School preference data collections: technical specification
The requirements local authorities should meet when submitting data for the 20252026 school preference data collections.
- From:
- Department for Education
- Published
- 6 October 2022
- Last updated
-
2212AugustSeptember20242025 — See all updates
Applies to England
Documents
School preference (child level) data collection 2025:2026: business and technical specification
PDF, 430488 KB, 41 pages
Details
This business and technical specification explains:
- what data local authorities should submit
- how to structure the data in XML
- the validation rules that the Department for Education will apply to the data
You should also read the common basic data set (CBDS). This defines common data items that we use in our data collections.
More guidance on submitting data to complete the school preference collections is available.
Updates to this page
Published 6 October 2022
Last updated 2212 AugustSeptember 2024
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Update history
2025-09-12 13:27
Added ‘School preference (child level) data collection 2026: business and technical specification’, replacing the version for 2025.
2024-08-22 10:22
Added ‘School preference (child level) data collection 2025: business and technical specification’, replacing the version for 2024.
2023-09-01 16:21
‘ School preference (child level) data collection 2024: business and technical specification’ replaced the version for 2023.
2022-10-06 11:27
First published.
Details
This business and technical specification explains:
- what data local authorities should submit
- how to structure the data in XML
- the validation rules that the Department for Education will apply to the data
You should also read the common basic data set (CBDS). This defines common data items that we use in our data collections.
More guidance on submitting data to complete the school preference collections is available.
Updates to this page
Sign up for emails or print this page
Update history
2025-09-12 13:27
Added ‘School preference (child level) data collection 2026: business and technical specification’, replacing the version for 2025.
2024-08-22 10:22
Added ‘School preference (child level) data collection 2025: business and technical specification’, replacing the version for 2024.
2023-09-01 16:21
‘ School preference (child level) data collection 2024: business and technical specification’ replaced the version for 2023.
2022-10-06 11:27
First published.