diff --git a/boranga/components/occurrence/models.py b/boranga/components/occurrence/models.py
index 2d1e7411..f6f5c919 100644
--- a/boranga/components/occurrence/models.py
+++ b/boranga/components/occurrence/models.py
@@ -31,7 +31,16 @@
 from django.core.files.uploadedfile import InMemoryUploadedFile
 from django.core.validators import MaxValueValidator, MinValueValidator
 from django.db import IntegrityError, models, transaction
-from django.db.models import CharField, Count, Func, ManyToManyField, Max, Q
+from django.db.models import (
+    CharField,
+    Count,
+    Func,
+    ManyToManyField,
+    Max,
+    OuterRef,
+    Q,
+    Subquery,
+)
 from django.db.models.functions import Cast, Length
 from django.utils import timezone
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
@@ -6872,11 +6881,34 @@ def get_sample_value(self, errors, species_or_community_identifier=None):
         if isinstance(field, models.ForeignKey):
             related_model_qs = self.filtered_related_model_qs
 
+            # Special case for species or community
+            # Ensure only species or communities that have occurrences are selected
+            # in case the schema includes the occurrence model (quite likely)
+            if field.name == "species":
+                related_model_qs = related_model_qs.annotate(
+                    occurrence_count=Subquery(
+                        Occurrence.objects.filter(species__pk=OuterRef("pk"))
+                        .values("species")
+                        .annotate(count=Count("id"))
+                        .values("count")
+                    )
+                ).filter(occurrence_count__gt=0)
+            if field.name == "community":
+                related_model_qs = related_model_qs.annotate(
+                    occurrence_count=Subquery(
+                        Occurrence.objects.filter(community__pk=OuterRef("pk"))
+                        .values("species")
+                        .annotate(count=Count("id"))
+                        .values("count")
+                    )
+                ).filter(occurrence_count__gt=0)
+
             if not related_model_qs.exists():
+                error_message = f"No records found for foreign key field {field.related_model._meta.model_name}"
                 errors.append(
                     {
                         "error_type": "no_records",
-                        "error_message": f"No records found for foreign key {field.related_model._meta.model_name}",
+                        "error_message": error_message,
                     }
                 )
 
@@ -6987,6 +7019,18 @@ def get_sample_value(self, errors, species_or_community_identifier=None):
                     filter_field = {
                         "community__taxonomy__community_migrated_id": species_or_community_identifier
                     }
+                if not random_occurrence.exists():
+                    error_message = (
+                        f"No occurrences found where species or community identifier = "
+                        f"{species_or_community_identifier}"
+                    )
+                    errors.append(
+                        {
+                            "error_type": "no_occurrences",
+                            "error_message": error_message,
+                        }
+                    )
+                    return None
                 return (
                     random_occurrence.filter(**filter_field)
                     .order_by("?")
diff --git a/boranga/frontend/boranga/src/components/internal/occurrence/bulk_import_schema.vue b/boranga/frontend/boranga/src/components/internal/occurrence/bulk_import_schema.vue
index 4cb1e333..3402e261 100644
--- a/boranga/frontend/boranga/src/components/internal/occurrence/bulk_import_schema.vue
+++ b/boranga/frontend/boranga/src/components/internal/occurrence/bulk_import_schema.vue
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@
                                                         class="spinner-border spinner-border-sm me-1" role="status"
                                                         aria-hidden="true"></span><i v-else
                                                         class="bi bi-card-checklist me-1"></i>
-                                                    Validat<template v-if="validatingSchema">ing</template><template v-else>e</template></button>
+                                                    Validat<template v-if="validatingSchema">ing</template><template
+                                                        v-else>e</template></button>
                                                 <a role="button" class="btn btn-primary"
                                                     :href="`/api/occurrence_report_bulk_import_schemas/${schema.id}/preview_import_file/?updated=${schema.datetime_updated}`"><i
                                                         class="bi bi-filetype-xlsx me-1"></i> Preview</a>
@@ -453,8 +454,8 @@
                                 <template v-if="schema.can_user_edit && selectedColumn.is_editable_by_user">
                                     <button
                                         v-if="selectedColumn.django_import_content_type && selectedColumn.django_import_field_name"
-                                        class="btn btn-primary btn-sm me-2" @click.prevent="save()" :disabled="saving"><i
-                                            class="bi bi-floppy-fill me-1"></i>
+                                        class="btn btn-primary btn-sm me-2" @click.prevent="save()"
+                                        :disabled="saving"><i class="bi bi-floppy-fill me-1"></i>
                                         Save
                                         Column <template v-if="saving"><span
                                                 class="spinner-border spinner-border-sm ms-2" role="status"
@@ -491,6 +492,13 @@
                 </div>
             </div>
         </div>
+        <div v-else>
+            <div class="d-flex justify-content-center">
+                <div class="spinner-border text-primary" role="status">
+                    <span class="visually-hidden">Loading...</span>
+                </div>
+            </div>
+        </div>
         <div v-if="schema" class="row">
             <div class="navbar fixed-bottom" style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">
                 <div class="container">
@@ -505,7 +513,9 @@
                             Continue <template v-if="saving"><span class="spinner-border spinner-border-sm ms-2"
                                     role="status" aria-hidden="true"></span>
                                 <span class="visually-hidden">Loading...</span></template></button><button
-                            class="btn btn-primary me-2 float-end" @click.prevent="saveAndExit()" :disabled="saving">Save and Exit
+                            class="btn btn-primary me-2 float-end" @click.prevent="saveAndExit()"
+                            :disabled="saving">Save
+                            and Exit
                             <template v-if="saving"><span class="spinner-border spinner-border-sm ms-2" role="status"
                                     aria-hidden="true"></span>
                                 <span class="visually-hidden">Loading...</span>
@@ -754,7 +764,8 @@ export default {
                 default_value: null,
                 import_validations: [],
                 lookup_filters: [],
-                is_editable_by_user: true
+                is_editable_by_user: true,
+                is_emailuser_column: false
             }
         },
         addSingleColumn() {
@@ -971,16 +982,21 @@ export default {
                     } else if (Object.hasOwn(error, 'body')) {
                         errors = error.body
                     }
-                    let error_message = 'Something went wrong :-('
-                    if (errors instanceof Array) {
-                        error_message = ''
+                    let error_message_string = 'Something went wrong :-('
+                    if (errors instanceof Object) {
+                        error_message_string = ''
                         for (let i = 0; i < errors.length; i++) {
-                            error_message += `<li class="mb-2">${errors[i].error_message}</li>`
+                            let error_message = errors[i].error_message ? errors[i].error_message : errors[i]
+                            error_message_string += `<li class="mb-2">${error_message}</li>`
                         }
+                        console.log(error_message_string)
+                    } else if (typeof errors === 'string') {
+                        error_message_string = errors
                     }
+                    console.error(error_message_string)
                     swal.fire({
                         title: 'Schema Validation Failed',
-                        html: error_message,
+                        html: error_message_string,
                         icon: 'error',
                         confirmButtonText: 'OK',
                         customClass: {