Unique Pupil Numbers (UPNs) - Policy and Practice Guidance ...including admission and attendance...

Unique Pupil Numbers (UPNs) - Policy and Practice

Guidance for Local Authorities and Schools

DFE/DSG D2 1/23 September 2010

CONTENTS

SECTION 1: UNIQUE PUPIL NUMBERS: AN INTRODUCTION................................................ 3

What is a Unique Pupil Number? ..................................................................................................... 3

The purpose of the UPN system ...................................................................................................... 3

Statutory status of Unique Pupil Numbers ....................................................................................... 3

SECTION 2: DATA PROTECTION IMPLICATIONS OF UPNS................................................... 4

The Department's agreement with the Information Commissioner ................................................. 4

Implications for schools .................................................................................................................... 4

Use of UPNs by other local agencies ............................................................................................... 5

Access for educational research purposes ..................................................................................... 5

Responsibility of LAs and Schools ................................................................................................... 5 Provision of sensitive pupil data to third parties .............................................................................. 6

SECTION 3: HOW UPNS ARE CONSTRUCTED......................................................................... 7

The national UPN formula................................................................................................................. 7

Temporary UPNs .............................................................................................................................. 7

How to generate UPNs ..................................................................................................................... 7

Calculating the Check Letter - Method and Worked Example ......................................................... 8

SECTION 4: ALLOCATION OF UPNS .............................................................................................. 9

Schools that are statutorily required to issue UPNs to their pupils .................................................. 9

Schools outside of England .............................................................................................................. 9 Wales ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Scotland ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Northern Ireland............................................................................................................................ 10 Crown Dependencies .................................................................................................................... 10 Areas outside of the UK ................................................................................................................ 10

When should UPNs be allocated?.................................................................................................. 10

Flow chart showing allocation of UPNs to new pupils joining the school....................................... 11

Type of UPN to be allocated to pupils added to the school's register .............................................. 1

Type of UPN to be allocated to pupils added to the school's register ............................................ 12

Allocating UPNs to pupils from abroad ........................................................................................... 12

Allocation of UPNs by Local Authorities.......................................................................................... 12 LA UPN Allocation........................................................................................................................ 13

Independent Schools & UPNs ........................................................................................................ 13 Data transfer between Independent and Maintained schools .......................................................... 13 SEN pupils at Independent or Non-maintained schools ................................................................. 14 Allocation of UPNs within Independent schools ............................................................................ 14

SECTION 5: UPN DATABASES....................................................................................................... 15

Maintaining a UPN database........................................................................................................... 15

Role of LAs and Schools ................................................................................................................ 15

Trouble shooting: Resolving anomalies within UPNs..................................................................... 15 Dealing with Invalid UPNs ............................................................................................................. 16 Resolving Duplicate UPNs ............................................................................................................. 16 Retrieving UPNs from previous schools......................................................................................... 16 Permanent versus Temporary UPNs............................................................................................... 17

Recording of Former UPNs ............................................................................................................ 17




SECTION 6: SOME SPECIAL CASES......................................................................................... 19

Pupils not attached to any school................................................................................................... 19

Dually registered pupils .................................................................................................................. 19

SEN pupils ...................................................................................................................................... 19

Pupils at risk ................................................................................................................................... 20

Adopted Pupils ................................................................................................................................ 20

Education establishments with highly mobile pupils ...................................................................... 20

Pupils transferring from a maintained school to a non-maintained school .................................... 20

Pupils from overseas...................................................................................................................... 20

Other Cases ................................................................................................................................... 20

SECTION 7: FURTHER INFORMATION .................................................................................... 22

Enquiries and Contacts .................................................................................................................. 22

Unique Pupil Number web site ....................................................................................................... 22

Common Basic Data Set web site ................................................................................................. 22

EduBase web site........................................................................................................................... 22

Key to Success web site ................................................................................................................ 22

School to School (s2s) web site..................................................................................................... 22

Government Data Standards Catalogue web page ....................................................................... 22

Information Commissioner web site............................................................................................... 22

Becta MIS Interoperability Agreement web page ............................................................................ 22




SECTION 1: Unique Pupil Numbers: An Introduction

What is a Unique Pupil Number?

The Unique Pupil Number (UPN) is a number that identifies each pupil in England uniquely. A

UPN is allocated to each pupil according to a nationally specified formula on first entry to school (or perhaps in some cases earlier), and is intended to remain with the pupil throughout their school career regardless of any change in school or Local Authority (LA). UPNs were first introduced in the autumn term of 1999: all pupils attending a maintained school in England should now be in possession of a UPN. (For further information access the UPN web page - see the link in Section 7 below.)

The purpose of the UPN system

UPNs are used to facilitate the tracking of pupils’ movement and progress within the maintained school system in England. The numbers provide each pupil in the country with a unique identifier, which is intended to remain with them throughout their school career. The system was introduced to facilitate a smoother movement of pupil information between schools, LAs, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF1) and other central agencies2. The use of UPNs has greatly facilitated the accurate interchange of data between partners and is a key element in strengthening procedures for target setting and monitoring, thus contributing to the raising of standards. UPNs are also being used within the National Pupil Database (NPD) which was established in

2002. The NPD is a major new information resource for the education service as a whole, enhancing policy evaluation and development by the Department3, partner agencies and researchers, and performance monitoring and target setting by LAs and schools. The NPD combines data from the School Census4 with the results of pupils’ end of Key Stage assessments, external examinations and other accredited qualifications. The use of UPNs greatly facilitates the matching of pupil records.

