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The FAQs in Full
| Q: What is a GCSE grade 'Q' ? | |
| A: 'Q' is a 'pending' grade. Grades of 'L' (late) and 'T' (to be advised) are also converted to 'Q' prior to the files being produced that go into EPAS. | |
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| Q: How does EPAS identify a Final Year A Level Candidate? | |
| A: From 2007 the candidate must meet the following criteria 1. The candidate must be in year group 13 or 14 2. The candidate must have taken an exam in the current session 3. That exam must be equivalent to or greater than an A Level | |
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| Q: Error 429 | |
A: The usual error is
This is due to a) the user clicking Next, Next, Next etc during installation without selecting any options or b) MS Access being upgraded
It is necessary to tell EPAS which version of MS Access is being used | |
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| Q: Do I need to install EPAS v2.8? | |
| A: No, but all data releases from 2007 onwards will be in EPAS v2.8 format which is incompatible with previous releases | |
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| Q: Why is the format of EPAS data always changing? | |
| A: Firstly to meet statutory requirements and secondly because the scope of EPAS expands every year. We do look ahead and anticipate future requirements but change is unavoidable. | |
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| Q: Do I need to uninstall previous versions of EPAS before installing the latest version of EPAS? | |
| A: No, new versions of EPAS can be installed directly on top of an existing version. Be aware that if EPAS is uninstalled then the database containing the LEA data will be removed as well. | |
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| Q: Can I run earlier versions of EPAS in parallel with EPAS v2.8? | |
| A: Yes, provided EPAS v2.8 is installed into a different directory. | |
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| Q: What version of Microsoft Access does EPAS use? | |
| A: EPAS can run with Microsoft Access 97, 2000, 2002/XP, 2003 and 2007. The EPAS databases must be converted when moving from MS Access 97 to MS Access 2000, 2002/XP, 2003 or 2007 using the routine EPASConv97To2K.exe, which is located in the the NCER folder It is necessary to tell EPAS which version of MS Access is being used 1. Run EPASRegistry.exe, which is located in the the NCER Software folder 2. Select the latest version and click Details 3. The value of Access Class should be Access.Application.nn where nn is 8 for Ms Access 97 9 for Ms Access 2000 10 for Ms Access 2002/XP 11 for Ms Access 2003 4. Change if necessary and click OK | |
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| Q: What is MDAC? | |
| A: MDAC stands for Microsoft ActiveX Data Components. EPAS v2.8 uses the ActiveX Data Object model, which is part of MDAC, to handle communications between the application and the database. The version used by EPAS is MDAC 2.51 | |
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| Q: I have hundreds of CDs for EPAS - do I need to keep all of them? | |
| A: There is no need to keep any EPAS CDs The latest EPAS Software CD may be kept but as the software can be dowloaded from the website The data CDs are redundant once they have been imported into EPAS. | |
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| Q: I have installed EPAS v2.8 and started the application. What is my username and password? | |
| A: If you have installed EPAS v2.8 on top of a previous version of EPAS then your username and password will remain the same. If you have installed EPAS v2.8 onto a new machine or into a different directory then the username and password is NCER and NCER. | |
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| Q: On starting EPAS v2.8 a message is displayed saying that there are no printers known to my machine. Can I still use EPAS without a printer? | |
| A: EPAS v2.8 will work without a printer except for the following functions, database conversion and preview / printing reports. | |
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| Q: How do I get support for EPAS v2.8? | |
| A: Follow the link below to see the EPAS Support page.
There is a selection of help material available from the EPAS drop-down menu. Click here for further information | |
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| Q: How do I setup EPAS for use across a network? | |
| A: See the EPAS Installation Guide, follow link below. Click here for further information | |
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| Q: When I start EPAS I get Error 3706 or 3709 | |
| A: This is because MDAC has not been installed on your PC. Contact the EPAS Help Desk . | |
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| Q: When I try to import data or view the National Reports the application says that the database is already in use or is not a MS Access Database | |
| A: This is because a Data Source Name (DSN) is missing from your PC.
Open DSN.doc by clicking on the link below and follow the instructions.
If the problem persists then contact the EPAS Help Desk
This problem will be addressed in a future release of EPAS
Click here for further information | |
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| Q: I have installed EPAS v2.8 onto a new PC. How can I get the Historical Data loaded onto the database?. | |
| A: If EPAS v2.8 is already running on another PC then copy leap.mdb from this PC onto the new PC replacing the empty leap.mdb If you do not have access to EPAS v2.8 on another PC then contact the EPAS Help Desk | |
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| Q: I have installed EPAS v2.8 onto a new PC. Do I have to apply all of the Update Releases? | |
| A: In general all EPAS Updates include the previous releases as well so only the current Update Release should be run. In specific cases, e.g. the 2000 National Benchmark Information data release, the update will have to be run in order to setup the data. | |
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| Q: EPAS Reports PR2 and PR3 contain zeroes or #Error | |
| A: There are 2 reasons why the PR2 / PR3 report may contain all zeroes or #Error 1. Run Calculate Pupil Reference - this can be found on the Available Data screen under General Maintenance The correct values should now be displayed. If the problem persists then contact the EPAS Help Desk. This problem will be addressed in a future release of EPAS . | |
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| Q: How do I move EPAS from one PC to another? | |
| A: To move EPAS from one PC to another involves installing EPAS on the target PC to register system dlls and to set up the correct folders and then copying the NCER folder and any sub-folders from the source PC to the target PC. On the target new PC install EPAS Install EPAS into a folder with the same name as the NCER folder on the source PC After EPAS has been installed on the target PC copy the NCER folder and all sub-folders from the source PC to the target PC overwriting any existing files. | |
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| Q: Which EPAS files should I backup? | |
| A: There is only one file which really really needs to be backed up - this is leap.mdb which is normally found in the ncerldb sub-folder. | |
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| Q: How does the EPAS Book work? | |
| A: See The EPAS Book, follow the link below. Click here for further information | |
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