New DSI test accounts

New DSI test account launch email template - July 2025.docx

Dear XXXX

New test accounts have been created for you on DfE Sign In (DSI), as one of the three profiles your organisation has nominated.  

You will have access to three test trusts. One small multi academy trust, one medium multi academy trust and one single academy trust.

Please follow the instructions (with screenshots) at the end of this email to setup your accounts, only use these new credentials and discard all test accounts previously provided, including any mailinator and IDAMS accounts.

Please do not share these credentials with others in your organisation.

If you wish to allow someone else within your organisation to use these test accounts, please let us know and we’ll be happy to change the account credentials.

If you experience any problems when setting up your accounts, please contact us and we’ll do our best to help.

Your test trusts

You will have the data transfer approver and internal preparer roles already assigned for all three test trusts.

Academies chart of accounts

The latest version (7.6.2) is available to view on our supplier helpdesk, this version should be implemented into your software. We will add it to our main webpage in the coming weeks. However, any version beginning with 7 will work with the 2024/25 AR.

Test environment

The supplier test environment (STE) is used by software suppliers throughout the year to test their use of the API and for use within client demos. Live data must NOT be used within this environment.

Should you experience any difficulties with the STE environment, please raise a ticket using the ‘environments / test accounts’ query type. 

STE URL: https://onlinecollections-ste.education.gov.uk/

Please ensure that your application points to STE instead of UAT when signing into DSI when trying to send the data package.

If the DSi sign in screen has an orange banner at the top, its not STE.

Your application subscription key should also be for STE, please check that the key is not for UAT.

Important

Please be mindful about amending your URLs where necessary to ensure they are not pointing at a different environment. They should have ‘ste’ and not ‘uat’ for instance. See auth; token and ‘custengagement’ URLs below. 

Your app (product) may also need to be reregistered if  you cannot see the app within Find and Use An API, or your subscription key isn’t vailid. 

How to setup your DSI account

1. You will receive an email from dfe.signin@education.gov.uk inviting you to setup a DSI account for your assigned test trusts.

If you are unable to action within the 24hr, please request a new verification code. 

If this doesn’t work, please raise a ticket and we will look into it. 

Confirm your email address

After you create your password, you will see a registration complete screen. 

You should now login and check that you have been setup correctly.  

Important notice to suppliers when implementing the auth token request.

On page 18 of the 'Guide for software integration with automation API 7.1', you will see an example request to authorise the endpoint.

Within the below example, we are using UPIN of 900005. 

When selecting your trust from your DSI organisation list, (see example image) you must ensure you choose the trust that corresponds with the UPIN used in the auth request.

This UPIN must be amended in the auth URL if you wish to select a different trust from the DSI org list each time you call the auth endpoint to begin the approval process for each test trust.

Last updated on 01 August 2025 07:12