FAQ

1.Click Advanced Search on the left hand side.
2.By default Independent Establishment and Maintained Establishment are selected under Type of Establishment, deselect these and choose Special Schools.
3.Click Search and this will bring you to your search results.

If you wish to have a more detailed search, you can use more filters such as Local Authorities, Gender, Open/Close, Phase of Education and Radius Within a Certain postcode to narrow down your search results.

If you require a new URN Number for an EY Setting you will need to contact the Data and Statistics Division Helpdesk at the following details:

Phone: 01325 392626

Email: dsd.helpdesk@education.gsi.gov.uk 

From 01/09/2011 there will be three new school types held in EduBase. 
- Academy Free Schools
- Academy Free Special Schools
- British Over Seas Schools

From the 1st September you will be able to see all records of schools that are open and have one of these types of schools using 'Advanced search' on the portal.

For policy related queries on these school types please contact:

Academy Free Schools: Nick Parry email: nick.parry@education.gsi.gov.uk telephone: 0114 274 2546

British Schools Overseas: Lisa Thom email: list.thom@education.gsi.gov.uk telephone: 01325 735 557

To add a pupil referral unit to the system a PRU 99 form will need to be sent to the Department for Education. 

*If you are a PRU user*
Contact your local authority, they will be able to pass information to Department for Education on your behalf.

*If an LA user*
Ensure PRU99 form has been completed, send to the Alternative Provision Team within the Department for Education.

To edit a pupil referral unit on EduBase a PRU 99 form needs to be submitted to the Department for Education or the establishment user will have to update the establishment record by logging in.

*If you are a PRU user*
Log into the system, make the changes directly. These changes may need to be approved by the Department for Education. Alternatively, contact your local authority who can submit a PRU99 form on your behalf.

*If an LA user*
Ensure PRU99 form has been completed, send to the Alternative Provision Team within the Department for Education.

Secure Access (SA) will be live from the 10th December. The PIN required for Secure Access, which is essential for first registration after go-live, will be available by the 31/10/2012, and can be retrieved at any time after that date. The PIN will be displayed as field name "Secure Access PIN" on bottom left of the 'Communications' tab when you log into EduBase. 

For further information regarding Secure Access please follow updates on the Secure Access website (http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/datatdatam/secureaccess).

You can update your school details by logging onto 
www.education.gov.uk/edubase using your EduBase unique login details. 

Once logged in on the left hand menu you will see 'My Establishment Record'. Clicking on this will show you the data held for your Establishment. 

On this page you will have the option to choose the 'Edit Record' link which will show the fields in an editable mode. Note that the summary page is made up of values from other tabs so can not be edited directly.

Once you have made your changes click 'Apply' and 'Save' on the confirmation page. If the changes do not reflect immediately on the web site they have been sent to the relevant team at the Department for Education to be approved. Do not be alarmed about this, the changes will be approved or rejected in due course.

For further detailed instructions please review the EduBase User Guide. Establishment records are detailed in page 13. This can be located under the 'Reference' link on the left hand menu. Once drilled into this click on the 'documentation' link which should show this user guide.

The way you receive a login to EduBase depends on who you represent:

- If you are a maintained Establishment user, your user Login name will be 'URN_HT'. For example URN: 999999 login will be '999999_HT'.

- If you are a Independent Establishment user, your user Login name will be 'URN_HT'. For example URN: 999999 login will be '999999_HT'.

- Members of a Government Department, Local Authority, NDPB or related institution must ask their team leaders to request a login on their behalf, or by sending us a feedback/service request from the left menu.

- Members of a private company under contract must also supply details of their government contact who can be contacted for verification.

- Members of private companies not under government contract are generally not entitled to login access to EduBase.

- Members of the public are free to access the public site, and receive up to two free extracts per year under the power of information framework.

- If you already have a login account, and have forgotten your password, you can easily reset it by clicking on 'Forgot your login details' in the Login page and entering your e-mail address. If you get the message of unrecognised email, just contact the Service Desk and we will assist you further. Please note that this function is not available for maintained schools.

- If you are still having difficulties, make sure you have entered your login details correctly. You can ensure this by copying and pasting from your password reminder email. Also, please make sure that your CAPS LOCK is not on when you enter your password. 

