Introduction to SIMS and Microsoft Power BI

A guide to creating your first Power BI analysis of SIMS data in less than an hour

Visualise your school data

  • Microsoft Power BI is a powerful application for creating and sharing your school data.
  • This course will show you all the basic concepts and get you up and running with Power BI in less than an hour.
  • I'll show you how to extract pupil data from SIMS and import it into Power BI

Create this analysis of your school data

Automate the analysis process with Capita's new resources

This course is designed to complement the utilities recently released by Capita to help you extract and upload your SIMS data automatically into Microsoft Power BI. These resources will be especially useful for MATs, as they show how to upload data from multiple schools.

Who should take this course?

This course should be taken by anyone with a responsibility for data analysis in primary or secondary schools: senior managers, data managers, primary school senior leaders, exam coordinators and headteachers.

How long does this course take to complete?

In less than an hour I will try to show you the basic principles of data analysis using Microsoft Power BI.

What will you get out of this course?

SIMS users who take this course will learn all the concepts and basic techniques that you need to use Power BI. If you want to evaluate the SIMS Consolidated Reporting resources but haven't used Power BI before, this course will be a useful primer.


Your Instructor


David Pott
David Pott

I'm an independent SIMS and Power BI consultant working with schools for over 15 years. I spend lots of time with different schools, talking about the best ways to use SIMS and Power BI and creating effective assessment and analysis systems.


Course Curriculum


  Power BI and SIMS
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
Where can I find out more?
A follow-on course is under development. Watch this space!

Get started now!