Statutory status of Unique Pupil Numbers

Under Section 537A of the Education Act 19965, the provision by schools of Key Stage assessment and School Census pupil data with UPNs is a statutory requirement. Section 408 of the same Act enables the transfer of pupil records with UPNs from school to school on a statutory basis6. In addition to ensuring compliance, the statutory requirement for the provision of Key Stage assessment information, School Census pupil data and school to school transfer of pupil records, all with UPNs, means that schools are legally entitled to transfer such data, and do not need to seek pupils' or parents' consent to the transfers.

1 When UPNs were introduced in 1999 the relevant government department was known as the Department for

Education and Employment (DfEE). From 2001 the DfEE’s functions were divided between the Department for

Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). From 2007, the

responsibilities of the DfES were taken over by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). 2 In particular, UPNs are included in data collections for end of Key Stage assessment information transmitted

to and from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) / National Assessment Agency (NAA). 3 In this document “Department” refers to the Department for Children, Schools and Families. 4 The School Census was introduced to supersede Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC). 5 As amended by the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. 6 The school to school transfer of pupil data is achieved by using Common Transfer File (CTF) formats and

procedures.




Section 2: Data Protection implications of UPNs

The Department's agreement with the Information Commissioner

As a result of the Department’s agreement with the Information Commissioner7 when UPNs were

first introduced, measures were agreed in order to minimise any potential risks to the personal privacy of individuals and to ensure UPNs are used within the educational service only. The main elements of the package are:

the UPN to lapse when pupils leave schooling (at sixteen years old unless the pupils attend a maintained school providing post-16 education);

the UPN to be as far as possible a ‘blind number’, held by schools on the pupil's electronic

record, and only output when required to provide information to the LA, to the Department or other central agencies (e.g. QCA/NAA), or to another school to which the pupil is transferring. The UPN should not be regarded as an automatic adjunct to the pupil's name,

routinely appearing on any record or document relating to them;

the UPN to be designated a "general identifier" under the Data Protection Act 1998, rendering its use by any organisation for any purpose unrelated to education illegal8;

the central pupil database to incorporate "privacy enhancing technologies" (PETs) - specifically encryption of the data to prevent unauthorised access to named records, and automatic logging of any authorised access (to deter improper use of the named records by those few individuals with authorised access to them)9.

Implications for schools

The agreement with the Commissioner has the following implications for schools:

schools should not generally advise pupils (or parents) of their UPN, nor indeed take any positive steps to inform them of the presence of the UPN system. Schools will, of course, wish to deal with any enquiries from pupils or parents honestly and without evasion, and pupils have the right under the Data Protection Act to receive on request a copy of any information the school holds about them (including their UPN). But schools should not give out details of pupils' UPNs otherwise;

schools should not enter UPNs on pupils' paper files or on any other physical documents, including admission and attendance registers, and should continue to use the admission number, not the UPN, as a general pupil reference number within the school. Schools should store pupils’ UPNs in their Management Information System (MIS) using accredited educational software packages10. Storing UPNs electronically will minimise security risks and adhere to Data Protection requirements.

7 At the time of the agreement the Information Commissioner was called the Data Protection Registrar. 8 The UPN has not (as at 31st August 2005) been designated a “general identifier”. It should be noted that no

“general identifiers” have been designated under the terms of the act. 9 Access to the National Pupil Database (see Section 5 below) is restricted to authorised DCSF and LA staff

and all access transactions are logged. 10 Accredited software suppliers are those that are signatories to the Interoperability Agreement managed by

the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) on behalf of the DCSF. A list of

accredited MIS software suppliers may be found on the Becta web site – see link in Section 7.




Use of UPNs by other local agencies

The use of UPNs for education related purposes only imposes some limits on the extent to which other local agencies may have access to pupils' UPNs. The Department advises that the use of UPNs as a means of transferring pupil information between local agencies is permitted. However, under the guidance provided by the Information Commissioner, UPNs should not be used as a replacement for pupil identification systems already in place in local non-educational departments. Local agencies should, therefore, continue to use local identification systems, as use of the UPN as a replacement identification system could undermine the Commissioner’s wishes that UPNs are not widely and openly displayed in a manner that could compromise their confidentiality. It should be noted that, in the case of looked after children, regulations now permit the transfer of individual pupil data (including UPNs) to the social service department of the local authority which looks after the relevant child or children whose data are being transferred

11.

Access for educational research purposes

The data protection restrictions placed on the UPN system have a number of effects on the potential use of UPNs for educational research purposes. Some educational research organisations may request that UPNs for pupils involved in their projects be included in documentation relating to the research participants. The Information Commissioner advises that the UPN should only be output to other schools, LAs, the DCSF and other central agencies. This places restrictions on schools passing UPNs onto research organisations. When UPNs are requested for research purposes the following guidelines should be followed: -

Where the research agency is being contracted by a school or LA (as is the case with PIPs and MidYIS), the research agency is, for data protection purposes, an extension of the school or LA itself. UPNs can be passed on for research in these circumstances but the contract must ensure that the research agency acts at the direction of the school or LA and handles the UPN with a level of security equivalent to theirs.

