Spring School Census 2025 – Fileset 2900 series

Hosted Schools  Fileset 2901 – was applied to all Hosted Schools on 15th November 2024 Non-hosted Schools will need to download and import the file below:  Click here for    Fileset 2901 The Fileset 2901 – is also available on Solus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This fileset is now available – please see instructions below on how to…

Spring School Census 2025 – Bulletin

This FAQ lists the latest information regarding the School Census. It contains information on the latest filesets, patches and errors. To jump to the latest SIMS Census documentation and FAQ’s Click here. For Schools wanting the latest documentation for Census and using Arbor or Bromcom  Click here  to jump to the relevant section. For information…

Maintaining Pay Related Information in SIMS

The Pay Related area in SIMS is a key part of the SIMS Personnel module that needs to be regularly maintained to make sure that information is kept up-to-date and relevant. There are two key areas in SIMS where Pay Related information needs to be maintained. The Pay Related area Accessed via Tools > Staff…

Managing Courses in SIMS

The Course Manager area in SIMS needs to be regularly maintained to make sure that information is kept up-to-date and relevant. You can access this area by going to Tools > Academic Management > Course Manager. Key activities that should be regularly checked in Course Manager include: Check that all active Courses are still relevant…

SIMS Housekeeping

It is important to keep the data that is held within your SIMS system up-to-date and accurate. Below are some suggestions for Housekeeping routines you can run in SIMS to check that your data is correct, along with guidance on how to complete these routines in SIMS. SIMS Module Routine Guidance Tools Validate Memberships and…

Check all staff have a work email address in SIMS

Below is a report you can import into SIMS to check all staff have a work email. Staff Work email To import a report into SIMS To download and import the Staff work email Staff Work email Save the file Staff Work email into a folder on your computer. Unzip it and save the file In…

Bulk Update Parental consent

The facility to Bulk Update pupil/student information enables you to simultaneously assign values to a group of pupil/students, and then edit any individual exceptions if required. Routines | Pupil (or Student) | Bulk Update. The Group Type indicates the type of group you wish to work with whilst the Group allows you to select the…

Deleting Unlinked Persons from SIMS

Unlinked persons should be deleted from SIMS. This may be, pupils, employees, applicants, agents, contacts or other individuals whose historical data should no longer be retained in line with GDPR guidelines. Go to Tools>Housekeeping>Delete unlinked persons A list of unlinked persons recorded in SIMS should show Select the check box at the top left hand…

Validate Memberships & Database Diagnostics

Validate Memberships and Database Diagnostics are key housekeeping routines that perform a collection of checks and fixes which are applied to the SIMS database when they are run. These processes ensure that all group memberships are brought into line with Academic Year boundaries. These routines can be run by SIMS users with the SIMS System…

Academic dates in SIMS

To check your schools academic dates are correct in SIMS go to Routines>School>Edit academic year Select the year you wish to check Click ‘Next’ until you are happy with the dates and then select ‘Update’ If you have made any changes please note that this may take some time to update. It is best to…

Bulk Updating Parental Salutations

These are the steps to follow to bulk update the Parental Salutation and Parental Addressee fields for a student’s record. You can update this field one by one via their profile under Tab 5: Family/Home. To add it in bulk, go to: Routines > Student > Update Salutation / Addressee > Parental Click Search and highlight…

Updating Mailing point in SIMS

When generating a report to parents/guardians you may only want to send the letter to one child per family. From Tools>Housekeeping>General You can set the mailing point to either Oldest or Youngest child Once you are happy with your choice click ‘Apply’ and then ‘Save’    

Housekeeping: Merging Agencies and Agents

Over time, duplicate agents and agencies may appear in SIMS. Merge Agencies  Go to Tools>Housekeeping>Merge agencies Click on the Yellow folders and see if you have any duplicate agencies. In the Main Agency panel select the agency you wish to keep and in the Agency to be merged panel select the duplicate.  In the Options…

Deal with Missing marks in SIMS

How to check if you have missing marks in SIMS. Go to Focus>Attendance>Deal with Missing Marks Change the date filters and group type as appropriate and click ‘Search’ Click the Yellow Open folder button and enter in your missing marks for each pupil Once all marks have been entered click ‘Save’    

SIMS Autumn release 2024 – Fileset 2900 series

Fileset 2901 is for schools who have upgraded to the Autumn release of SIMS Current fileset: 2901 – This fileset is now available Hosted Schools Fileset 2901 will be applied to hosted schools after the autumn upgrade has been completed. This is due to take place on Friday 15th November 2024 from 5pm. Please see here…

Autumn 2024 Upgrade to SIMS (v7.220) and FMS (v6.220)

The Autumn 2024 SIMS Upgrade (V7.220) & FMS (V6.220) is planned to be rolled out on the evening of Friday 15th November 2024 (Scomis Hosted users please log off by 5pm) Non Hosted users: The new release will be authorised in Solus on Friday 15th November 2024 SIMS Autumn Fileset Please click here Consolidated CWPaul1 – Patch…

How can I prepare data and be ready for the School Census Return?

