Getting Data into TrackEd – Imports

TrackEd imports data from other systems through files. This is the primary way to bring information in from OneSchool, the QCAA Student Management Portal, and other sources. You can also import diagnostic data (such as PAT results) using Tracking Templates, or build custom imports for any spreadsheet-based data set.

Imports are organised into four categories on the Import page: Frequent, Occasional, Senior Schooling, and Data Collection. Most schools will primarily use the Frequent imports on a regular basis, with Occasional imports run once a term or once a year as needed. Starting with a reliable import process gives confidence in the data and supports many other features in TrackEd, so only import the data that you need.

In this article

Quick Start Guide

A quick walkthrough to import your first Student Summary file. This is the most important and most common import in TrackEd. For a full explanation of all import types and settings, see the Training Video and Available Imports Walkthrough below.

1. Go to the Import page
2. Stay on the “Frequent” list (selected by default)
3. Select “Student Summary”
4. Click the “Open OS Report” button to launch the report in OneSchool (you need to be logged in to OneSchool already)
5. Follow the on-screen instructions for the Student Summary import
6. Save the file from OneSchool. Do not open it in Excel first
7. Drag and drop the file straight from your browser’s download bar onto the pink “Drop here” box
8. TrackEd will check the file is in the correct format and add it to the import queue
9. The file format can be CSV or Excel, and the accepted format is listed in the on-screen instructions for each import
10. Repeat for additional cohort files. Student Summary requires one file per cohort (e.g. Year 6, Year 9, Year 12), but most other imports use one file for the whole school
11. When all files are queued, press “Process Import Queue”

Training Video

• 0:01 Overview of the Import System: How the import page is organised across the four categories, with the most common imports labelled at the top of each page.
• 0:35 How to Run an Import: The basic workflow for every import: select the import type, click the button to open the corresponding OneSchool report, follow the on-screen instructions, save the file, then drag and drop it directly onto the pink “Drop here” box in TrackEd.
• 1:43 Queuing and Processing Multiple Files: Each validated file turns blue in the import queue. You can queue as many files as needed across different import types, then press “Process Import Queue” to run them all at once.
• 1:59 Student Summary and Validation: Demonstrates importing Student Summary files for Year 6, Year 9, and Year 12. A separate “Student Summary P-2” button handles Prep, Year 1, and Year 2 files which use a different OneSchool format. If the wrong file is dropped on an import, TrackEd displays a validation error. You can exit and try again, or send the log to support. For more on resolving errors, see Import Troubleshooting.
• 3:11 Import Types at a Glance: A high-level overview of available imports across all categories. The most frequent imports include Student Class and Timetable (particularly useful for high school) and the Personalised Learning Summary. Occasional imports include Photos (once a year), Primary and Secondary Results, and NAPLAN. Senior Schooling imports are covered in a dedicated video.
• 4:30 Import Settings: Covers the settings that affect how imports run. “Send imports to server when possible” is recommended for server-hosted installations. Also covers the Timetable Import Ignore List, GPA Ignore List, and Roll Class Omit List.

Deep Dive – Available Imports Walkthrough

A detailed walkthrough of every import type available in TrackEd, explaining what each one does, what data it brings in, and which ones are most important for your school.