If you continue to experience problems please contact the Service Desk to assist you.

There are two ways which a field on EduBase can be changed. 

- If you have login details, you can suggest changes yourself (Please see the Login FAQ for more information on logging in). Some changes will be actioned immediately, 
others will have to be approved first. This can take some time (Approx. 1 week)
          
- If you do not have login details please email the Service Desk (please do not use the feedback form to request a field change), including the URN or DCSF number of the Establishment, the change you wish to make, 
and your identity as we need to validate every change. We will inform you when your change request has been actioned.

A URN is a Unique Reference Number that is assigned to each establishment. You can find your establishment's URN by entering the town, locality, postcode or establishment name in the search box on the "Public home" item in the left hand menu on EduBase. 

You can also use the "Advanced search" link where you select the radio button next to "To find out a specific establishment fill in its identifier" and enter the Department for Education number which is made up of the Local Authority (LA) number/establishment number. It is very important that the format of entering the Department for Education number is entered correctly. Again it's the LA number/establishment number, eg 999/9999. 

Once you have found the establishment record click into the summary page. On the top left hand corner the URN is displayed alongside the Local Authority code. 

If you need assistance please review 'How do I search for an establishment number' FAQ for more details.

You can search for an establishment using one of the three options that EduBase gives:

1. The quick search.
This is the basic search that appears when you visit EduBase. It allows you to quickly search for an establishment if you know its identifiers or its basic information. 

2. The advanced search.
This is accessible from the left hand side menu of from the relevant link of the home page. 
The advances search gives you the option to filter the main fields of EduBase with a few clicks.

3. The filters functionality (accessible only in the secure portals).
This functionality is accessible by the 'Filters and Extract/Filters' link on the left hand side menu. This allows you to perform a detailed search of EduBase. 

If you need assistance in using the filters, please visit the relevant FAQs, read the help text available, consult the user guide or contact our service desk. 

There may be an answer already in the help documentation. On most pages there is a help box at the top of the page. Click on it to expand.

There is also a number of FAQ's which may also assist in any queries you may have.

In addition, under the help page (accessible from the left hand side menu) you can download the user guide and step-by-step guides for some of the system features (if available to you). 
 

Often, the Establishment is on EduBase, but your search is not picking it up. 
If the Establishment is closed it will not show up on the quick search. Please use the 'Advanced search' page and choose Closed and Proposed to Open.

Here are some ways to improve the chances of a successful search:

Try filling in less fields, for instance, leave the locality blank when searching by school name, just choose the Local Authority.

Try using just part of an Establishment's name when searching, their statutory name may be slightly different to their commonly used name.

Use the first half of the Establishment's postcode.

Search by DfE (LA/Establishment) Number or URN at the bottom of the 'Advanced Search' page.

Everyone is entitled to two free extracts (EduBase information on a spreadsheet) per year. To request one, please click on the 'SUBSCRIBE' link from the left hand menu and choose to log in as a 'PUBLIC' user.

This is the number of full time pupils at the time of the Annual Census only. For certain establishments such as Nurseries, this number can differ from the number of part time students.
(Currently EduBase does not hold this information).

EduBase will have this feature in a future planned release. You will have the ability to hold many different addresses for your establishment and different contact names linked to several addresses. 

When this update happens, notifications will be posted on the Website.

EduBase holds Previous LA/Establishment Number information. During  a school's life, for certain reasons, its DfE (LA/Establishment) number may change.
EduBase will show up a school if its 'previous' number matches your search. The greyed out row in your results is the school that was returned because its previous numbers match your search criteria. 

An Extract is a snapshot of EduBase delivered in a spreadsheet format, such as Excel, or as an XML file. An extract is made in two parts:
- Firstly you can filter on which schools appear in the extract using ‘Filters’, eg. I want only Community special schools. 
- Then, you can specify how much information about each establishment you require, using the 'select fields and extract data' page. eg. I want only the URN and the address.

Please note that you need to have an account with EduBase to access this functionality.

Under the Power of Information framework, public and commercial users are entitled to two free extracts per year, after which there is a service fee. 

Please contact our service desk for information regarding the service charges.