Preserve higher quality address data at all times
Student CRM takes a cautious approach to updating postal addresses, to make sure the student record card always contains the most complete, latest address. This makes sure that low quality address data (eg. just a postcode or country) is always replaced with fuller, higher quality data.
This is to prevent the platform from processing low quality address data, when higher quality address data already exists on the student's record card.
Examining address data quality
If a student enters their address into a form or the address is sent in via API, that address is saved in their Student Record within the Student Database.
If a student already has an address on their Student Record and then saves a different address, the Student Record may be updated with the new address, but this is dependant on on the quality of the new address data.
Every address is inspected to ascertain its quality by four main fields:
Address Line 1 (ie. "4 Exeter Park Rd")
Town (ie. "Bournemouth")
Postcode (ie. "BH2 5BD")
Country (ie. "United Kingdom")
If all four fields are filled, like in the example above, the address is considered to be of Quality 4. An address with a Quality 4 rating will not be replaced by another address that has fewer filled fields.
| Address 1 | Town | Postcode | Country |
Quality 1 | N | Any | Any | Any |
Quality 2 | Y | N | N | N |
Quality 3 | Y | Y | N | N |
Quality 3 | Y | N | Y | N |
Quality 3 | Y | N | N | Y |
Quality 4 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
You can then use this flowchart to examine what would happen in each situation (click to zoom):
FAQs
Q. We have previously been sending in a dash "-" in the Town field via API from our SRS. What should we do now?
A. No immediate changes are required. If you do wish to add a a proper Town value ie: "Bournemouth" going forward, please contact Support so we can best advise you on how to swap over.
Q. I only want to collect Postcode or Country on my form, what considerations do I need to make?
A. If you are only collecting a single address field (this is Quality 1 data) then you will need to be aware this will not overwrite existing Quality 2, 3, or 4 data on a matching student record. This means a more recent country or postcode collected may not be stored if previous data is more high quality. Best practice is to collect a full address.
Q. A student has sent me their address via a channel different from a form or API. Can I still manually update their record with this?
A. Yes, you will always be able to manually update a student's record card with their address.
Be aware that, as the Platform works on the principle of 'newest is truest', if you have not updated the student's old address in your SRS, it may at some future date overwrite the address you had previously manually added. To prevent this, ensure your SRS contains the latest address data.