• 0:01 Student Summary Import: The most critical import in TrackEd. It adds new students, archives those who have left, updates absence and behaviour totals, and brings in three semesters of English, Maths, and Science results plus NAPLAN proficiency levels. Separate buttons exist for Year 3 to 12 and Prep to Year 2 due to different OneSchool export formats. The file must not be opened in Excel before importing.
• 1:12 Dynamic Student List and Absence List: The Dynamic Student List adds preferred names, student email addresses, and enrolment dates. It must be imported alongside the Absence List (indicated by a link icon between them) and is also required for QCAA imports. The Absence List contains detailed absence codes in half day increments with penalty and non-penalty types. Run this on a Monday or Tuesday so the previous week’s attendance is fully up to date in OneSchool. For a full explanation of how attendance data works across imports, see Attendance Data Imports Explained.
• 2:52 Behaviour, Timetable and Other Frequent Imports: Negative Behaviour and Positive Behaviour can both be imported. If importing Positive Behaviour, include it in the queue with the Negative Behaviour file. Student Class and Timetable imports are mainly used for Year 7 to 12 and must also be queued together. The Personalised Learning Summary imports DDA levels and types.
• 4:06 Parent List: Brings in parent and carer email addresses for bulk emailing from TrackEd. Only the email addresses are imported. This import respects the “receives correspondence” field from OneSchool, so contacts who have opted out will not have their email address imported.
• 4:45 Occasional Imports: Photos and Results: Student Photos are matched by EQID from a network folder. Primary Results (Prep to Year 6, imported by semester) and Secondary Results (Year 7 to 12, imported by term) bring in all subject codes plus behaviour and effort scores. When importing historical results, start from the oldest year and work forward. Always process the latest import file last.
• 7:51 NAPLAN and Specialist Imports: The NAPLAN Summary from OneSchool is the recommended source. Below the main list, the Results Template allows importing interim results. Tracking Templates and Custom Tracking Templates handle diagnostics like PAT, PROBE, and DIBELs. Microsoft Forms Survey imports student survey responses.
• 9:48 Senior Schooling and Data Collection: Senior Schooling imports are covered in a separate dedicated video. Data Collection imports are optional Excel-based templates for collecting additional information. Most schools will not need any of the Data Collection imports.

Detailed Guide

How Imports Work

The Import page organises all imports into four categories: Frequent, Occasional, Senior Schooling, and Data Collection. The most common imports are labelled at the top of each category page. For every import, the workflow is the same: select the import type, click the button to open the corresponding report in OneSchool (if you’re logged in, it takes you straight to the right report), follow the on-screen instructions, save the file, and drag and drop it onto the pink “Drop here” box.

TrackEd checks that the file matches the expected format and adds it to the import queue on the right hand side of the Import page. You can queue files across multiple import types before pressing “Process Import Queue” to run them all at once. The file format is usually CSV or Excel, and the accepted format is listed in the on-screen instructions for each import type.

The colour of each file in the queue shows where it is up to. Blue means it is queued but not yet imported, purple means it is importing now, and green means it imported successfully. Orange or pink means there was a problem, and the More Info button beside it shows the error.

Student Summary

The Student Summary is the most important import in TrackEd. It adds new students, archives students who have left, updates absence and behaviour totals, and brings in three semesters of English, Maths, and Science results plus NAPLAN proficiency levels. It is also the main import needed for the rollover at the start of a new year.

The English, Maths and Science results come in for every student, including students new to your school, as long as they have attended a Queensland state school before. That gives you some history for students in transition, such as Year 6 students moving into Year 7.

There are separate buttons for Year 3 to 12 and a “Student Summary P-2” button for Prep to Year 2, because OneSchool uses different export formats for those year levels. Student Summary requires one file per cohort (e.g. Year 6, Year 9, Year 12). Do not open the file in Excel before importing. Download it from OneSchool and drag it directly into TrackEd, or the file will fail validation. To bring incoming students into TrackEd before they start, see Importing Year 7 and Prep Future Students below.

Dynamic Student List and Absence List

The Dynamic Student List adds preferred names, student email addresses, and enrolment dates. It must be imported alongside the Absence List (they need to be in the queue at the same time) so that enrolment dates are set before absence data is processed. This prevents new students from being backdated with 100% attendance before they were enrolled. The Dynamic Student List is also required for QCAA senior schooling imports.

The Student Summary provides the absence totals, while the Absence List provides the detail: absence codes in half day increments, with penalty and non-penalty types, converted to weekly, termly and year to date percentages. It uses the official OneSchool absence download, so it matches OneSchool and QParents. The import works in whole weeks and needs a full week of data, so a file imported on a Friday ignores that week. Run it weekly on a Monday or Tuesday, once the previous week’s attendance is up to date in OneSchool. You can run your other imports on a Friday and add the Absence List first thing on Monday.

When you drop the Absence List file, TrackEd asks how many weeks to recalculate. Five weeks suits a regular weekly import. Before attendance information goes home to families, choose the whole year option instead: it flushes and replaces the whole year, picking up any historical changes entered in OneSchool. (If you use the attendance package percentage import, this step isn’t needed.) For a full explanation of how attendance data works across these imports, see Attendance Data Imports Explained.