Where the research agency is independent from the school, UPNs should not be passed on and the research agency in question should be referred to the Department for a ruling on any potential uses of UPNs.

If schools have concerns on the use of UPNs for research purposes they may choose not to participate in the research.

Responsibility of LAs and Schools

As already mentioned above, under the agreement with the Information Commissioner, LAs, schools, the DCSF and other central agencies have a responsibility for maintaining the personal privacy of individuals for whom they hold data. This is helped by maintaining the UPN as a ‘blind number’ and ensuring that personal data are only transferred to those with a genuine right and requirement for their receipt.

11 The Education (Individual Pupil Information) (Prescribed Persons) Regulations 1999 as amended by the

Education (Individual Pupil Information) (Prescribed Persons) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2004.




Provision of sensitive pupil data to third parties

LAs and schools may receive requests from third parties or individuals requesting access to a pupil’s personal data, including the UPN. If the person making the request has no clear parental responsibility for the child then the request should be refused immediately. Alternatively, the person making the request may claim to have parental responsibility12 for the child. In these instances, the school (and/or LA) is advised not to disclose any personal information immediately but take steps to verify the claim of parental responsibility. In these circumstances, the following steps should be taken:

a) Take measures to verify the true identity of the person seeking the data (including their relationship to the child).

b) Find out why the information is being sought. c) Identify whether the person has parental responsibility for the child in question or the person

has another right to access the data13

. d) If the person seeking this information does not seem authorised to do so, inform the person

that the school (or LA) is unable to disclose such personal information. e) If the person still persists, contact the resident parent (or parents) or carer (or carers) of the

child14 to request consent to disclosure. f) If consent to disclosure is given then the data may be given. g) If consent is not given then the data may not be given.

Releasing sensitive personal information about a child to an unauthorised person may put that child at risk. Appropriate measures should be taken to protect the personal privacy of all pupils. Any information held for a pupil in a school or LA database is meant solely for educational purposes. It should not be used for any other purpose such as tracing the whereabouts of lost children or their parents.

12 All persons in schools and LEAs who have access to children’s data should be aware of the definitions of

“parent” and “parental responsibility”. Guidance to schools was issued in 2000 and is available on the

Department’s web site at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/guidanceonthelaw/dfeepub/jun00/050600/. 13 The Data Protection Act 1998 (Part IV and Schedule 7) contains exemptions from provisions of the Act

which allow disclosure in certain circumstances. The full act is available from the Office of Public Sector

Information web site at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm (formerly HMSOnline). 14 Or the child, if aged 11 or over and the child is deemed to understand the nature of the data held.

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/guidanceonthelaw/dfeepub/jun00/050600/

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm




Section 3: How UPNs are constructed

The national UPN formula

Under the national formula UPNs have 13 characters as follows: Character 1 Check Letter Characters 2-4 LA Number of the School allocating the UPN Characters 5-8 DCSF Establishment Number of the School Characters 9-10 The last two digits of the academic year in which the UPN is allocated Characters 11-13 A serial number of three digits for UPNs allocated by the school in that year. For example:

Character Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

UPN (Example) B 8 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1

UPN Component Check Letter

LA Number DCSF Establishment Number

Year of Allocation

Serial Number

The reason for including the LA code, DCSF establishment number and year of allocation in the UPN is to provide an effective and operationally simple means of guaranteeing uniqueness (i.e. ensuring that two schools cannot by chance allocate the same number to two different pupils).

Temporary UPNs

The above formula relates to permanent UPNs. There are also temporary UPNs. Temporary

UPNs are allocated when a school receives a pupil who is likely already to have a UPN, but the receiving school has not been informed of that UPN. The formula for temporary UPNs is identical to that for permanent UPNs, except that characters 11-13 are a two-digit serial number plus a letter (rather than a three digit serial number), e.g. E92520729925A. Although not good practice, temporary UPNs can remain with a pupil throughout their school career.

How to generate UPNs

All software suppliers known to the Department have, incorporated into their Management Information Software (MIS), routines to automatically allocate pupils permanent UPNs, and (where required) temporary UPNs. The Department has also created a spreadsheet that schools (or LAs on their behalf) can use to generate lists of permanent and temporary UPNs that can be assigned to pupils in cases where the school does not have the requisite software to allocate UPNs automatically. The UPN generator spreadsheet runs in Microsoft Excel and is updated every academic year to ensure that UPNs reflect the year in which they are allocated. The spreadsheet is available on the UPN web page (see Section 7). It should be noted that if a school starts an academic year using the UPN generator spreadsheet, it must continue to use the spreadsheet for the whole of that academic year, and not switch to allocation via management information software until September of the following academic year.




Calculating the Check Letter - Method and Worked Example

The following method is used to calculate the correct Check Letter: 1. Multiply the individual digits by their character positions as follows:

Digit 2 multiply by 2; Digit 3 multiply by 3; Digit 4 multiply by 4; Digit 5 multiply by 5; Digit 6 multiply by 6; Digit 7 multiply by 7; Digit 8 multiply by 8; Digit 9 multiply by 9; Digit 10 multiply by 10; Digit 11 multiply by 11; Digit 12 multiply by 12; Digit 13 multiply by 13. (Any alphabetical character at Digit 13 is accorded the same numerical value as listed in the Stage 3 table below, i.e. A=0, B=1, C=2 etc.)

