Close This Window

How Do I Import Pupils?

Click Here To Print This Document.

If you have a large number of pupils to add into your system at the start of a new academic year, you can use the pupil import function to quickly add their details. For smaller intakes, it may be quicker to manually add the pupil details through the 'Pupil→Add' menu option.

Step 1: Firstly, you need to prepare a file containing all of your pupil details. You can normally produce a report from your MIS system that will contain all of the information you need. For each class of pupils you are loading, create a single CSV file and save it somewhere on your local computer. For example, if you have two reception year classes then you will need to create two CSV files, one for each class of pupils. Follow the steps below to create the CSV files:

  • Prepare a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file with the information for each of the pupils you wish to load. You can create this in a spreadsheet package (Excel etc.) and save it to your desktop as a CSV file (NOTE: The file must be CSV and not native spreadsheet format).
  • The first row of your spreadsheet should contain a line of headings for each column. These are the values that will be loaded, STARS will look for the headings shown below but you can use any headings and then manually match up the columns during the load process. This is optional but will make the load process easier and quicker (See the Supporting Information section for details on the format for the fields below):
    • First Name *
    • Middle Name
    • Last Name *
    • DOB
    • Gender *
    • SEN
    • Ethnicity
    • FSM
    • UPN
    • First Language

  • * Denotes a required field. At minimum, this information must be in your CSV file. All other fields are optional but loading more information now may save you updating the individual pupil information later on.
  • For each of the columns identified above, add the information for each pupil until you have completed all of the columns you wish to load. The acceptable values for these fields are shown at the end of this HDI guide.
  • Save the document at a CSV (or optionally a TAB delimited file) somewhere on your local computer (recommended to save to your desktop for easy access).
  • Repeat the process for each class of pupil information ensuring you save each file with a unique name.

Step 2: Once you have logged into STARS and are at the Home page, follow these steps to begin importing pupils:

  • From the menu bar, click 'Maintenance→Import Pupils'.
  • STARS will display the import screen.
  • From the drop-down list, select the class that you wish to import pupils into. This will normally be one of your reception classes but pupils can be loaded into any class on your system.
  • Click on the 'Browse' button to select the correct CSV files to import into this class.
  • If you created the file as TAB delimited then change the 'Import File Type' to 'TAB'.
  • If you didn't add headings as the first row in your file then remove the tick from the 'Headings Are First Row' checkbox.
  • Click Accept continue.

Step 3: On the screen now displayed you can adjust the information you wish to load. Remember, fields identified in red above are required and cannot be excluded from the load process.

  • Next to each column descriptor (First Name, Middle Name etc.) is a drop-down list. If your headings are the same as in the list shown above then STARS will have automatically identified the fields in your file and matched the drop-down lists accordingly. If you headings didn't match, or if you didn't have headings in your file, then you will need to manually adjust the drop-downs to identify the field in your file to load into the column that STARS shows for each item. For files that do not have headings you will need to pick the columns by number (Column 1, Column 2 etc.).
  • Click 'Accept' to validate the file.

Step 4: Each row in your CSV file has been validated to check that the values match those needed by STARS to load the pupil. Any errors will be displayed next to the import field. No pupil information is loaded yet, you need to confirm the validation process before any pupil details will be added to your system.

  • Check the details shown for each pupil. Any errors will be identified with an error message under the field in red and the 'Caution' caution symbol will also be shown.
  • You will need to make corrections in your load file (the CSV file you created and saved on your computer) where errors are identified on this screen. You can keep the validation screen displayed while you correct the CSV file then repeat the load process again from step 2 above.
  • The 'Validation Summary' at the end of the page shows the class you are loading the pupils into and the number of rows with errors and the number of completely valid rows. Check that the number of pupils you are loading matches the number of valid rows identified in this section.
  • If you had headings at the start of your CSV file then this row will be ignored (and the 'Number Of Rows Ignored' summary line will show '1').
  • If your CSV file contained empty rows then these will be highlighted as error rows. You can ignore these rows if they do not contain any pupil information.

Step 5: Once you are happy that your file contains the correct information and the right number of pupils will be imported you can begin the actual load of the pupils.

