BETA This is a new service – your feedback will help us to improve it.

Document exchange external user guide

Document exchange is run by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE).

This user guide tells you how an external user can:

• sign in and manage your account
• publish new documents

Table of contents

Signing in

To access the Document exchange service, you need a DfE Sign-in account.

Already have a DfE Sign-in account?

If you have a DfE Sign-in account, you need to request access to this service: Document exchange and the role Document exchange user

To request access, email an approver at your organisation with your request. You can find a list of approvers under ‘organisations’ on the navigation bar at the top of the screen.

How do I get a DfE Sign-in account?

Create an account in four simple steps:

• Select the create account button from the DfE Sign-in page
• Enter your name and email address (it’s best to use your work email address or one that is clearly associated with your organisation)
• We’ll send you an email to verify your email address; copy the code from this email and paste it into the box on the verification page
• Create a memorable password of 12 characters or more (we recommend joining three or more familiar words)

Once you have created an account, you can request access to your organisation and the services you need.

You might have noticed the term ‘approver’ during account creation. An approver is someone at your organisation responsible for controlling who has access to DfE Sign-in and the services within the system. It is usually a senior person, such as an administrator, manager, or headteacher.

For security reasons you will need the approval of your organisation’s approver before you can access services.

How can I find a relevant approver?

Once your organisation request has been approved, you can find a list of all recognised approvers under ‘organisations’ on the navigation bar at the top of the screen.

How do I get the Document exchange service added to my account?

Once you have a DfE Sign-in account you need to request access to this service: Document exchange

To request access, email an approver at your organisation with your request. You can find a list of approvers under ‘organisations’ on the navigation bar at the top of the screen.

I’m an approver, how do I give access to the Document exchange service?

To give users access you need to add the service Document exchange and the role Document exchange User to each user’s account.

Here's how to add the service and role to a user:

• From the ‘manage users’ page, choose the required user
• From the right-hand list, choose 'add services'
• Choose the service and role you'd like this user to access
• Save your changes

If you are having problems using the DfE Sign-in service, follow DfE Sign-in Help. You will be able to request further assistance if required.

Signing out

Select ‘sign out’ in the top right-hand corner of the screen to sign out and return to the 'Start' page. For security reasons you should always sign out when you have finished using the service.

Timeout

If you are signed in but are inactive for 20 minutes you will be signed out.

Changing your password

You can change your password at any time in your profile. If you forget your password you can reset it using the forgotten your password page.

Changing your email

You can change your email address at any time in your profile. Once you have changed your email address you need to activate it on a verification email. For security you also need to request the email address change on an email sent to your old account.

Finding the login page

You can visit the service at Document exchange

Publish new documents

You can publish new documents by uploading them from your own device:

• from the document exchange homepage, you need to select ‘Send a new document’
• you can then upload your document from your computer device
• your internal user will then get a notification for your published document

Get help with Document exchange

If you have any general questions about using our service you can contact us.