This article explains the process of reviewing your suggested student matches within the student import assistant.
To access the student import assistant, click +Add students on the Students page of your account.
This feature may not be available for all schools. You must be an account administrator to use this feature.
The following topics are covered here:
Previous article in series: Preparing and uploading your file
Next article in series: Confirming your changes and resolving errors
Suggested matches
Suggested matches are presented in a table. Each set of matches consists of one 'primary' record - a student from your imported XLSX file, and one (or more) 'secondary' records - matched students from within your account.
Differences between the matched records are shaded. In the image below, the matched student records have the same family name, but different given names.
You will be asked to confirm which suggested matches are correct (i.e. where the record from your file and the record from your account are indeed the same student) or incorrect (i.e. where the two records represent different students).
Strong matches
Strong matches are based on key identifying fields, such as names, date of birth and Unique ID. Because of the high level of confidence associated with these matches, 'Match' is selected by default. Review these carefully and if you find a mistake, click 'Not a match'.
Click 'Continue' once you are confident that any incorrect matches have been identified.
Weak matches
Weak matches are based on partial matches of some key identifying fields. There may be discrepancies with some fields that require closer checking. It is important to check each of these sets and indicate 'Match' or 'Not a match'.
Multiple matches
It is possible that the system may identify more than one existing student who matches a single student in your file, or vice versa.
In the first case, you will see one 'primary' record (from your file) and multiple 'secondary' records (from your account) presented together as a set. You may only select one existing record as a 'Match'.
Where a student in your account matches multiple students in your file, you will see a small yellow icon appear in the table. Click the yellow icon to filter the table to view those results only.
Risks
The student import assistant uses a set of detailed data matching rules to help suggest possible matches between your existing students and your imported file.
There is a risk that if you accept an incorrect match and an existing student record's details are overwritten with the details of another student, it may not be possible to (a) identify that a mistake has been made and (b) to rectify the mistake. In effect, the student's test history may be lost.
To mitigate risk, it is important that you follow good data management practices within your school's own database and within your ACER online assessment account, including:
- consistency in spelling and formatting of key information
- use of a Unique ID that is unique both amongst students currently at your school and also across time (i.e. the ID is not re-used)
- careful attention and consideration when reviewing matches suggested by the student import assistant.