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Australian schools (including religious schools) are required to export and submit their student background data to the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA).

You can fulfil this requirement by exporting the Student Background Data (SBD) file. This file contains the background details of:

• all students in all grades

• exchange students staying in Australia for 12 months (or longer).

...

1. Ensure you have configured the ACARA external system lookup table mapping. See Configuring external system lookup table mapping.
2. Open the Demographic tab of the Import/Export Student Data window. See Import_Export Student Data - Demographic tab.
   The Demographic tab of the Import/Export Student Data window is displayed.
   
   
3. Select the year using the Year field.
4. Select the term using the Term field.
   
   Note: You do not need to select the Campus.
   
   
5. Select the state using the State field.
6. Select ACARA - SBD using the Export File drop-down list.
   The fields are updated.
   
7. Type your ACARA school code into the School Code field.
   
   Note: You can determine your ACARA school code by searching for your school using the ACARA Schools List. See ACARA Schools List.
   
   
8. Select Exclude Tagged Students to exclude tagged students. For example, exchange students visiting for less than 12 months.
9. Select how fields in the report are separated using the Delimiter field.
   
   Tip: We recommend using the Comma delimiter.
   
   
10. Select the date up to which student data will be included in the SBD file using the Process Date field.
    
    Note: Students are excluded if their Entry Date is after this date or their Leaving Date is prior to this date.
    
    
11. Click  to select a location to save the file.
    The Save As window is displayed.
    
12. Navigate to the file location where the SBD file is to be saved.
13. Type a filename into the File name field followed by .txt. For example, SBD Export 2019.txt.
    
    Note: Exporting the SBD file as a text file ensures that values with leading zeroes are maintained. Later in this process we will export this data into the ACARA Spreadsheet.
    
    
14. Click .
15. Click .
    The SBD file is exported.
16. Open Microsoft Excel.
17. Click the Data tab.
    The Data tab is displayed.
18. Click  in the Get External Data area.
    The Import Text File window is displayed.
19. Select the 2019 SBD Export.txt file.
20. Click .
    The Text Import Wizard - Step 1 of 3 window is displayed.
    
    
    Tip: You can change the value of the Start import at row field if you are using the ACARA spreadsheet with pre-defined headers.
    
    
21. Select the My Data has headers field.
22. Click .
    The Text Import Wizard - Step 2 of 3 window is displayed.
    
23. Select the delimiter used for the text file using the Delimiters area. For example, Comma.
    The Data preview area is refreshed to display the content in columns.
    
24. Click .
    The Text Import Wizard - Step 3 of 3 window is displayed.
    
25. Select one of the following columns in the Data preview area.
    
    • StudentsMainSLG
    • ParentGuardian1MainSLG
    • ParentGuardian2MainSLG.Student Language other than English spoken at home (Students Main SLG)
    • Parent 1 Language other than English spoken at home (Parent Guardian 1 Main SLG)
    • Parent 2 Language other than English spoken at home (Parent Guardian 2 Main SLG)
    
    
26. Select the Text field in the Column data format area.
27. Repeat Steps 25 and 26 for the remaining fields.
28. Click .
    The Import Data window is displayed.
    
    
    Tip: You can update the Existing worksheet field to change the row and column insertion point.
    
    
29. Click .
    The SBD Export is imported.
    
30. Review the information for completeness.
    
    Note: You can use the field information below these steps to determine acceptable values and where the values are defined in Synergetic.
    
    
31. Repeat the export process, if necessary.
32. Submit the Student Background Data file to ACARA.
    Exporting the Student Background Data file is complete.