Henry Wish (ESFA)

PDSAT Error Guide

Created

Hi everyone,

Happy Friday!

 Please find below some useful notes on the PDSAT system that will reduce errors:

  • 23/24 isn't ready for upload
  • Process cross ILR reports one by one (e.g. Run 23X-001 separately to 23X-002 and 23X-003)
  • Check for leading spaces '> ' and trailing spaces ' </' for XML fields. Returns will fail to process if the fields have extra spaces.
  • Make sure Postcodes are not double spaced in the middle
  • If users get an error message saying that they are not authenticated they should email the helpdesk to get the account activated
  • All ILR returns need to follow the XML validation schema set by the ESFA (found at this link: Appendices, validation rules, and schema ILR 2023 to 2024 (submit-learner-data.service.gov.uk) under the Schema Definitions section)

Thank you,

 Henry W

Replies

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Karen Simmons

Dear Henry Wish

Thank you for the PDSAT information.

Please can you confirm the best contact number and email address to raise a complaint about the PDSAT application?
We find it incredibly difficult to use, not user friendly at all and very time-consuming.  With the desktop version we could produce a set of reports in 30 minutes, this system can take all day and we still can't get a set of reports with annotations we can rely on.

Thank you.

Henry Wish (ESFA)

Good afternoon Karen Simmons,

If you email in to the service desk or use the online form, mentioning ILR and PDSAT, I will pick it up and pass it on the the PDSAT technicians for review/feedback.

Thank you,

 Henry W

Helen Ogden

I too have been struggling with PDSAT, ever since it went on-line really. I now have a new challenge which I am hoping that someone can help me with. I need to use the Sampler. I have contacted the PDSAT helpdesk a number of times and they have told me to use FIS generated reports. I have run my xml file through FIS and asked the helpdesk which reports I need to upload to PDSAT but no response. Can anyone advise me please? At the moment I am not actually able to get into PDSAT again as it won't run and I do not have the time to keep doing an trial and error approach. So once I can get into it I want to have a clear idea of what to do. Can anyone give me a quick overview of what to do?

Henry Wish (ESFA)

Hi Helen Ogden,

 I don't believe I've seen your enquiry regarding FIS and PDSAT, please use the online form and we'll find a solution.

Thank you,

 Henry W

Ibrahim Mayat

Hi Henry Wish

Any idea when PDSAT 23/24 will be ready?

Kind regards

Ibrahim

Henry Wish (ESFA)

Good morning Ibrahim Mayat,

 Great question!

It's currently being tested for public release though we do not have a date to provide as of yet. We will update this thread once we have something more concrete.

Thank you,

 Henry W

Richard Phipps

Hi Henry,

Please can you pass on the request that we have the DSATS tool available for use earlier in the academic year.

We are nearly at the R04 return point, and so 4 months into the academic year and we don't have the reports available to use with our data, which we are required to check as part of our contract with ESFA.

It would be much easier for all providers if we had the reports available earlier to check our data.

Thank you,
Richard

Ibrahim Mayat

Hi Henry Wish

We were told PDSAT would be ready yesterday and then received an email saying there was a delay. R04 is due next week. If it isn't ready are there any plans to extend the cut off date?

Kind regards

Ibrahim

Henry Wish (ESFA)

Good afternoon Ibrahim Mayat and Richard Phipps,

 I hope you both had a fantastic weekend!

Rest assured your comments have been passed along to the PDSAT and returns teams for consideration. 

Thank you,

 Henry W

Henry Wish (ESFA)

Update - PDSAT 2324 is out and running!

 Cheers,

 Henry W

Chris Roberts

Are the annotations not working? It keeps erroring out for me. 

Thanks 

Liam Darby

I'm unable to upload a 2023 to 2024 R04 file this morning, is this a known issue?

Chris Roberts

I can upload annotations using file name Report-2223-ILR.................which then stores the notes successfully.