2. (a) Sum the individual results;

(b) Divide the sum total by 23; and (c) Take the remainder.

3. Calculate the check letter from the remainder as follows:

Remainder = 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Check Letter = A B C D E F G H J K L M

Remainder = 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Check Letter = N P Q R T U V W X Y Z

Worked Example:

Character 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Calc

Base UPN ? 8 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1

Stage 1 16 0 4 10 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 13

Stage 2(a) 93

Stage 2(b) 4

Stage 2(c) 1

Stage 3 B

Full UPN (including Check Letter)

B 8 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1




Section 4: Allocation of UPNs

Schools that are statutorily required to issue UPNs to their pupils

The UPN system covers the maintained schools sector in England, and all pupils within these

schools should be allocated UPNs. The table below provides an indicative guide as to which schools are required to allocate UPNs to their pupils. However, it is permissible for any school to allocate UPNs if they have the means and wish to do so.

Required to

allocate UPNs

School type YES NO

Nursery school (not nursery classes in Primary schools)

**

Maintained Primary school (including nursery classes, early years education / pre- reception classes)

Maintained Secondary/ Comprehensive school

Maintained Special school

Non- maintained Special school

*

Independent (Public) school

City Technology College *

Voluntary Aided

Maintained Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)

Non- maintained PRU

* For School Census purposes.

** Nursery schools have been required to allocate UPNs to pupils from January 2006. Pupils who attended nursery

schools before January 2006 may not have been allocated a UPN by the nursery school.

Schools outside of England

Wales

Schools in Wales are not statutorily required to allocate UPNs to pupils but the majority of schools in Wales do issue UPNs to their pupils, using the same formula as described above. As Welsh LA numbers do not duplicate any numbers used in England, UPNs from schools in Wales should be valid and acceptable to software systems in England. All schools in Wales are listed in EduBase (see Section 7 for web address details). Scotland

Schools in Scotland are not required to allocate UPNs to pupils but some schools there may do so. However, UPNs issued by schools in Scotland may not be valid within school software systems in England. Even if UPNs from pupils from Scotland are accepted by a school’s software system there is danger of duplication of UPNs as LA numbers used in Scotland overlap with those in England. English schools should, therefore, allocate new Permanent UPNs to pupils

transferring from Scotland.




Northern Ireland

UPNs issued by schools in Northern Ireland may not be valid within school software systems in England. English schools should, therefore, allocate new Permanent UPNs to pupils

transferring from Northern Ireland.

Crown Dependencies

Schools in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are not required to allocate UPNs to pupils but some schools there may do so. It is believed that UPNs from schools on these islands are valid and acceptable to software systems in England. To confirm this, characters 2-4 of the UPN (equivalent to the LA number) should be, respectively, 706 (Guernsey), 707 (Jersey) or 705 (Isle of Man). If this is the case, the UPN should be accepted and no new number allocated. If this is not the case, a new Permanent UPN should be issued. (It should be noted that Guernsey is responsible for schools on Alderney and Herm.) All schools in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are listed in EduBase (see Section 7 for web address details). A pupil transferring to England from the single school in Sark may not have a valid UPN (although a valid UPN may have been issued elsewhere) and a new Permanent UPN should be allocated. Areas outside of the UK

Schools with UK connections

Some schools overseas with an affiliation to this country may issue UPNs. These include Service Children’s Education Authority (SCEA) schools, Shell Schools, schools in Gibraltar and other maintained British overseas or off-shore establishments. UPNs deriving from such schools should be valid and acceptable to software systems in England. To confirm this, characters 2-4 of the UPN (equivalent to the LA number) should be, respectively, 702 (SCEA), 704 (Shell), 708 (Gibraltar) or 703 (Other Overseas Schools). If this is the case, the UPN should be accepted and no new number allocated. If this is not the case, a new Permanent UPN should be issued. All schools included in this category are listed in EduBase (see Section 7 for web address details). Schools with no UK connections

Pupils entering the English education system from territories outside the UK, and not mentioned above, will not have a valid UPN. These pupils should be allocated with a new permanent UPN. This applies even if the pupil will only be attending the school for a limited period.

When should UPNs be allocated?

UPNs should be allocated on a pupil’s first entry to a maintained school in England, including entry to a nursery school (from January 2006) or a nursery class in an infant or primary school. Nursery, infant or primary schools will allocate the vast majority of UPNs. Secondary schools will only need to allocate UPNs to pupils who enter the maintained sector in England at age 11 or later having spent the whole of their school career up to that point elsewhere.




Flow chart showing allocation of UPNs to new pupils joining the school

New entrants to

primary school

education

(including pupils

joining nursery

classes in a

primary school.)

Pupils from another

maintained school

(including pupils

joining from

reception classes in

another school.)

Pupils from a non-

maintained school

(Independent, PRU, non-

maintained special school or

PRU) or overseas school

(please see above for

details.)

Has a previous nursery

school or early years’

setting allocated a UPN

to the pupil? (They are

not required to do so,

but may have done so.)

Has the previous

school allocated a

UPN to the pupil?

(All maintained

schools are

statutorily required

to allocate UPNs.)

Has the previous

school allocated a

UPN to the pupil?

(They are not required

to do so, but may have

done so.)

YES NO YES NO

Retain UPN

(See below for

guidance on

invalid UPNs).