Results Imports

If you only see English, Maths and Science results in TrackEd, the results imports haven’t been run. The Student Summary covers only those three subjects. All other subjects, with achievement, effort and behaviour (and homework, where it is entered in OneSchool), come from the two results imports on the Occasional list: Results by Term P to 12 and Results by Semester P to 12. Before v3.587 these were called Secondary Results and Primary Results. TrackEd’s GPA is calculated from these OneSchool results only, so you need them imported to see a GPA.

Each file comes from one OneSchool reporting period, and you can select as many year levels as you like in it. Year 11 and Year 12 often have their own reporting periods, so import those separately. When you drop the file, select the year and term the results are from.

Term 1 and Term 3 results can now be stored for primary year levels as well as secondary. A Term 1 or Term 3 result from a OneSchool reporting period goes in through Results by Term. For a semester result either import works: with Results by Semester, select Semester 1 or Semester 2; with Results by Term, select Term 2 or Term 4. Primary Term 1 and Term 3 grades usually have no OneSchool export, so use the Results Template for those (see Importing Results from Outside OneSchool below). To load past years, see Importing Historical Results.

Student Photos

Photos make students recognisable across profiles, Datawalls, and ClassMats, and most schools import them once a year from the Occasional list. To bulk-import, you need the photo files in a single folder on your school’s network (usually organised by year), with each file named using the student’s ID (the EQID). Select the Photos import, point TrackEd at that folder, and it pulls the photos in and matches them to students by file name. To find students without a photo, run the missing photo search, which works one cohort at a time.

For individual updates through the year, such as new enrolments, drag and drop an image file directly onto the student’s profile page where the photo normally displays. There is no direct photo import from OneSchool, so if you only have a photo on screen, save a screenshot as a picture file and drag that onto the profile instead.

Senior Schooling and Data Collection

Senior Schooling imports bring QCAA data into TrackEd for Year 11 and 12 students. These are covered in a separate article and video: Importing Senior School data.

Data Collection imports are optional Excel-based templates for collecting additional information: coaching notes, personalised learning, wellbeing monitoring, custom fields, enrolment interviews, learning support, engagement extras, and enrolment surveys. Most schools will not need any of the Data Collection imports.

Import Settings

Import settings have their own page: open the Settings page, then the green Import Settings page. Only the two highest TrackEd access levels can open the Settings page. If your school runs TrackEd on a server, tick “Send imports to server when possible”. This sends the import queue to the server for processing so you don’t need to wait at your PC.

Several ignore lists let you exclude specific data during imports. The Timetable Import Subject Ignore List filters out subject codes (like form classes and tutorial periods) so they don’t appear on student profiles. The GPA Ignore List excludes codes like instrumental music from GPA calculations. The Roll Class Omit List lets you exclude entire roll classes, which is useful if a campus or section of the school doesn’t need to be imported into TrackEd. Set these before running your imports.

Less common settings include “Allow DSL import to manage students” (uses the Dynamic Student List to update enrolments instead of relying on Student Summary alone) and preferred name options. The recommended setup is to leave these off and run Student Summary regularly. The attendance import settings on the right hand side of the page are covered in Matching Attendance Percentages to Your Attendance Package below. For more detail on the other settings, see Import Troubleshooting.

When Something Goes Wrong

If an import fails, TrackEd shows a coloured “More Info” button next to the failed import in the queue. An orange button indicates a warning, while a pink button indicates a header validation error or error code. The most common fix is checking that the correct file was used, the correct import type was selected, and the file wasn’t opened in Excel before importing.

A header error on a OneSchool import usually means the format of the OneSchool export file has changed, not that you did something wrong. TrackEd handles these format changes in its releases, so update to the latest release, export a fresh file from OneSchool, and run the import again. If errors persist, use the blue “Import Helper” button on the error page to send a de-identified diagnostic log to support. For a full guide on resolving import errors, resetting a stuck import queue, and cleaning up incorrect data, see Import Troubleshooting.

If the “Open OS Report” button doesn’t take you to the report, find it manually in OneSchool using the path in the on-screen instructions. If the report isn’t in your OneSchool menu, your OneSchool access level doesn’t include it. If it is there, the report has moved in OneSchool, so let TrackEd support know using the Request Support button on the home page.

