How schools access and use the school-to-school (S2S) secure data transfer system
S2S is a secure data transfer website available to schools and local authorities in England and Wales. It was designed to enable common transfer format (CTF) files to be sent from, and to, any maintained school.
Generic file transfer facility
A generic file transfer facility enables S2S users to exchange files of any safe type securely by following a file name convention; for schools there is a file size limit of 4Mb.
Secure messaging service
A secure messaging service enables free-text messages, or a message based on a standard template, to be sent to other S2S users.
All generic files sent to the DfE via S2S must be encrypted using Winzip, DfE’s tool of choice.
1. Name the file you want to send in the S2S format eg: 101LLLL_ DFESXXX_max15characters.xls (101 = LA number).
2. Right click, choose WinZip, and click on ‘Add to zip file.
3. In the ‘Compression’ section, highlight ‘.Zip Legacy compression (maximum compatibility).
4. Under ‘Options’, tick ‘Encrypt added files’, then click ‘Add’.
5. This will bring up the ‘Encrypt’ box to create a password. The password must be at least eight characters long, (please remember the password as you will have to relay it to the destination organisation.)
6. Under ‘Encryption method’, click ‘256-Bit AES (stronger).’
7. Click ‘OK’. The WinZip file will have been created in the folder you have saved it in.
How to find a school
To find the DfE number and other details of the school to which the pupil is moving prior to creating a common transfer file, you can use the Establishment Finder at Getting Information About Schools (GIAS).
To search for a school, input in the minimum information – such as town and the main part of the school name; for example, if you are looking for St. Mary and St. Martha School, Fishponds Lane, Bristol you are likely to find the school you want by just entering ‘Martha’ into the school name box and ‘Bristol’ into the town box. This service includes schools in Wales and school which have closed.
To find details of schools in Scotland use: NGFL Scotland. It is not currently possible to send a CTF to a school in Scotland but you can share information on children moving to or from Scotland and confirm that a transfer has been completed.
Filename formats for schools
The filename is used to identify the source, destination and type of file being sent – it is critical that the filename is correct. The following filenames are used and are automatically generated when the file is created.
CTF filename format
LASSS1_CTF_LASSS2_NUM.XML
(Where LASSS1 is the DfE number of the sending school, LASSS2 is the DfE number of the destination school and NUM is a number that increments each time a file is created for this destination).
Example: 9165402_CTF_8171234_003.XML is the third CTF file created by school 9165402 for school 8171234
A file sent to a LA uses LLLL as the destination ‘school number’. An example of a CTF file from a school to its LA is 9165402_CTF_916LLLL_007.XML
Any three letters or numbers can be used in place of ‘CTF’ in the name of a file transferred across S2S; for example, a file with KS1 data could be renamed as 9165402_KS1_916LLLL_005.XLS.
However, school and LA MIS software will not create CTFs with this type of name. Thus, when transferring a file with KS1 data, it could be created as a CTF, then renamed, and then transferred using S2S. Schools should only rename files in this way when instructed to do so by the LA.
School census filename format
LASSS1_CCC_LALL06_NUM.XML
(Where LASSS1 is the DfE number of the sending school, CCC represents the termly school censuses (using SC1/2/3), LALL06 is the number of the LA indicating the censuses in 2006 and NUM is a number that increments each time a school census file is created).
Example (school census): 8054301_SC2_805LL06_001.XML is the first school census file created by school 8054301 for the summer 2006 termly school census.
Generic files
This provides a way for any safe file type to be sent securely via S2S. There is a file size limit of 10Mb. Larger files can be ‘zipped’ into file type ‘.ZIP’ but the file can be of any type so long as the naming convention is followed – here ‘xxx’ is the file type. The filename may only contain alphanumeric characters and the underscore character _.
Generic filename format = LASSS1_LASSS2_UPTO15CHARACTER.xxx (between 2 schools) Generic filename format = LASSS1_LALLLL_UPTO15CHARACTER.xxx (from school to LA)
(Where LASSS1 is the DfE number of the sending school, LASSS2 is the DfE number of the destination school, LALLLL is the LA number followed by LLLL, UPTO15CHARACTER is a description of no more than 15 characters but no spaces, and .xxx is the file extension).
Example: 9165402_916LLLL_SENLIST.ZIP
For further support in learning to use the service click here.
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