The School Census will collect individual characteristics and pupil records three times a year Autumn Census  /  Spring Census  /  Summer Census This FAQ is designed to help you through this process and inform you of the data that is collected in the census and how you could prepare in advance and be ready on…

Autumn 2024 – School Census Bulletin

This FAQ lists the latest information regarding the School Census. It contains information on the latest filesets, patches and errors. To jump to the latest SIMS Census documentation and FAQ’s Click here. For Schools wanting the latest documentation for Census and using Arbor or Bromcom  Click here  to jump to the relevant section. For information…

Autumn 2024 – Fileset 2800 series – School Census

Hosted Schools  Fileset 2805 – was applied to all Hosted Schools on 23rd October 2024 Non-hosted Schools will need to download and import the file below:  Click here for    Fileset 2805 The Fileset 2805 – is also available on Solus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This fileset is now available – please see instructions below on how to…

Adding Qualification no longer in the QWS QAN Catalogue

The DfE QWS QAN Catalogue now only supports new qualifications where they are applicable for use in the sixth form. To add qualifications no longer in the QWS QAN catalogue you will need to do the following: Within SIMS select Tools | Examinations | Add Qualification Data Click OK Click New Type the QN e.g. 60370506 Add…

Examination Bulletin 2024

Key Dates: Restricted release of results to centres only; Wednesday 14 August 2024: GCE AS and A-level, FSMQ, Extended Project, Level 3 Vocational and Technical qualifications Wednesday 21 August 2024: GCSE, ELC, Foundation and Higher Projects, Level 1 and Level 2 Vocational and Technical qualifications Release of results to candidates; 8:00am Thursday 15 August 2024: GCE AS and…

DfE changes to attendance codes from 19th August 2024

From 19th August 2024 there are several changes to attendance codes as per the DfE guidance below https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance Changes include: Removal of some historic codes Introduction of new codes including multi-character codes Introduction of Statutory Explanation Removal of some historic codes As per the DfE’s reform, the following codes will no longer be available for…

Summer 2024 Upgrade to SIMS (v7.218) and FMS (v6.218)

The Summer 2024 SIMS Upgrade (V7.218) & FMS (V6.218) is planned to be rolled out on the evening of Friday 12th July 2024 (Scomis Hosted users please log off by 5pm) Non Hosted users: The new release will be authorised in Solus on Friday 12th July 2024 Schools with SchoolComms IMPORTANT: Please be aware due to statutory…

Summer 2024 – School Census – Fileset 2700 series

Hosted Schools  Fileset 2702 – was successfully applied to Hosted Schools – Thursday 16th May 2024   Non-hosted Schools will need to download and import the file below:  (ESS have advised you ensure you have already applied Consolidated Workstation Patch 2 before importing Fileset 2702) Click here for  Fileset 2702 The Fileset 2702 is now…

Key Stage Bulletin 2024

This FAQ contains the latest information and guides regarding the Key Stage Return 2024.  Please see below for further guidance Changes to KS1 – The DFE have announced that KS1 is now a non statutory arrangement. This means that unless stated otherwise you do not need to provide a CTF of your KS1 results to…

Summer 2024 – School Census Bulletin

This FAQ lists the latest information regarding the School Census. It contains information on the latest filesets, patches and errors. To jump to the latest SIMS Census documentation and FAQ’s Click here. For Schools wanting the latest documentation for Census and using Arbor or Bromcom  Click here  to jump to the relevant section. Register for…

End of Year Procedures 2024

This FAQ lists the latest information regarding the End of Year procedures within SIMS, Arbor and Bromcom. It contains all guidance notes required to carry out the procedure and links to useful FAQ’s. You must complete these procedures before the start of the new academic year. It is critical that the new academic year is…

Quick Letter Template Update 2024 – Process

Following the 2024 Spring Upgrade the Quick Letter Template has been updated. If you are using Quick Letter for the first time please also read: https://faq.scomis.org/kb6470/ This has been applied to the Scomis Hosted Platform, however users will need to carry out the following actions: Hosted Schools: Schools which use their own customised Quick Letter…

Spring 2024 Upgrade to SIMS (v7.216) and FMS (v6.216)

The Spring 2024 SIMS Upgrade (V7.216) & FMS (V6.216) is planned to be rolled out on the evening of Friday 15th March 2024 (Scomis Hosted users please log off by 5pm) Non Hosted users: The new release will be authorised in Solus on Friday 15th March 2024 If a school is using an older version of…