Importing Year 7 and Prep Future Students

Incoming students can be brought into TrackEd before they start, using the regular Student Summary import with one extra step. When saving the Year 7 (or Prep) Student Summary file from OneSchool, select both “futures and active” so current and incoming students are in the same file. On import, students who already have a roll class are updated as normal, while students with no roll class are placed into a future cohort (e.g. 2027.F6 for Year 7 futures, or the FP equivalent for Prep), leaving your existing cohorts untouched. For more on transition, see Importing future students.

Importing Historical Results

If you are just starting out and want some history in the system, you can import past results (going back three years or so) with the Results by Term P to 12 and Results by Semester P to 12 imports. The “Further Info” button on the import page includes a table to help you save the right files from OneSchool, because for past years you should only select the cohorts still at your school. For example, when importing last year’s results, leave out last year’s highest year level (the Year 12s or Year 6s), who have since left.

Work from the oldest year forward (e.g. 2023 Semester 1 and 2, then 2024, then 2025), finishing with the current year across all year levels. Always process the latest import file last so that current data takes priority.

If a file includes a cohort that has left, the Import Helper log shows “Result: No Students were found for this set of Results. Please be sure your Student Summary import is up-to-date and try again.” The same message appears when the Student Summary import is out of date. To fix it, make sure your Student Summary import is current, then save the results file again from OneSchool with only the cohorts still at your school selected.

Importing Results from Outside OneSchool

The Results Template import is for results that don’t come from a OneSchool reporting period, such as primary Term 1 and Term 3 grades, which have no ready-made OneSchool export. You could instead build a file yourself that matches the OneSchool Results by Term format: either import brings the results in, as long as the file matches that import’s format. The Results Template is the easier route, because it is already an Excel format built for this. Getting your grades into it still takes some preparation, so you might adapt your electronic Markbook to produce a list in this format that you can copy and paste whenever you need it.

To get the template, go to the profile page, choose Exports, then Results Template. TrackEd saves an Excel file in the correct format to your TrackEd_docs folder. Fill it in with one row per student per subject (see Results Template Columns in the Reference section), then import it on the Import page under Occasional, using the Results Template option.

TrackEd treats the most recent results import as the latest result, and that is what shows wherever latest results appear. If you import one subject at a time, only the last subject imported counts as the latest, so put all subjects for a cohort into one file (at least one file per cohort). For criteria level data across several tasks, use the separate Markbook Template, which holds up to eight tasks a year with up to six criteria each.

Matching Attendance Percentages to Your Attendance Package

If your school uses IDAttend or Daymap, the attendance package percentage import lets TrackEd’s year to date and term percentages match your attendance package exactly, so there is a single source of truth for those numbers. They will then differ from the QParents figures, which are based on OneSchool’s official half day absences. Weekly figures in TrackEd still come from the OneSchool Absence List import. Compass is not an option for this import at present.

The import is hidden until you turn it on. On the green Import Settings page, in the attendance import settings on the right hand side, change “Attendance package percentage import format” from None to IDAttend or Daymap. Also tick the two options above it, “When importing absence list, preserve existing term values” and “preserve existing year to date values”. Without them, the next Absence List import overwrites the percentages from your attendance package.

The import then appears at the bottom of the Frequent list, with step by step instructions for your package. For IDAttend, save the report in CSV format from the IDWeb interface rather than IDAttend. For year to date values, choose a year to date range in your attendance package and select year to date when you drop the file in TrackEd; for term values, save a file for that term’s date range and select the term. Running this import just before year to date or term attendance goes home keeps the figures families see current.

Importing DIBELs Results

The DIBELs import, on the Occasional list, reads the OneSchool DIBELs export. In OneSchool, go to Reports, then Curriculum, and under Literacy and Numeracy Monitoring choose the DIBELs 8th Benchmark Data Export Year Level report. Tick the option to include the EQID, save the file to Excel, and drop it onto the Import page with DIBELs selected. One file covers every year level at your school and the beginning, middle and end of year tests.

If students don’t match, check two things. The file must be the OneSchool export, not the department’s manual entry spreadsheet, which uses a different format. If the headers in columns C and D don’t match, the EQID option wasn’t ticked, so save the file again from OneSchool with it ticked. If currency symbols appear beside DIBELs results, update to the latest version of TrackEd and import the file again.

