Examinations Organiser in the SIMS Summer 2013 Release

The purpose of this document is to assist you in making an informed decision with regard to upgrading to the SIMS Summer Release and the implications that this may have on your preparations for the forthcoming Examinations Results Day.

Upgrading to the SIMS Summer 2013 Release

Significant changes have been made to the Performance Indicator routines in Examinations Organiser to improve the accuracy of Non EDI results entry. These changes also extend to improvements in Course Manager to provide a more streamlined and seamless approach to the allocation of Qualification Accreditation Numbers to facilitate accurate Post 16 funding.

As a result of this work, it has been necessary to store the Non EDI results in a different location. Therefore, any Non EDI results required for inclusion in the Summer Examinations analysis that were entered manually prior to upgrading to the SIMS Summer Release, need to be deleted and
re-entered using the revised routines.

The benefits of the Summer Release include:

  • New functionality for entering Non EDI results.
  • A dynamic link to Course Manager to maximise the automated entry and validation of data against import files containing information derived from the Register of Regulated Qualifications (RRQ, Ofqual- England and NI) and by the Database of Approved Qualifications (DAQW-Wales):
  • Performance Measures ENG and NI ONLY
  • Performance Measures WALES ONLY.xml
  • NIEFQAN.xml provided by C2K for schools in Northern Ireland.
  • An update to PI Calculation Points for the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma Level 3 and Level Code SD3.
  • Additionally, the SIMS Summer Release also corrects a discrepancy in the way that the basedata results type was being used for OCR Cambridge Nationals units. To ensure that the June 2013 Cambridge National unit results (R001 to R078) can be correctly imported on Examinations Results Day and that the correct aspects and grade sets are present, you must refresh the Cambridge Nationals basedata for both January 2013 and for the Summer series.

What Actions Should We Take?

The following flowchart can help to determine which actions need to be carried out to enter
Non EDI Results, where necessary:

Implications of Remaining on the SIMS Spring 2013 Release

If you choose to remain on the SIMS Spring Release for the Examinations Results Day, a number of factors must be considered:

  • You must fully complete all exam processes whilst using the SIMS Spring Release. You cannot upgrade to the SIMS Summer Release part-way through the process and then realise that the results need to be collated again after you’ve checked the Forvus return. This would result in the Non EDI results having to be removed by running Patch 18307and then manually re-entered using the new functionality in the SIMS Summer Release.
  • As there is no link between Exam Results and Courses in the SIMS Spring Release, any manually entered Exam Results will be entered without a link to a Course. This is less important than it was last year, as Exam Results are no longer included in the School Census for Autumn. However, the type of Exams where manual entries are necessary, are typically the type of Exams where the student ultimately takes a different variant of the Exam from that originally intended. Where there is no link between the manually entered Exam Result and the Course, you may have to manually modify the QAN and Discount Code at a student Learning Aims level in the School Census.
  • You will need to obtain and run Patch 17544 from the SIMS Service Desk. This adds the PI Calculation Points for the additionalLevels that have been supplied with the SIMS Summer Release.

Additional Documentation

Please refer to the SIMS Summer Release Notes for an overview of all the improvements made to Examinations Organiser and Course Manager. The following additional handbooks have also been updated for Summer 2013:

  • The Results Day Survival Kit is available from SupportNet as Resource Number 19874.
  • The Processing Results and Calculating PI Data in Examinations Organiser handbook and The New Course Manager handbook are available from the Documentation Centre in SIMS.