Trust and Local Authority dashboards

Learn how our group dashboards, can help anyone working with a group of schools to monitor energy use and make energy savings.

Audience

This page provides help for anyone using the Energy Sparks website.

What's on the group dashboard?

The Group dashboard is designed to be used by central teams in Multi-Academy Trusts and Local Authorities working with a group of schools. It can be navigated to in the following ways:

  • For group users:
    • It is the default page that group users will be taken to once they sign in
    • From any page on the website, a group user can use the Group dashboard link at the top right of the screen as long as they are signed in
    • Or, if you are signed in, you can visit the page now.

  • For all users:
    • By searching for a school group on the View Schools page (you will first need to click on the Find School Groups tab)
    • By clicking on the name of the school group in the breadcrumbs at the top left of the pages from any school dashboard

The group dashboard is based on the adult dashboard and provides a clear summary of key information about your school group's energy use. It features:

  • A summary of recent energy use in schools across the group
  • Links to detailed analysis (Explore energy data button) and advice (View all potential savings button) for your schools
  • System-generated reminders about any data issues or actions staff can take to improve their user experience
  • Alerts highlighting recent increases or decreases in consumption across the group
  • Information about where your schools currently sit on our scoreboard, along with a View scoreboard button that shows which schools have been engaging with Energy Sparks
  • A timeline of recent activity and actions recorded by your schools

Where is our detailed analysis?

The detailed energy analysis for your group of schools can be accessed via:

  • the school group dashboard, choose Explore energy data
  • Or, if you are signed in, you can visit the page now.

The detailed energy analysis shows summarised energy saving opportunities, a group scoreboard, a range of comparisons across schools within the group, a selection of charts, data to support SECR reporting and summarised analysis of key energy saving themes from our school advice pages.

Comparison reports

The comparison reports for your school group can be accessed via your Energy efficiency overview which is available from:

  • The school group dashboard, choose Explore energy data, then choose Comparisons on the left hand side of the page.
  • Or, if you are signed in, you can visit the page now.

The comparison reports allow you to compare energy use across schools in your group. There are a number of of different comparison reports, including:

  • Annual change in gas or electricity
  • Change in energy consumption between the most recent holiday and the same holiday last year
  • Cost of energy used in the upcoming holiday last year
  • Heating start time
  • Benefit of installing solar panels

These comparisons may help you to prioritise action and support across your schools.

Energy use charts

The energy use charts for your school group can be accessed via your Energy efficiency overview which is available from:

  • the school group dashboard, choose Explore energy data, then choose Energy use charts on the left hand side of the page.
  • or, if you are signed in, you can visit the page now.

On this page, you can select from drop down menus to quickly switch between different data views (e.g. baseload, out-of-hours electricity use) and different schools within your group. The charts look and work exactly the same way as the charts on the individual school analysis pages. For example, you can zoom into a chart by clicking on it and move backwards and forward in time by using the navigation buttons above the chart.

SECR report

The SECR report page for your school group can be accessed via your Energy efficiency overview which is available from:

  • the school group dashboard, choose Explore energy data, then choose Comparisons on the left hand side of the page.
  • or, if you are signed in, you can visit the page now.

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) is a simplified energy use and carbon reporting standard for UK businesses which also applies to academy trusts.

The standard requires trusts to report on the energy use and carbon emissions for electricity and gas use as well as transport. Reporting is done annually with data provided as part of a trust’s annual report.

Energy use and emissions reporting is based on annual usage data that can be compiled from bills or annual statements provided by energy suppliers. Trusts may already have a means of compiling and reporting that data.

Energy Sparks provides some additional support to trusts carrying out SECR reporting. Our access to half-hourly energy data for electricity, gas and solar (where relevant) allows us to provide monthly energy use data that can be used to help produce a SECR report.

Our SECR reporting feature provides:


We provide data for the current and previous academic years.

However there are a number of caveats with the data we can provide:

  • We may not have data for all of the schools in the trust, or they may still be in the process of onboarding
  • We may not have access to data for all meters in a school, or may have access to data for only one fuel type, e.g. electricity but not gas
  • We may only have limited historical data for a specific school or meter, e.g. because of a meter fault or an upgrade
  • We only have estimated data for your solar energy generation, consumption and export
  • We cannot provide data on non-energy related emissions, e.g. for transport

For this reason we recommend that you use the data we provide as a starting point, but supplement it with information provided by your energy supplier.

Our data downloads summarise monthly usage for every meter where we have data available, along with an indication of whether the data has been estimated, corrected or may be incomplete. This helps to highlight where additional information is needed.

Group dashboard management

Group admins can manage the settings of their school group.  Setting can be accessed via:

  • the Manage group link at the top right of the page when signed in
  • or, if you are signed in, you can visit the page now.

This page will allow you to do the following:
  • Set your default display units for energy charts - choose between kg CO₂, kWh, £, or the system default.
  • Group similar schools within your organisation into clusters to simplify comparisons.
  • Manage current and historical energy tariffs for your group and schools.
  • Display your analysis on public signage around schools.
  • See how your schools are engaging with Energy Sparks features. Higher engagement typically leads to greater energy savings.
  • View the status of schools in this group - whether they have visible data for a range of fuels.
  • View data to support SECR reporting.
  • View and manage activities and actions recorded by your schools.