Once imported, DIBELs results show on the student profile: a DIBELs and NAPLAN timeline in the middle section for Years 3 to 6, a “DIBELs 7 and 8 and NAPLAN 3-9” option in the bottom section for Years 7 to 9, and a full page DIBELs view in the purple alternative profile menu. On a ClassMat, set the user field to DIBELs or DIBELs Comp to show the score under each photo, and the ProgressTracker has DIBELs composite and DIBELs risk classification user fields. There are no DIBELs list views or Datawall options at present.

Parent List

The Parent List brings in parent and carer email addresses for bulk emailing from TrackEd. Only the email addresses are imported, and all other data in the file is ignored. This import respects the “receives correspondence” field from OneSchool, so contacts who have opted out will not have their email address imported. Only needed if you are emailing parents from TrackEd, but worth keeping up to date if you are.

Reference

Import Reference

A lookup table for the Frequent and Occasional imports: what each one brings in and when to run it. Senior Schooling imports are covered in Importing Senior School data, and Data Collection imports are optional templates most schools won’t use. Both results imports accept the QCIA achievement codes Exceeding, Achieving, On Track, Developing and Review (v3.587 and later).

Results Template Columns

The columns the Results Template import reads, for checking a file before you import it. Every header must stay in place, and columns not listed here can be left blank.

NAPLAN Summary Settings

What to choose when you import a NAPLAN Summary file.

• One year level at a time: import a separate file for each year level tested.
• Year Level and Test Year: set both to the time of the test, not the students’ current year. For example, for the current Year 10s and their 2023 test, set Year Level to 7 and Test Year to 2023.
• What it changes: NAPLAN bands and proficiency levels already come in with the Student Summary. The NAPLAN Summary adds the scale scores and overwrites the proficiency levels.

Building a Reliable Import Routine

A reliable import routine gives you confidence in the data and supports almost everything else in TrackEd. For most schools that means the Student Summary regularly, the Absence List with the Dynamic Student List each Monday or Tuesday, results each semester (and in Term 1 and Term 3 if you have that data, latest file last), and photos once a year. Only import the data that you need.

The home page shows when the last import ran, and you can click it to see recent imports. That gives staff who don’t run the imports a quick check that the data is current. At the start of each year, the Student Summary files are the ones to run first. See Start of new year rollover for the recommended order, and Import Troubleshooting if an import doesn’t behave as expected.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I open the import file in Excel before importing?
A: Not for OneSchool exports like the Student Summary. Opening the file in Excel can add an extra row and cause a header validation error, so drag it straight from your browser download into TrackEd. QCAA CSV files (such as Student VET and Academic Integrity Completion) are the exception: those must be opened in Excel, resaved, and closed before importing.

Q: Why is my import failing with a header error?
A: Header errors usually mean the OneSchool export format has changed, and TrackEd handles those changes in its releases. Update to the latest version, export a fresh file from OneSchool, and try again. If the error persists, use the blue “Import Helper” button to send a diagnostic log to support, and see Import Troubleshooting.

Q: Why can I only see English, Maths and Science results?
A: Those three come from the Student Summary. For all subjects, run Results by Term P to 12 or Results by Semester P to 12 from the Occasional list (called Secondary Results and Primary Results before v3.587).

Q: How often should I run the Absence List import?
A: Weekly, ideally on a Monday or Tuesday. The import works in whole weeks, so a file imported on a Friday ignores that week, and waiting gives OneSchool time to update the previous week’s attendance. For more detail, see Attendance Data Imports Explained.

Q: Why won’t my DIBELs file match students?
A: Check it is the OneSchool DIBELs export, not the department’s manual entry spreadsheet, and that you ticked the EQID option when saving it. Mismatched headers in columns C and D mean the EQID option was missed, so save the file again from OneSchool.

Q: I imported results into the wrong term. How do I fix it?
A: Go to Settings > Utilities > Results Cleanup, tick “remove all results from selected term and forward”, set the year and term, and run the cleanup for the affected cohorts. Then repeat the import into the correct term. See Remove Results Import for the full steps.

Legacy Content