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Preparing your submission

Instructions on prerequisites, how to use the cohort template and guidance on which identifiers to include to maximise trace success.

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Preliminary checks

Before you create your cohort file
  • check that you have only included data items that your Data Sharing Agreement allows and ensure you have validated this information as accurate to the best of your knowledge
  • check your Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) is active. The individual(s) identified as the cohort submitter or participant data provider will receive an email from the Secure Electronic File Transfer (SEFT) team with guidance on how to use SEFT to submit the cohort/s associated with your DSA
  • check where you have multiple agreements, that you ensure you upload your submission to the correct folder which references the correct DSA NIC-Number
  • ensure you have read through the SEFT guidance and are aware of which folders to use for uploading your cohort submission and for retrieving your data.
  • check that you have included only data items that your Data Sharing Agreement allows and ensure that you have validated this information is as accurate as possible to the best of your knowledge

Cohort submission template

When preparing your cohort submission template, make sure you do the following:

  • check the cohort submission template serves as an example as to what a correctly formatted cohort file should look like.
  • remove the example data in the template and add your participants’ details.
  • include all headers as per the template even if you don’t intend to submit all fields.
  • check your DSA to determine which fields can be submitted and if you need to submit minimum or maximum dates.
  • save the cohort as .csv. the filename must include the first part of your DSA number, followed by any text of your choice (for example: NIC-123456_October-upload.csv)

Checking against the Data Sharing Agreement (DSA)

To make sure your cohort file complies with the terms of your Data Sharing Agreement (DSA), check:

  • Annex B Additional technical information within your DSA to ensure the identifiers you will upload in your file (such as family name, date of birth and NHS Number) are allowed
  • 5b Processing activities within your DSA to see if you need to add any dates to your submission to minimise the data you will receive

If you do include other identifiers not listed within your DSA, the system would remove this data and it would not be used in the matching.

In this example below, the DSA allows only three data items to be provided.

Annex B additional technical information example

Last edited: 26 January 2026 9:53 am