Technical note

Creating and Saving the Net Capacity Assessment Forms

Under School Details, in the cell titled ‘DfES LEA/school number’, type in the DfES LEA and school reference numbers. The two numbers should be separated by a forward slash (for example, 233/4352). The Capacity Calculation will only work if a number is entered in this box.

Once the codes have been typed in, press enter. After a brief pause, the LEA's name should automatically appear in the grey box titled ‘LEA’.

Next, click on the drop down arrow, immediately above column D on the screen. (This will reveal shortcuts which can move you quickly around the form.) Of the options which appear, click on the word Buttons. This will take you back to the main options page.

At the ‘buttons’ page, click on the Save File button. If the two reference numbers have been correctly entered as described above, the form will be saved with a unique file name which identifies the LEA and school. In the above example, the automatically generated file name would be 233_4352.xls (Note that a ‘_’ replaces the ‘/’ dividing the numbers because the forward slash symbol cannot be used in a file name). This file name should also appear automatically on all printed pages.

The automatic file naming will only work if you are starting from an ‘original’ blank form. If you have already saved a version of the form and wish to use this as the basis of the next form you save you will need to use the normal ‘File’ and ‘Save As’ procedure, and manually enter the file name in the format shown above. We recommend that you start from a blank form for each net capacity assessment so as to avoid stray data being accidentally transferred from one assessment to another.

Password Protection

The net capacity assessment forms are password protected. Although this has some disadvantages (as you may already have discovered when trying to download the forms from the Internet), it does ensure that none of the complex formulae in the spreadsheets can be accidentally deleted or changed.

Pasting into the Net Area Schedule from an Existing Database or Schedule

Normally this should not be a problem. However, often data is pasted into one column (either the ‘non-net area’ or the ‘net area’ column) initially, and then the Cut and Paste commands are used to move some data into the other column, e.g. toilets or circulation areas might be cut from the ‘net area’ column and pasted into the ‘non-net area’ column.

You should be aware that when this is done the Excel formulae in the workplace columns ‘follow’ the data. Values will continue to be calculated as if the data were still in the column where it was originally placed. This can lead to errors in the Capacity Calculation.

Instead of using Cut and Paste, you should use Copy and Paste, then delete the original data entry from the column where you don't want it.

Cell formatting will also be copied from your existing database or schedule into the net area schedule. Because the Net Capacity forms are locked spreadsheets you will not be able to change the formatting after the data has been pasted in.

You will therefore either need to ensure that the cells from which the data is being copied are formatted in the same way as the Net Area Schedule or use Paste Special, rather than the usual Paste command, to paste only the value from the cell and not the formatting. This should also avoid any problems with parts of text not appearing in the room name column where text in the original format was set to ‘wrap’ or cells were merged.

Printing Unnecessary Blank Sheets

The Net Area Schedule contains more pages than will be needed to list the spaces in the net area of most schools. If you prefer not to print out blank pages, you can check the number of pages which have entries by using Print Preview. If you then use File and Print rather than the Print All Pages button you can select the pages to be printed.

Number of Age Groups (box ‘n’) in Schools with a Sixth Form

The number of age groups in box ‘n’ will only be calculated correctly in schools with a sixth form if a planned admission number has been entered at box ‘b’. If this figure is not known then a proposed or projected number should be entered. This does not affect the assessment form for primary schools or secondary schools without a sixth form.

And Finally …

If your problem persists, please let us know. The spreadsheets may have become corrupted (possibly when they were downloaded from the Internet) or there may be compatibility problems with your computer system. These problems are rare but have affected a small number of people. It is also possible that there is a minor (and previously undiscovered) error in the original form(s). Whatever the problem, it is very important that we know as soon as possible so that we can work with you to find a solution.