  • Click 'Import' to begin the import process. This is the point that the pupil details will be added to your system. No changes are made to your system until you click 'Import'.
  • Pupils will be added to the class and to any automatic Extended Groups (for example, SEN and automatic National Curriculum Extended Groups).
  • Parent and Carer usernames and passwords will automatically be generated for them.
  • SEN and Extended Group history information will be added to the pupil information.

Supporting Information

Each field that you load for a pupil must be in the correct format. This section describes what STARS expects for each column that it loads.

  • First, Middle and Last Name.
    • Any text. If spaces are used then STARS will change them to hyphens.
  • DOB
    • A date of birth in the format 'DD/MM/YYYY'. Other formats are acceptable (for example, 'YYYY/MM/DD'. '-' or ':' may be used as delimiters) but STARS will convert these to the standard format.
  • Gender
    • Must be 'F' or 'M'
  • SEN (Special Educational Needs)
    • Not Applicable: Left blank or empty, 'NOT APPLICABLE' or 'N/A'
    • School Action: 'SCHOOL ACTION' or 'SA'
    • School Action Plus: SCHOOL ACTION PLUS or 'SAP'
    • Statement: 'STATEMENT' or 'STATEMENTED'
  • Ethnicity. This must correspond to the items on the Government list of ethnicity codes as shown below (will default to 'WHITE' if not present):
    • ANY OTHER ASIAN BACKGROUND
    • ANY OTHER BLACK BACKGROUND
    • ANY OTHER ETHNIC GROUP
    • ANY OTHER MIXED BACKGROUND
    • ANY OTHER WHITE BACKGROUND
    • BANGLADESHI
    • BLACK - AFRICAN
    • BLACK - CARIBBEAN
    • CHINESE
    • GYPSY / ROMA
    • INDIAN
    • INFORMATION NOT YET OBTAINED
    • PAKISTANI
    • REFUSED
    • TRAVELLER OF IRISH HERITAGE
    • WHITE
    • WHITE - EASTERN EUROPEAN
    • WHITE - IRISH
    • WHITE - WESTERN EUROPEAN
    • WHITE AND ASIAN
    • WHITE AND BLACK AFRICAN
    • WHITE AND BLACK CARIBBEAN
  • FSM (Free School Meals)
    • Must be 'Y' or 'N' (will default to 'N' if not present).
  • UPN (Unique Pupil Number)
    • Any text value or blank if not loading this value.
  • First Language. This must correspond to the items on the Government list of language codes as shown below (will default to 'ENGLISH' if not present). Setting any language other than English will also set the English as an Additional Language identifier for the pupil:
    • ARABIC
    • AWADHI
    • AZERBAIJANI
    • BENGALI
    • BHOJPURI
    • BURMESE
    • CHINESE, GAN
    • CHINESE, HAKKA
    • CHINESE, JINYU
    • CHINESE, MANDARIN
    • CHINESE, MIN NAN
    • CHINESE, WU
    • CHINESE, XIANG
    • CHINESE, YUE(CANTONESE)
    • CZECH
    • DUTCH
    • ENGLISH
    • FRENCH
    • GERMAN
    • GUJARATI
    • HAUSA
    • HINDI
    • ITALIAN
    • JAPANESE
    • JAVANESE
    • KANNADA
    • KOREAN
    • LATVIAN
    • LUGANDA
    • MAITHILI
    • MALAYALAM
    • MARATHI
    • ORIYA
    • OTHER/NOT KNOWN
    • PANJABI, EASTERN
    • PANJABI, WESTERN
    • PERSIAN
    • POLISH
    • PORTUGUESE
    • ROMANIAN
    • RUSSIAN
    • SERBO-CROATIAN
    • SINDHI
    • SPANISH
    • SUNDA
    • TAMIL
    • TELUGU
    • THAI
    • TURKISH
    • UKRAINIAN
    • URDU
    • VIETNAMESE
    • YORUB

Are you still unsure?

Click Here to launch your email application and send a support email. Let us know the problem you are having or the item you need more information on and we'll email you back.

Do you need to speak to someone now?

Telephone 0845 8386860 to speak to the STARS helpdesk. Be sure to have your school name or customer number handy when you call.

© 2010 FourForm Ltd