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Questions and answers
These are the questions staff ask most often about Sisra Analytics, Juniper Education’s analysis tool for secondary schools and sixth forms. Each answer links to the page with the detail. If something is not working, see Troubleshooting.
Collecting data
Section titled “Collecting data”How many assessment collections should we run each year?
Section titled “How many assessment collections should we run each year?”Two or three for each year group is enough for most schools. The DfE’s 2018 report ‘Making data work’ saw “no reason why a school should have more than two or three attainment data collection points a year”. Sisra lets you publish two collections a term, but treat that as a ceiling, not a target. See Collect two or three times a year.
What is the difference between working-at, predicted and target grades?
Section titled “What is the difference between working-at, predicted and target grades?”A working-at grade is the standard a pupil or student is working at now, in the work covered so far. A predicted grade is the grade teachers expect at the end of the course, and a target is the grade you are aiming for. Give each collection the matching grade type, and keep to one kind of grade in a cohort’s collections where you can. See Working-at, predicted and target grades.
Does Sisra connect to our MIS?
Section titled “Does Sisra connect to our MIS?”No. You export files from your management information system (MIS) and upload them to Sisra as .csv, .xlsx, .xls or .xml files. Staff records reach Juniper Portal through Wonde or Juniper MIS, but only for signing in. See No live link to the MIS.
Do we still need the Sisra Excel Add-In?
Section titled “Do we still need the Sisra Excel Add-In?”No. Sisra has not needed the Excel Add-In since November 2024. Upload the file from your MIS as it is, and map its columns as you upload. See Upload grades.
Can we add more data sets?
Section titled “Can we add more data sets?”No. Each cohort has an Exams data set, six other standalone data sets and an Assessments area for collections. You can rename every data set except Exams and TAGs / CAGs, and create as many collections as you need. See Rename a data set.
Why has our change not reached the reports?
Section titled “Why has our change not reached the reports?”The reports show only what has been published. After you change student data, baselines, matching or grades, publish the part you changed and the parts that depend on it. See When to republish.
Progress 8, estimates and value added
Section titled “Progress 8, estimates and value added”Why is Progress 8 blank for our 2025 and 2026 leavers?
Section titled “Why is Progress 8 blank for our 2025 and 2026 leavers?”These pupils were in year 6 in 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021, when the KS2 tests were cancelled because of COVID-19. Without KS2 results there is no starting point, so the DfE publishes no Progress 8 for those two years. Sisra leaves it blank unless your school uploaded converted KS2 scores, and any figure is then your school’s own. See Progress 8 for cohorts without KS2 results.
Which estimates should we publish with?
Section titled “Which estimates should we publish with?”For current KS3/4 cohorts, Juniper’s advice of 12 October 2026 is to use the DfE’s official 2024 Attainment 8 and value added estimates. Choose 2024 for the estimates and 2024 Collab for Data Collaboration: they are the latest data based on real KS2 scaled scores. For leavers, use the DfE’s official estimates for the year they were reported in, where they exist. See Choose the publishing options.
Will Progress 8 come back?
Section titled “Will Progress 8 come back?”The DfE’s 2025 accountability guidance says “It will be possible to produce Progress 8 in 2026 to 2027”. Pupils leaving year 11 in 2027, Sisra’s 26/27 cohort, took KS2 tests in 2022. Until the DfE’s 2027 estimates appear, treat their Progress 8 as indicative. See What returns for 2026 to 2027.
Why do Sisra’s figures differ from the DfE’s or FFT’s?
Section titled “Why do Sisra’s figures differ from the DfE’s or FFT’s?”The DfE uses checked data with late results and re-marks, and the estimates for the pupils’ own year. Sisra uses the files you publish and the estimates you chose, often an earlier year’s. FFT estimates are something else again: a benchmark grade for each pupil, with a chance of each grade, from FFT’s own model. To trace a difference from the DfE’s figure, compare pupil by pupil. See Where Sisra differs from the DfE and From FFT Aspire.
