Data work in Sisra Analytics follows the school year: census days, exams and results, the DfE’s checking exercises and the start of a new year. This page lists the national dates for the 2026 to 2027 academic year, as published by 15 October 2026. It also says what administrators do in Sisra at each point. Most dates change every year, so check each one against its source.
| When | What happens | In Sisra |
|---|
| September 2026 | The new academic year starts. Cohort labels moved on in late August 2026 | Bring each cohort up to date: new student data, baselines for new pupils and students, new assessment collections. See Start a new academic year |
| Autumn term 2026 | Late results and re-marks of the summer 2026 exams reach schools | Record them in the leavers’ Exams data sets and publish again. See Record re-marks and late results |
| Thursday 1 October 2026 | Autumn census day. Schools record targeted or expanded free school meals by 2 November 2026 | Check which free school meals group your filters hold before your next import. Expanded free school meals do not attract pupil premium |
| Monday 5 October to 5pm on Friday 16 October 2026 | The DfE’s October checking exercises for KS4 and 16 to 19 | Compare the DfE’s cohort and results with your 25/26 leavers’ Exams reports. See Use the DfE’s checking exercises |
| 9:30am on Thursday 15 October 2026 | The DfE’s provisional KS4 data for 2025 to 2026 is released | Compare the DfE’s headline figures with your 25/26 leavers’ Exams reports |
| When | What happens | In Sisra |
|---|
| Thursday 21 January 2027 | Spring census day. Returns are due by Wednesday 10 February 2027 | Bring year 11 and year 13 statuses and filters in line with the census. See Check cohorts against the spring census |
| Early 2027 | The DfE’s revised 2025 to 2026 KS4 and 16 to 19 data, “including all late results and re-marks” | Check that your 25/26 leavers’ Exams reports hold the same late results and re-marks |
| Not yet announced | National 16 to 19 value added data for 2026 | When Juniper Education adds it under Using data from, choose it for the 25/26 KS5 leavers and publish their Exams again |
| February 2027 (expected) | The DfE’s trust (MAT) measures for 2025 to 2026 | Trusts can compare them with Sisra Multi-School, which builds its figures differently. See How trust figures are calculated |
| When | What happens | In Sisra |
|---|
| Monday 10 May 2027 | The June 2027 exam series starts | Check that results of exams sat earlier, such as early entries, are in Exams with their exam dates |
| Summer term 2027 (expected) | Juniper opens the opt-in to that year’s Sisra Data Collaboration event, with a HOME announcement | Opt in and finish the set-up before results day. See Take part in Sisra Data Collaboration |
| June 2027 (in 2026: 15 June to 5pm on 26 June 2026) | The DfE’s KS4 June checking exercise | Check the DfE’s list of KS4 pupils against year 11’s On Roll pupils. It is the only chance to correct the list |
| Friday 18 June 2027 (GCSE) and Tuesday 22 June 2027 (A and AS levels) | The last exams on the common timetable. Wednesday 23 June 2027 is the contingency day | Prepare for results day: statuses, Matching, embargo access and data to compare with results. See KS4 results day and KS5 results day |
| When | What happens | In Sisra |
|---|
| Thursday 12 August 2027 (expected) | A level results day. In 2026, schools received results at 12:01am on Wednesday 12 August 2026, and students at 8am on Thursday 13 August 2026 | Upload and publish year 13 results under the embargo. See KS5 results day |
| Thursday 19 August 2027 (expected) | GCSE results day. In 2026, schools received results at 12:01am on Wednesday 19 August 2026, and pupils at 8am on Thursday 20 August 2026 | Upload and publish year 11 results under the embargo. See KS4 results day |
| Both results days | Sisra’s results embargo. In 2026, the KS5 window ran from 12:01am on 12 August to 8am on 13 August 2026. The KS4 window ran from 12:01am on 19 August to 8am on 20 August 2026 | Only staff with View Embargo Reports can open new results. See How the results embargo works |
| GCSE results week | The Sisra Data Collaboration collection window. In 2026, the figures from window 1 became available at 3:45pm on Thursday 20 August 2026, and Juniper announced them the same day | Publish Exams before the window closes, then publish again with the year’s collaboration data. See Include your results in Data Collaboration |
| Late August 2027 (expected) | Sisra moves cohort labels on a year. In 2026, Juniper announced this on 25 August 2026 | See Start a new academic year |
The key dates of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for the June 2027 series give August 2027 results dates only for project qualifications. Extended Project results come on Thursday 12 August 2027, and level 1 and 2 project results on Thursday 19 August 2027. A level and GCSE results usually come on the same days, but check JCQ’s notice for the June 2027 series.
Your school decides when to collect grades. Upload and publish each assessment collection when you collect it, then update the tracker if you use one. The DfE’s 2018 workload report, ‘Making data work’, advised no more than “two or three attainment data collection points a year”. Good practice with school data sets out the evidence.
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