Allocate new

permanent UPN

to pupil

Allocate new

permanent UPN

to pupil

Retain UPN

(See below for

guidance on

invalid UPNs).

Has the pupil been issued

with a UPN in the past, which

has not been passed on to

the receiving school?

YES NO

YES

NO

Issue pupil with a temporary UPN until the previous UPN

is located.

When the previous UPN has been identified, replace the

temporary UPN with previous UPN.

If it transpires the pupil does not have (or has never had)

a UPN, replace the temporary UPN with a permanent

UPN.

Allocate a new

permanent UPN

to pupil.




Type of UPN to be allocated to pupils added to the school's register

The handling of pupils added to the school's register should be as follows:

New entrants to primary school education who have not attended any other school or early years’ setting should be assumed not to have a UPN (unless the LA advises the school differently), and a permanent UPN should be allocated. If the LA advises the

school of a UPN that it has already allocated, then the school should record that UPN.

Pupils transferring to the school from a non-maintained school are unlikely to have been allocated a UPN. Some, however, may have been issued a UPN if their school had the means to do so. These types of establishment are not statutorily required to issue UPNs to their pupils. If, however, a non-maintained establishment (such as an Independent school, non-maintained Special School, PRU etc) has allocated a UPN and the UPN is correct and valid, that UPN should be retained.

Pupils transferring to the school from another maintained school in England should be assumed already to have a UPN. If the previous school:

has passed the pupil’s UPN on, then the school should record that UPN (unless it

proves to be invalid – see invalid UPN definition below);

has failed to pass the pupil’s UPN on or has passed on an invalid UPN, then the

school should allocate a temporary UPN and try to obtain the pupils previously

allocated UPN.

o If after a temporary UPN has been allocated, an earlier UPN for the pupil is retrieved then the school should replace the temporary UPN that it initially allocated with the earlier UPN (even if that is itself a temporary number); or

o If it transpires that the pupil has not actually been allocated a valid UPN in the

previous school, the school should replace the temporary UPN with a permanent UPN.

Allocating UPNs to pupils from abroad

For the purposes of the UPN system, pupils from abroad who are entering the English education system for a limited amount of time should be treated in the same way as any other pupil entering a school. They should be issued with a permanent UPN; a temporary UPN should only be issued if it is likely the pupil has been allocated a previous UPN, that has not been passed on.

Allocation of UPNs by Local Authorities

LAs have the responsibility of allocating UPNs to pupils who are not attached to a mainstream school. These include SEN pupils not attending a maintained school, home-educated pupils and permanently excluded pupils not attached to a maintained school. LAs may also, if they wish, arrange for UPNs to be allocated at an earlier point than that indicated above. They may, for example, wish to:

allocate UPNs to pupils in maintained establishments (including some nursery schools) who are unable to do so themselves. (These establishments will have standard DCSF establishment numbers and, therefore, the national formula can be applied




straightforwardly.)

allocate UPNs to pupils attending non-maintained or independent provision; or

allocate UPNs to some children before they enter school at all (e.g. for those children with whom the authority has contact for special needs assessment).

LA UPN Allocation

Maintained Establishments

For maintained establishments (e.g. LA nursery schools, PRUs) the national formula for the generation of UPNs should be applied using the appropriate DCSF establishment number for the school or other establishment. The LA must, of course, ensure that the relevant establishment is informed of the numbers allocated. Independent Establishments located within the LA

If the independent establishment has a standard DCSF establishment number (usually in the range 6000-6999) the national formula for the generation of UPNs should be applied using the appropriate DCSF establishment number for the school or other establishment. The LA must, of course, ensure that the relevant establishment is informed of the numbers allocated. Other Cases (including Independent Establishments not located within the LA)

“Dummy” DCSF establishment numbers 3950-399915 have been reserved to allow LAs to allocate UPNs for children not attending a maintained school within their area. These numbers may be used to apply the national formula to generate new UPNs. If a child is attending a school, the school should be informed of the number allocated. Similarly, if a child does not attend a school, but will do so in the future, the future school should be informed of the number at the appropriate time (to ensure that the school doesn't allocate a new one). It should be noted that with the introduction of Foundation Stage Profile (FSP), many more pupils are being issued with UPNs before they enter the maintained school sector and/or whilst in the independent sector.

Independent Schools & UPNs

Independent schools are not statutorily required to allocate UPNs to their pupils. However, independent schools can allocate UPNs if they have the means or desire to do so. With growing awareness of the benefits of UPNs, more and more independent schools have started to issue UPNs to their pupils.

Data transfer between Independent and Maintained schools

Pupils from independent schools transferring to a maintained school may or may not have

been allocated with a UPN. If the transferring pupil has been allocated with a UPN this UPN should be retained. If the transferring pupil has not been allocated with a UPN, the maintained school should issue the pupil with a new permanent UPN.

Pupils from maintained schools transferring to an independent school should retain their

UPNs and the receiving independent school should keep a record of the UPN. The number should be stored by the school with the pupil’s other personal details and if the pupil moves to another school the UPN should be passed on.

15 In four LEAs there are some actual establishments which have been allocated numbers in this range and,

obviously, the numbers allocated to these establishments may not be used to generate UPNs. These LEAs

are: Blackburn with Darwen (889), Hertfordshire (919), Lancashire (888) and Liverpool (341).




