School Census Summer 2026 - SIMS 7 (old SIMS)

• Census date – Thursday 21st May 2026 "Snapshot date" 
• Dry run is open - Thursday 7th May 2026
• Return date – Wednesday 17th June 2026
• Attendance collected from Spring term 2026 data - 01-01-2026 to Easter Sunday 05-04-2026
• Exclusion data - Suspensions from AM of the start of the autumn term to PM of the end of the spring term. Exclusions from AM of the start of the autumn term to the final governor review the day before School Census Summer 2026 reference day.
• Alternative Provision Placements collected from 15-01-2026 to 20-05-2026 
• Funding and Monitoring collected from 01-08-2025 to 21-05-2026
• Learner support date 01-08-2025 to 21-05-2026 (only relevant for pupils aged 16 or above on 31-08-2025)
• Free School Meal eligibility (eFSM) - Eligibilities that started on or before 21-05-2026, where the free school meals end date is either not present or between 16-01-2026 and 21-05-2026 (inclusive)
• DfE Guidance and full information can be found here

Parent Pay have written to all schools to confirm that schools will have the option to complete the summer 2026 census in either SIMS 7 (old SIMS) or Next Gen.  If you are unsure of your options or what is best for you then please call us on 01482 238700 and we can advise further. 

SIMS 7 Documentation & Help guides for Summer 2026 Census 

• Preparing for the school census - Pri/Nur/Spe/Pru - This article serves as an introduction to administering the census
• Preparing for the school census - Sec - This article serves as an introduction to administering the census
• Producing the School Census - Summer 2026 - Primary 
• Producing the School Census - Summer 2026 - Nursery 
• Producing the School Census - Summer 2026 - Special 
• Producing the School Census - Summer 2026 - PRU
• Producing the School Census - Summer 2026 - Secondary
• Notepad Entries - Notepad entries for collect

* * UPDATED * * 3302 has been pulled and replaced with FILESET 3303 is required for this upgrade, we will be installing this for you as part of your SIMS Upgrade.  However you can install this yourself by unzipping the fileset, going into SIMS / Tools / Setups / Import fileset and browse to the location that you extracted the fileset, click on open and then just import fileset.  Log out and back into SIMS for changes to take effect.  

As always any of our supported schools can call us as often as they need to for help and support with the Census. If this is your first census or you need additional support then please get in touch as soon as possible and we can schedule a remote one-on-one bite-size session with you.

Support@KeystoneMIS.co.uk
(01482) 238700