SWF Unit 1 – Background information
1.
2.
3.
4.
About SWF
About SWF tiles
FAQs
What you need to do on Census day
1. About SWF

What is it?
The School Workforce Census is a statutory collection of individual level data on teachers and support
staff from local authorities, local authority maintained schools and academies. The DfE replaced 6
previously running surveys/data collections with this single collection.

How does it work?
The census works by allowing schools and local authorities to extract data already held in their
management information and HR / payroll systems, and then uploading the data to the Department via
its secure web-based collection tool, COLLECT.
Each school will provide an xml file. Secondary schools are also required to produce an additional file
which contains curriculum data.

What happens to the data?
The data will be used by the DfE to get a better understanding of school staff, such as age, gender and
ethnicity. This information will help to design appropriate national and local strategies to support the
school workforce.

Are the results published?
School Workforce Census data is used as a part of the School Performance Tables on the DfE website.
Tables provide information on examination results, finance, absence, school workforce and the most
recent Ofsted reports.
The data is also used in the Statistical First Release (SFR) which contains the latest information on the
size and characteristics of the school workforce employed in local authority maintained schools and
Academy schools in England.
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
What information does the School Workforce Census collect?
For Hampshire County Council schools who use SAP, the information collected for the School
Workforce Census is taken directly from the personnel records of staff which are held in SAP. The three
SWF records can be found under the SWF census data entry tile.
Folder
Tile
SWF

Icon
Sub-tile
Icon
SWF census data entry
The three records nearly at the bottom of the Employee Data tab list on the hold much of the
information required by the DfE.
This is why, if there are any errors or warnings when you run the SWF report in SAP, you are most
often advised to create or change one of these SWF records. There may, however be data which is
held on other SAP records (eg missing teacher number on the Personal Data record) which may
also trigger error messages within SWF or when the report is uploaded to COLLECT.
The SWF includes both historical data, as well as 'snapshot' data collected on census day itself
(06.11.2014). Historical data includes changes in contract and absences over the prior academic
year (hence leavers in the previous academic year are included). Data collected on the census day
itself includes active employees, but also requires schools to enter the results of three manual
counts: Teacher vacancies, Occasional teachers, and Agency third party staff. For further
information on who to include on these counts see What you need to do on Census day. These
counts are carried out on census day, and are entered when the report is run in LIVE (06.11.2014 16.11.2014).

Further information
Department of Education School Workforce Census information.
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2. About SWF tiles
Folder
Tile
Icon
Sub-tile
Icon
Used for
SWF
SWF annual census
Access to run the
report in TEST and
LIVE
SWF
SWF census data entry
Access to
personnel records
to change or
update SWF
information
(ie old PA30
transaction)
SWF
SIMS data matching
For secondary
schools only
Report displays
current data held in
SAP. The data
must be identical
on both systems.
Amend SIMS to
match the data
held in SAP from
this report
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3. FAQs
What is my variant for?
Your school's variant contains the organisational unit numbers for your school which tell the report
where to find the information about your staff needed for the census. It also allows you to exclude
any positions which are not required for the census.
Why should I keep running the report in TEST throughout the year when I don't have to submit the
return until November?
Whenever changes are made to personnel records in SAP, they have the potential to generate error
or warning messages when the SWF report is run. If you run the report at least once every half term
this can alert you to any possible errors. It will also ensure that you do not have an unmanageable
amount of errors and warnings to correct in November before you can run the report in LIVE and
upload it to COLLECT.
Are special schools required to submit curriculum (SIMS) data?
No. Special schools are not in scope for curriculum (SIMS) data.
What should I do if I can't see the SWF Collect Live Portal icon on my HWI login pad?
Contact the Data Quality and Collection Team - email dqc.team@hants.gov.uk or phone 01962
847795.
I am a secondary School and am having problems running my Curriculum report.
If you have a problem running your curriculum file within SIMS please contact the IT Help desk on
01962 847007.
If you have problems/queries about SWF curriculum please contact the Data Quality and Collection
Team email dqc.team@hants.gov.uk or phone 01962 847795.
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Is the curriculum data to be collected ONLY for secondary schools and not for maintained special
schools who teach 11 to 16 year olds?
Yes.
We have a member of staff whose contract was due to finish on the 12 April however this has been
extended to September. Should we set up a new contract or can we just change the end date of the current
contract?
SWF would not see this as a new contract, merely an extension, and so the end date of the current
contract can just be changed / amended on the SWF Contract Details screen.
If a teacher has been in post for many years and their teaching qualification says they have a teaching
certificate, how should this be recorded?
For the purposes of SWF, Certificate in education or equivalent should be selected from the
qualification code set.
If a teacher gained their degree some time ago and there isn’t a subject code to match the subject of
that degree, what should I record?
Some qualifications are not included on the SWF Qualification list. In this situation please find a
"best fit" for the subject code.
Is qualifications data required for support staff?
The DfE is asking for qualification data for other support staff as well as teachers and teaching
assistants. All qualifications graded at NQF level 4 or above (ie post A-level qualifications) should
be included.
We have some apprentices working in our schools, should they be included in the SWF?
If they have a contract for one month or more and are fulfilling one of the roles listed in the Support
Staff Inc. in the SWF tab on the Position Naming Convention document then they should be
included for that role. If they are employed on a more casual or training basis, then they would not
be included.
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Why are leavers included in the return if they were not employed on Census Day?
Data is collected in the School Workforce Census once a year, in November on Census Day.
Additionally, historical information will also be collected for staff whose contracts expired between
the beginning of the previous academic year and census date, either because they left the school or
because they have been issued with a new contract.
4. What you need to do on Census Day
Carry out your three manual counts and make a note of the results to enter into your School Workforce
Census report
1. Teacher vacancies in your school
Count each qualified teacher post (permanent or a contract of one or more terms) that is vacant or
temporarily filled on Census day.
A post is considered vacant if it is:
a) not covered
b) covered temporarily by other staff within the school
c) covered by a teacher on a contract of less than one term (a third of an academic year)
d) covered by a teacher on a contract of at least one term (a third of an academic year) and no
more than an academic year (except if the teacher is on recognised long term absence such as sick
leave, maternity leave, other paid leave, training or secondment).
The following vacant posts should be included in the census:
a) those the school has tried to fill, but which were not filled on the Census day
b) those where an appointment has been made but the appointee was not in post on the Census
day
c) those for all types of qualified teachers (including Head teacher, Deputy head, Assistant head,
Classroom teacher, Executive head).
The following vacant posts should be excluded from the census:
a) those not becoming vacant until after the Census day (eg where teacher has resigned but is
serving notice).
2. Occasional teachers in your school
Count the number of occasional teachers in school on Census day.
Occasional teachers are external supply teachers who have a contract, or are employed under a
service agreement but are not in regular service with a school, ie they are employed for less than 28
days. This count does not include HCC supply teachers, who are paid by Timesheet entry.
3. Agency TP Staff in your school
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Count the number of third party support staff in school on Census day.
Agency third party staff are support staff (eg teaching assistants, contract cleaners, nurses
employed by a PCT, catering staff etc) who are not employed directly by HCC or the school. This
count does not include staff paid by Timesheet entry.
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