SEN pupils at Independent or Non-maintained schools

Pupils with an SEN statement attending an independent or non-maintained school should be allocated a UPN. If the school regularly allocates UPNs from within its own management information system (or utilises the UPN generator spreadsheet) then they should, automatically, allocate a UPN for any SEN child as part of their regular procedures. If this is not the case, the LA issuing the SEN statement should allocate a UPN to the child (see “LA UPN Allocation” above) and inform the school of the pupil’s UPN. The number should be stored by the school with the pupil’s other personal details and if the pupil moves to another school the UPN should be passed on.

Allocation of UPNs within Independent schools

UPNs are allocated in independent schools in the same way as they are by maintained schools. Independent schools may allocate UPNs using their own software systems or they may use the UPN generator spreadsheet issued by DCSF16. Although not directly associated with an LA, independent schools should use the LA number of the LA area within which they are physically located17. All schools’ LA and Establishment numbers may be accessed from the EduBase web site (see Section 7). Independent schools’ establishment numbers are normally in the range 6000-6999.

16 Guidance notes for the operation of the UPN generator spreadsheet are available on the UPN web page –

see Section 7 below. 17 A list of LEAs, and corresponding numbers, is available at

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/cbds/cbdsspecs/ .

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/cbds/cbdsspecs/




Section 5: UPN Databases

Maintaining a UPN database

Many LAs maintain a pupil database which includes each pupil’s UPN. This database will be updated frequently from multiple sources, including from data transferred during School Census, CTF and End of Key Stage processes. Additionally, data held in internal operational systems will often be used to maintain the database’s quality. LAs are encouraged to maintain such an integrated system. The Department maintains a pupil database, including pupils’ UPNs, known as the National Pupil Database (NPD). This database, though maintained by the Department, is also accessible to all LAs. Each LA may have up to three nominated members of staff who have access to NPD data via the Key to Success web site (see Section 7). A person in each LA is nominated as the UPN contact for the LA18 and it is essential that this person is one of the people with access to Key to Success. Any required changes or anomalies in UPNs should be reported to the Department.

Role of LAs and Schools

Both LAs and schools have a responsibility for regularly maintaining any UPN database within their school or LA and, of course, abiding by the requirements of data protection legislation. Schools will be responsible for ensuring that:

All pupils are allocated a UPN

No two pupils are allocated the same UPN

A pupil does not have more than one UPN

All UPNs in a school’s database system are valid

If a pupil has been admitted from another school, all relevant information, including the UPN of the pupil, is electronically transferred to the receiving school’s system19

If a pupil from the school is moving to another school, all relevant information, including the UPN of the pupil, is electronically transferred to the new school20

UPNs of pupils are not printed or written on any reports or similar documents

UPNs of pupils are not disclosed to anyone without valid consent or legitimate reason

All reasonable efforts are made to maintain UPN as a “blind number” Schools should direct any queries on individual UPNs to the UPN contact for their LA. Similarly, any changes to UPNs made by schools should be reported to their LA UPN contact, who should ensure that such notifications are processed appropriately. If the school is unsure who the UPN contact is within their LA please see the UPN web site or contact the Data Services Centre Helpdesk (see Section 7). LAs should ensure that they monitor the movement of CTFs on the s2s web site.

Trouble shooting: Resolving anomalies within UPNs

The following paragraphs contain recommended standard procedures for dealing with invalid UPNs,

18 Where a job-share agreement is in operation there may be more than one UPN contact. 19 This will normally be accomplished by means of the Common Transfer File (CTF) and the School to School

(s2s) web site – see Section 7. UPN contacts should ensure that they have s2s access rights. 20 Again, this will normally be accomplished by means of the Common Transfer File (CTF) and the School to

School (s2s) web site – see Section 7.




duplicate UPNs and other anomalies.

Dealing with Invalid UPNs

When a school enters a UPN that it has received from a pupil’s previous school, the school’s MIS software will check the validity of that UPN. If the UPN is invalid, then the school should: (1) check that the UPN has been recorded correctly, and, if it has been, (2) check that the previous school has provided the UPN accurately. In order to be valid a UPN must:

a) be 13 characters long; b) have a recognised LA (or “pseudo LA”) code at characters 2-4; c) have digits at characters 5-12; d) have a digit or an upper case letter other than I, O or S at character 13; e) have the correct upper case “check letter” at character 1 derived by a specified formula

from characters 2-13.

Action to take if a UPN is invalid:

If it transpires that there has been no error in the transmission or recording of the UPN (i.e. the UPN as held by the previous school was already invalid using the five definitions above), then the receiving school should issue a new permanent UPN to the pupil.

However, if it is believed that the pupil may already have been allocated with a valid UPN at some point in the past and this UPN has not been passed on, a temporary UPN should be issued, until the previous UPN has been traced.

If the pupil has not already been allocated a valid UPN, a permanent UPN should be issued. Schools should report any changes to a child’s UPN to their LA.

Resolving Duplicate UPNs

There may be cases where a pupil appears to have two UPNs. The general rule for dealing with duplicate UPNs is that the first UPN allocated to a pupil should be retained and should replace any other numbers. If, however, the currently recorded UPN has been used for registering a pupil for Key Stage assessments, that UPN should be retained to enable further assessment data to be linked to that same UPN.

