microsoft access database - could it be used for this?
Discussion
I need to rank pupils by different criteria eg distance, siblings, special educational need etc. ie not all info is numerical but I could assign a value to the non-numerical items. I know nothing about MS access, but can (could) it be used for this purpose? So all student details would be entered, as this is ever-changing eg eg week some go on, so go off the list. Each week it must be re-ranked by the criteria so works out if you are number 1 on the list or whatever.
Is this going to be any use? I am reasonable at excel but this is going to be accessed by other users too, so I was thinking maybe a 'database' is the right way to go!
any ideas
Is this going to be any use? I am reasonable at excel but this is going to be accessed by other users too, so I was thinking maybe a 'database' is the right way to go!
any ideas
Excel or access can do that, but be warned that you are storing what is both personal and sensitive data (special education needs for example) and thus must take the appropriate steps to protect it, or you will most likely be breaching your orgs privacy policies and/or laws - unfortunately that’s a hard reality and why normally these things should be built “properly” rather than just knocked up in Excel, albeit many people take that risk on a daily basis. The problems start if something goes wrong and the data is inadvertently or accidentally leaked
Your call, but I would advise against it and instead speak to whoever your “IT department” is! I can appreciate that in education they may not be that competent …
Your call, but I would advise against it and instead speak to whoever your “IT department” is! I can appreciate that in education they may not be that competent …
Already covered to a degree, whichever solution you decide upon you need to ensure that you have the relevant controls in place to secure this data, passwords, access logging, control who has access (read permissions, write/edit permissions etc). Possibly consent from the parents to store PII data.
I would imagine a school would have (hopefully) policies and services in place to provide this regardless of what solution you choose to adopt.
I would imagine a school would have (hopefully) policies and services in place to provide this regardless of what solution you choose to adopt.
Flippin heck......
Anyway, to answer the OPs question, yes, you could do it in acess, but I would not. Excel is very capable of sorting and filtering and everyone knows how to use excel.
Once you start creating an access database you now have to maintain it, fix it, tweak it etc, and it'll all end up with you and no one else will know what to do when you are sick / leave etc.
Access is fun to use and presents forms and reports in a much nicer way than excel, but excel can do it very well, and easily, and is universally understood.
Anyway, to answer the OPs question, yes, you could do it in acess, but I would not. Excel is very capable of sorting and filtering and everyone knows how to use excel.
Once you start creating an access database you now have to maintain it, fix it, tweak it etc, and it'll all end up with you and no one else will know what to do when you are sick / leave etc.
Access is fun to use and presents forms and reports in a much nicer way than excel, but excel can do it very well, and easily, and is universally understood.
You create a formula to create your score across multiple columns then sort on that column.
If I was doing it I would load your source data into Power Query within Excel, process it so it all works nicely and drop the resulting queries into Power Pivot where you can create a fairly basic DAX Measure to create your scoring and your ranking. Using that approach you might be able to fully automate it each week, depending on where your source data is exactly.
Access is definitely not the best option for this sort of stuff given a) it doens't really sound like a relational problem directly, b) Excel will happily be your relational database these days anyway. Maybe you have an Office 365 account through work? If so, try logging it in at app.powerbi.com and you might find the world is your oyster.
If I was doing it I would load your source data into Power Query within Excel, process it so it all works nicely and drop the resulting queries into Power Pivot where you can create a fairly basic DAX Measure to create your scoring and your ranking. Using that approach you might be able to fully automate it each week, depending on where your source data is exactly.
Access is definitely not the best option for this sort of stuff given a) it doens't really sound like a relational problem directly, b) Excel will happily be your relational database these days anyway. Maybe you have an Office 365 account through work? If so, try logging it in at app.powerbi.com and you might find the world is your oyster.
CoolHands said:
I need to rank pupils by different criteria eg distance, siblings, special educational need etc. ie not all info is numerical but I could assign a value to the non-numerical items. I know nothing about MS access, but can (could) it be used for this purpose? So all student details would be entered, as this is ever-changing eg eg week some go on, so go off the list. Each week it must be re-ranked by the criteria so works out if you are number 1 on the list or whatever.
Is this going to be any use? I am reasonable at excel but this is going to be accessed by other users too, so I was thinking maybe a 'database' is the right way to go!
any ideas
This is something that all schools need to do - is it not functionality provided by the school management system?Is this going to be any use? I am reasonable at excel but this is going to be accessed by other users too, so I was thinking maybe a 'database' is the right way to go!
any ideas
Genuine question, don't really understand why each school needs to reinvent the same wheel. If not, I fancy a go at writing it as SAAS. Shall we say £500 per secondary school per year?
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff