage 3, then the end of morning school should be taken as 12 pm and not 1 pm.

Where the selected time is not appropriate to the school timetable, for example, where the selected time is when the whole school or a large proportion of the school is in an assembly with the headteacher; schools can choose an hour/period that reflects a ‘normal’ class situation that applies at the selected time each Thursday of the term.

Can we change the date of our census?

It isn't possible for school staff to change the date chosen for the Classes and Pupil Reconciliation sections of your census.

If the census date is not reflective of a typical Thursday at your school, for example, if you had a teacher training day or unforeseen closure on the census date, you would just need to fill in the data as if a normal school day had occurred.