Retrieving UPNs from previous schools

For a pupil transferring from another school, the previous school should notify the new school of the pupil’s UPN. In cases where this does not occur, the new school should make reasonable efforts to ascertain the child’s UPN.

(1) If a child’s previous school is known. The new school should contact the previous school, requesting the UPN (along with any other relevant information). If the information is forthcoming, the UPN should be recorded in the normal manner. If the information is not forthcoming within a reasonable timescale (say two working weeks), the school should inform their LA UPN contact.

The UPN contact should attempt to ascertain the UPN through either: (a) their own internal database system (if the previous school is in the same LA); (b) via Key to Success and/or s2s Lost Pupils Database; or (c) the UPN contact in the previous school’s LA (if the previous school is in a different LA).




If successful, the correct UPN should be transmitted to the new school and this should be recorded in the normal manner. If unsuccessful, the new school should be informed of the search’s failure and advised to allocate a new UPN.

(2) If a child’s previous school is not known. The new school should inform their LA UPN contact. The UPN contact should attempt to ascertain the UPN through either: (a) their own internal database system (if it is possible that the previous school is in the same LA); or (b) via Key to Success and/or s2s Lost Pupils Database; If successful, the correct UPN should be transmitted to the new school and this should be recorded in the normal manner. If unsuccessful, the new school should be informed of the search’s failure and advised to allocate a new UPN.

Permanent versus Temporary UPNs

Temporary UPNs should be given to pupils that have transferred between schools without a valid UPN, but are believed to have been issued with a valid UPN in the past. Issuing a temporary UPN will ensure that other information relating to the pupil may be recorded until such time as a valid UPN can be recovered. (However, it should be noted that, although not good practice, a temporary UPN can remain with a pupil throughout their school career.) NB: Pupils who are allocated UPNs in early years’ education (including nursery classes in primary schools and maintained nursery schools) may sometimes move to a non-maintained early years’ setting before joining a maintained primary school. In these circumstances, UPNs are often lost during the movement of the pupil between the early years’ setting and the primary school. Some primary schools / LAs have allocated temporary UPNs to pupils in nursery classes in primary schools believing that these are preferable to permanent UPNs. This is not the case and, although there is the potential for the loss of previously allocated UPNs, permanent UPNs should be issued to pupils in nursery classes in a maintained school.

Recording of Former UPNs

Most school and LA software systems have the facility to record “Former UPNs”. No guidance has previously been issued regarding the use of this facility. Problems with UPNs are often highlighted during the duplicate UPN checking procedures which take place during and after School Census data collection exercises or during the collation and submission of end of Key Stage assessment results. In some cases, problems occur with UPNs when a child has been wrongly recorded with another child’s UPN. When correcting such errors it is possible that the incorrect UPN is recorded under “Former UPN”. This practice may create new problems in the future when matching routines utilise “Former UPN” within their algorithms. Consequently, it is strongly recommended that the following conventions are applied to the recording of “Former UPNs”:

The "Former UPN" field should not be used to record a UPN wrongly assigned to a child in cases where that UPN rightly belongs to another child.

The "Former UPN" field should only be used in the following circumstances:

o to record a Temporary UPN, allocated pending the discovery of a child's existing Permanent UPN, which has since been replaced by the Permanent UPN; or




o to record a Permanent UPN allocated by the school when, having been unable to ascertain whether a child has been allocated a Permanent UPN previously, a school has allocated a new Permanent UPN (which has not been used for a Key Stage assessment registration process) but then, later, becomes aware of a previous UPN; or

o to record a previous Permanent UPN when, having been unable to ascertain whether

a child has been allocated a Permanent UPN previously, a school has allocated a new Permanent UPN (which has been used for a Key Stage assessment registration process); or

o to record a UPN with a check letter error, if the remaining twelve characters are

identical to the correct UPN (with correct check letter). [This circumstance should now be rare but, unfortunately, was relatively common during the initial UPN introduction period in 1999/2000.]




Section 6: Some special cases

Pupils not attached to any school

There are children who are unattached (either temporarily or permanently) to any maintained school in its area, but for whom the LA has responsibility. These include:

permanently excluded pupils not yet assigned to a new school,

home educated pupils,

SEN pupils attending a non-maintained school (dealt with separately below). We would encourage LAs to allocate UPNs to all such pupils, doing so by a similar procedure to that indicated in Section 4, i.e. using the national formula with a “dummy” school number in the range 3950-3999. It may be appropriate to use different dummy school numbers for each type of pre-school or unattached pupil, but the precise choice of numbers can be at the LA's discretion, provided all numbers are in the 3950-3999 range. It is essential however that the authority has a single point of control for the allocation of UPNs to all types of pre-school or unattached pupil to ensure that no two pupils are allocated the same UPN.

Dually registered pupils

It is essential that each dually registered pupil is allocated only one UPN - so where a pupil is registered at two schools, one must be designated as their "main" school, with only this school allocating them a UPN. The other school will then need to be notified of that UPN. Published guidance for School Census has indicated that where a pupil is dually registered at a mainstream school and at a special school (or PRU), the mainstream school is treated as their “main” school, and we suggest that the same rule is applied for UPN allocation purposes. There may, however, be other forms of dual registration. For example:

Pupils registered at, and dividing their time between, two mainstream schools. In this case, the pupil's "main" school for UPN allocation purposes should be the one where they spend the greater proportion of their time (or, if the time spent at both schools is equal, the school which the pupil normally attends on a Monday morning);

Pupils under 5 attending morning and afternoon nursery classes in separate infant or primary schools. In this case, the school they attend in the morning should be deemed their “main” school.