Can we forecast Progress 8 for this year’s year 11?
Section titled “Can we forecast Progress 8 for this year’s year 11?”Sisra can show Progress 8 for a current cohort, using an earlier year’s estimates. Treat it as internal and indicative, and say which estimates it uses. The DfE’s 2025 accountability guidance says “Schools should not try to predict pupil or school level progress scores in advance”. See Do not predict or share pupil-level Progress 8.
Can we share progress scores with pupils and parents?
Section titled “Can we share progress scores with pupils and parents?”Not individual scores. The DfE’s 2025 accountability guidance says “Schools should not share individual pupil progress scores with pupils or parents”. Talk with pupils and families about their work and grades instead. See Do not predict or share pupil-level Progress 8.
What does a negative residual mean?
Section titled “What does a negative residual mean?”A residual compares pupils’ results in one subject with their own average across all their subjects. A negative residual means they did less well in that subject than in their others. Residuals balance out within a school and reflect how severely each subject is graded, so languages are often negative. Compare a subject with its own trend and its Subject Progress Index before you draw conclusions. See Read residuals and subject differences with care.
Why do the Subject Progress Index and Progress 8 differ?
Section titled “Why do the Subject Progress Index and Progress 8 differ?”The Subject Progress Index (SPI) compares each grade with those of pupils with the same KS2 score who took the subject in Sisra Data Collaboration. It counts only pupils with a grade in the subject, and scores English language and English literature separately. Progress 8 covers a pupil’s eight Attainment 8 qualifications, against the estimates you published with. Use SPI to compare subjects, not as a subject Progress 8. See Subject Progress Index.
Why does a student have no value added?
Section titled “Why does a student have no value added?”A sixth form student needs KS4 prior attainment and a grade in an approved qualification that has national data. T Levels and grades worth no entries get no value added. A discounted grade has value added only in Grade Analysis, not in the school’s figures. To count in the headline figures, the student also needs a status that counts. See Set up KS5 value added and Who counts.
Which year’s national data should we use for KS5 value added?
Section titled “Which year’s national data should we use for KS5 value added?”For leavers, choose the year they were reported in: the 24/25 leavers use 2025. The 25/26 leavers can use 2025 until 2026 data appears in the list. For a current cohort, choose the latest year and treat the figures as internal estimates. See Which year’s national data.
Expected grades and targets
Section titled “Expected grades and targets”Why is a pupil below their flight path?
Section titled “Why is a pupil below their flight path?”Their grade is below the expected grade that their Expected Attainment Pathway (EAP) sets for the term. Check what the EAP is based on: working-at grades set against end-of-course targets put most pupils below track early on. Few pupils progress in a straight line, so treat being below as a reason to look at the pupil’s work. See What the evidence says about flight paths.
Can pupils with the same baseline have different expected grades?
Section titled “Can pupils with the same baseline have different expected grades?”Yes. An EAP gives everyone with the same baseline the same pathway, but an exception gives one pupil different expected grades. Use exceptions for a few pupils only. If most pupils need one, set the EAP up differently. See Give a pupil a different pathway.
Why do our predictions keep coming in too high?
Section titled “Why do our predictions keep coming in too high?”Teachers’ forecasts are often optimistic, especially for lower grades. In a study of 686,596 OCR GCSE entries, 42.4% of forecasts were too high and 14.0% too low. After each results day, compare each subject’s predictions with its results, and use predictions to plan support, not to judge teachers. See Treat predicted grades as estimates.
How do we see who is on, above or below target?
Section titled “How do we see who is on, above or below target?”There are two ways. Use targets as the baselines of your EAPs, so that on track means on target. Or open a collection and use Compare with your targets data set, which colours each grade against the target. See Create target-based EAPs and Compare.
Reports
Section titled “Reports”Why is grade 5 or above in maths different in Headlines and Grades?
