In some cases you may wish to manually import pre admission data into ParentPay. This is often useful when using SIMs, as a pre admission upload does not import the parents email address. By using this manual upload you can include the parent email address in the upload data and are then able to email the activation letters.
This article will teach you...
- How to prepare a file
- How to create a mapping for your file
- How to process a manual pre admission upload
All MIS providers should allow schools to create a report containing pre admission data, and export the information into a spreadsheet
Please note: The pre admission data file must be in a CSV format.
You can use the pre admission template file at the bottom of this guidance
The report must contain the following fields:
- Pupil surname
- Pupil forename
- Admission/roll number (This will be used as the pupil identifier in ParentPay, and so must be unique)
- UPN (Secondary pupil identifier to help prevent duplications)
- Date of birth
- Gender
The following fields can be imported if required:
- Year group
- Registration group
- Free school meal entitlement (If the school will be using ParentPay to record meals)
- Free school meal start date
- Free school meal end date
- Dietary requirements
- Parental salutation
- Apartment number
- House name
- House number
- Street
- District
- Town
- County
- Postcode
- Contact Email - ensure this field is complete if you wish to send activation letters via email
Please note: If a child is not currently entitled to free school meals, no start or end dates for previous periods of entitlement should be included in the data file.
WARNING: If the year group and registration group are not included in the pre admission upload, all pre admissions will be uploaded as ‘Year X’. This can cause issues if future uploads do include the year groups and registration groups.
Editing a pre admission data fileOnce the data has been exported into a CSV spreadsheet, the file must be opened and checked.
Commas should be removed from all fields (with the exception of dietary and allergen information where this may be required by the MIS).
It may not be immediately obvious that there are commas, so it is advisable to use the Replace function to locate the commas and replace them with a space.
Also check for, and remove, any blank lines. Blank lines may also appear at the end of the data. For example, a row with no data, but containing some spaces.
If free school meal entitlement has been included in the data file, ensure that there are no start or end dates for pupils who are not currently entitled to FSM. Leaving the date of previous periods of entitlement in the file will cause the upload to fail.
Check that all required data is included in the file. For example, there are no records with roll numbers missing.
Take a note of the format that the gender and free school meal entitlement are in. These will be required to create a mapping.
Please note: As the mapping is only created once, it is important that the gender and free school meal entitlements always remain the same.
A mapping is created to match the headings in the exported data file to the headings used in ParentPay.
Useful Info
Before a mapping can be created, MIS Sync must have been downloaded from the ParentPay support site, and installed on the computer being used. Also, a pre admission data file must have been exported from the MIS before a mapping can be created. You may find it useful to review the guidance How to install MIS Sync and Preparing a pupil data file for manual upload for guidance on how to complete this.
NOTE
A mapping should only need to be created once, but if the headings in the data export file change, it may be necessary to create a new mapping.
- Open MIS Sync and log in as outlined in How to install MIS Sync, ensuring the drop-down menu at the bottom of the window is set to Other
- Navigate to Tools > Create a mapping
- Select the icon with the three dots to browse for the most recently created pre admission data export file
- Ensure the file type is set to CSV
- Set the Header on line 1
- Enter a name for the mapping, such as ParentPay upload
- Set the Separator as Comma
- Select OK
- A new window will open containing lists of ParentPay Fields and File Fields
WARNING
The CSV file must not be open on the computer during the previous steps, as it will prevent MIS Sync from being able to access the file fields.
- Match the headings from the file fields column with the headings from the ParentPay fields column, and then select Map
WARNING
Some headings require additional actions to be taken before selecting Map. Please read the additional steps below before mapping the headings
- Some schools may find that the admission numbers/roll numbers/pupil IDs need to be padded with leading zeros to ensure they match the IDs on the cashless till system. This can be done by matching the heading in the two field columns, selecting the Minimum field size, and then selecting Map
- MIS Sync needs to be told what the pupil data file uses to indicate male and female in the gender fields. Match the headings in the ParentPay Fields and File Fields, and enter the correct flags for Male and Female on the right side of the window. Select Map
- MIS Sync also needs to be told what the pupil data file uses to indicate whether a pupil is entitled to Free School Meals. Match the headings in the ParentPay Fields and File Fields, and enter the correct flags on the right side of the window. Select Map
- The remaining fields can then be mapped. Whilst most fields are self-explanatory, the ParentPay field group_code refers to year group.
INFO
If any of the headings are incorrectly mapped during this process, they can be selected from the Mapped fields list at the bottom of the window, and deleted by selecting the cross icon. The deleted fields will then be added to the bottom of the fields columns.
NOTE: ParentPay no longer uploads Ethnicity or Religion to the system, in line with GDPR.
- Once all the headings that can be mapped have been, select Save.
NOTE: It is likely that there will be some fields in the ParentPay fields column left over after all the file fields have been mapped. There may also be some file fields remaining if they contain data that cannot be imported into ParentPay.
- To use the newly created mapping, MIS Sync will need to be closed and relaunched
IMPORTANT
The mapping cannot be viewed or edited after it has been saved. If the mapping is set up incorrectly, or contains a mistake, the mapping will need to be deleted and created again.
- Navigate to Pre admission > Manual update
- Select the yellow folder icon, and browse for the pre admission data file exported from the MIS
- Select the mapping from the Select mapping drop-down menu
- Select Import
NOTE
The CSV file must not be open on the computer during the previous steps, as it will prevent MIS Sync from being able to access the data.
- The pre admission data will be extracted from the file and will be displayed within the MIS Sync window.
- Any fields that are not populated/included in the pre admission data file will remain blank within MIS Sync.
- If there are any errors within the data, an exclamation mark will be displayed in the first column of the data. Any errors will need to be corrected in the pre admission data file, and reimported to MIS Sync.
NOTE
An exclamation mark will occasionally be displayed for non-critical reasons such as missing FSM entitlement dates. Leaving these dates out of the upload will not cause it to fail.
If it is not possible to locate an error in the data when a pupil record is marked with an exclamation mark, it is advised to process the upload into ParentPay. If the error is critical, the upload will fail, and the system will provide a failure message explaining the cause.
- Select Upload at the bottom of the window to export the data to the ParentPay system
- The upload will then process, and once completed, a red message reading There were warning messages received, please check the messages tab for details will be displayed at the bottom of the window
- Select the Messages tab. If the upload is successful, a message will be displayed, and MIS Sync can be closed
- If the upload has failed, a message will be displayed. An error message containing the cause of the failure will be displayed further down the window
- If the upload has failed, the error will need to be corrected in the pupil data file, and the upload can then be reattempted