Pupils from traveller families. In this case, pupils should be issued with a UPN at their winter base school or “main” school, i.e. the school they return to most frequently and stay at for the longest period of time over an academic year.

The Department will provide a ruling on treatment of any other forms of dual registration, whose incidence may be significant, if notified of details by LAs.

SEN pupils

There may be cases where a pupil with Special Educational Needs (SEN) may be studying at a non-maintained school within the LA. A pupil with an SEN statement issued by the LA who is:




attending a maintained school in another area should be treated as that school’s pupil for UPN purposes, and should be allocated their UPN by that school - with the statementing LA being notified of the UPN;

attending a non-maintained special school or independent school should be allocated their UPN by the statementing LA - with the school being notified of the UPN so that it can be included when the school is reporting information about the pupil.

Pupils at risk

Schools may receive pupils who, for their own safety have changed their identity. This will be the case for children in the Witness Protection Programme and for those fleeing from abusive family members. As part of their new identities these pupils should be issued with new permanent UPNs and no previous UPN must be recorded under “Former UPN”.

Adopted Pupils

Pupils who are adopted after they have been allocated a UPN should normally be treated in the same manner as “pupils at risk”, i.e. these pupils should be issued with new permanent UPNs and no previous UPN should be recorded under “Former UPN”. In exceptional circumstances, schools and LAs may retain previous UPN information if express permission has been granted by the pupil’s adopted parents and the designated manager of the local authority’s adoption service.

Education establishments with highly mobile pupils

Some establishments have pupils who are highly mobile and are likely to attend the establishment for only a short time. Pupils in these types of establishment should be treated in the same way as any other pupil and should be issued with a permanent UPN if required. The fact that pupils are only in an establishment for a short time should not mean they are given temporary UPNs.

Pupils transferring from a maintained school to a non-maintained school

If a pupil is allocated a UPN in a maintained school, subsequently moves to a non-maintained school, and then returns to a maintained school, the pupil’s UPN could potentially be lost. Where possible non-maintained schools receiving pupils from the maintained sector should retain pupils ’ UPNs and, if possible, store them in their school databases with the pupils ’ other personal data. The UPNs should be passed on if the pupil returns to the maintained sector. There may still be instances where a pupil moves back from the non-maintained sector into the maintained sector and their previous UPN has been lost. In these instances we recommend the receiving school issues a temporary UPN and follows the guidance in Section 5 on steps to take if a UPN is invalid and/or retrieving UPNs that get lost between schools.

Pupils from overseas

A pupil from abroad will not usually have been allocated a UPN and should therefore be issued a UPN at the first state maintained school they attend. Exceptions to this are pupils educated in schools overseas with an affiliation to this country: these include forces schools and other maintained British overseas/ off-shore establishments. If pupils from these types of establishments have already been issued with a UPN their original UPNs should be retained.

Other Cases

If there are other cases on which formal guidance is required then please notify the Data Services Group Helpdesk (see below). Attempts will be made to cover such cases in future publications and,




in the interim, to provide advice on the UPN web site’s FAQs page.




Section 7: Further Information

Enquiries and Contacts

General enquiries regarding UPNs may be made to the Data Services Group Helpdesk: Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01325 392626

Specific enquiries regarding individual UPNs should be made to LA UPN contacts. Unique Pupil Number web site

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/upn/ Latest news and information on UPNs including access to:

current and historic guidance documentation

the UPN generator spreadsheet

frequently asked questions (FAQs)

LA UPN contacts Common Basic Data Set web site

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/cbds/ Information on the Common Basic Data Set (CBDS), which provides a standard for data used in school, local authority, DCSF and other software systems for management information. The CBDS includes the core data definition for UPN. EduBase web site

http://www.edubase.co.uk/ Up to date database of educational establishments for England and Wales. (Also includes data relating to a number of overseas schools – see Section 4 above.) Key to Success web site

https://www.keytosuccess.dfes.gov.uk/ Access to National Pupil Database (NPD) and assessment data files, including Pupil Achievement Tracker (PAT) compatible data. School to School (s2s) web site

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/s2s/ Secure data transfer site and access to the Lost Pupils Database. Government Data Standards Catalogue web page

http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemasstandards/datastandards.asp Information on the Government Data Standards Catalogue (GDSC), which provides the set of standards to be used in schemas and other interchange processes and which are also recommended for data storage at the business level. The GDSC includes the definition for UPN. Information Commissioner web site

http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/ Information and guidance on the Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act. Becta MIS Interoperability Agreement web page

http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=lv&catcode=ss_lv_mis_im03&rid=195

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/upn/

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/cbds/

http://www.edubase.co.uk/

https://www.keytosuccess.dfes.gov.uk/

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/tools/ims/s2s/

http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemasstandards/datastandards.asp

http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/

http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=lv&catcode=ss_lv_mis_im03&rid=195




Information on the Interoperability Agreement and MIS software suppliers who are signatories.

Unique Pupil Numbers (UPNs) - Policy and Practice Guidance ...including admission and attendance...

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