Section titled “Why is grade 5 or above in maths different in Headlines and Grades?”Headlines divides by the pupils in the cohort and counts each pupil’s first entry. The Grades area divides by the grades in the subject and uses each pupil’s best grade. So a pupil with no maths grade lowers the Headlines percentage but not the Grades one. See Grades reports.
What do Unchecked, Checked and Locked mean?
Section titled “What do Unchecked, Checked and Locked mean?”Your administrator sets these report statuses: Checked data “has been finalised and verified”, while Unchecked data “may be subject to change”. Everyone who can see reports can open both. Locked reports open only for authority groups with View Locked Reports, which by default means Admin. At KS5, Incomplete means some results are missing. See Check a report’s status.
Do reports show pupils’ filters as they are now, or as they were?
Section titled “Do reports show pupils’ filters as they are now, or as they were?”As they are now. Every report uses the latest published student data, so a filter shows each pupil’s current value, even in an old report. See Which student data a report uses.
What are the collaboration figures in the blue columns?
Section titled “What are the collaboration figures in the blue columns?”They come from Sisra Data Collaboration: anonymised results from schools that use Sisra and opted in. They are an early comparison, not national figures. In 2026, the first figures were available at 3:45pm on GCSE results day. See What the figures are and are not.
Results day
Section titled “Results day”Who can see results on results day?
Section titled “Who can see results on results day?”In 2026, the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) limited results to the head of centre, exams staff and senior teaching staff until their release. In Sisra, an Exams report published during the embargo window opens only for groups with View Embargo Reports, which by default means Admin. In 2026 the windows closed at 8am on each results day. To keep results hidden for longer, publish Exams as Locked. See How the results embargo works.
What should we do on results day, and in what order?
Section titled “What should we do on results day, and in what order?”Do the preparation in the weeks before, such as statuses, matching and banked results. On the day, upload the results file to Exams, match any new qualifications, check the grades, then publish Exams. At KS4, if you take part in Data Collaboration, publish again when the collaboration data is released. See KS4 results day and KS5 results day.
Access and accounts
Section titled “Access and accounts”What should governors see, and should they have logins?
Section titled “What should governors see, and should they have logins?”‘Making data work’ (2018) advised that governors “should not routinely see data on individual pupils, ‘flight paths’ or other teacher judgement tracking data”. Most boards need short summaries of validated results, with the number of pupils behind each figure. If governors do have accounts, give them a custom group with only the report levels they need. See What governors should see.
Can heads of department and teachers see only their own data?
Section titled “Can heads of department and teachers see only their own data?”No. No authority group action limits staff to their own classes, subjects, pupils or students. You can take away a whole report level, such as the student level, but that applies to every class. See What groups do not control.
Can senior leaders have more than User but less than Admin?
Section titled “Can senior leaders have more than User but less than Admin?”Yes. Create a custom authority group, such as one with View Locked Reports and View Embargo Reports but without Access Data Section. Sisra adds it to Juniper Portal as a role with the same name. See Create a custom group.
I used to sign in with a username. What do I use now?
Section titled “I used to sign in with a username. What do I use now?”Your work email address. Since August 2026 you sign in through Juniper Portal with your email address, your password and a code that Juniper emails to you. Your old username works only to check the email address Sisra holds. See Sign in and switch schools.
How do we remove access when someone leaves?
Section titled “How do we remove access when someone leaves?”Your school’s Account Owner or Account Admin opens User Invitations, then Staff, in Juniper Portal, and selects Revoke Access for the person. That removes every Juniper product, not only Sisra. Record their leaving in your MIS too. See Revoke all access when someone leaves.
Can we see when Juniper staff accessed our data?
Section titled “Can we see when Juniper staff accessed our data?”Yes. USERS > GDPR > Access History records each time Juniper staff signed in to your school’s Sisra, and why. Juniper also publishes a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) for Sisra Analytics. See Access History and Contracts and data protection.