Transfer Configuration

You can move a configuration from one school to another with a file. For example, a school builds a Cambridge Primary Mathematics setup with its scales, columns, subjects, markbook templates, learning outcomes and a report template. It exports that setup to one file. Another school imports the file and gets the same setup, without building it again by hand.

This page is for the person who administers MarkBook at each school.

Who can do it

You need the permission Transfer configuration. Managers have it. At a school that has installed roles, nobody else has it until an administrator gives it to a role on Users & Roles.

To import, you also need the permission Developer: API keys and webhooks, because the import is on the Developer screen.

WARNING

An export is data that leaves your school. Give the permission only to people you trust with your whole configuration.

What the file carries

You export one starting point: a report template, a markbook template or a curriculum. Everything it depends on comes with it.

Starting point	What comes with it
Report template	Its markbook templates, their subjects and columns, the scales and scale conversions they use, the curricula linked to them, and the report workflows that name this report template
Markbook template	Its subjects and columns, the scales and conversions they use, and the curriculum linked to it
Curriculum	Its whole outcome tree, its scales, and the markbook templates and subjects it is linked to

The file also carries the names and codes of the reporting periods that these items use, and the names of their classes.

Only active items are exported. An archived scale, column or period is not in the file. If an exported item still uses one, the import reports it (see Checks that stop the import). Archived outcomes in a curriculum travel as archived.

What never travels

• Marks, judgements, comments, student reports and any student data.
• Teachers. The teachers allocated to subjects stay at the old school.
• Images that the other school uploaded, for example a logo or a cover background on a report template. Images that MarkBook ships travel.
• Standards alignment of learning outcomes.
• Outcomes that are not on any subject. The review step names the curriculum and how many outcomes were left out.

Export

1. Open the list that holds your starting point:
   • Configuration → Reports → Report templates,
   • Configuration → Assessment → Markbook Templates, or
   • Configuration → Assessment → Learning outcomes.
2. Open the actions menu of the item and choose Export configuration.
3. MarkBook downloads a .json file. The file name is the name of the item.

The export changes nothing at your school.

Import

1. Open Configuration → Developer.
2. On the card Transfer configuration, press Import configuration.
3. The wizard has four steps.

1. Choose file

Upload the .json file. It can be up to 5 MB. MarkBook shows what the file contains: the starting point, the number of items of each kind, the school it came from and the date of the export.

Nothing is written until you press Import on the last step.

2. Map

• Academic year. Choose the year that receives the configuration.
• Reporting periods. Each period of the file is matched by its code to a period of that year. Where no period has the code, MarkBook offers Create it in this year. You can also choose another period of the same year.
• Classes. For each markbook template, MarkBook proposes the classes that have the same name as at the other school. Correct the list. Each template needs at least one class. An empty list would mean every class of the school, so MarkBook does not accept it.

A period that MarkBook creates keeps its shape: a term stays a term and a checkpoint stays a checkpoint. Its dates move by the difference between the two years. For example, a checkpoint due on 15 December 2025 in a year that starts on 1 September 2025 is due on 15 December 2026 in a year that starts on 1 September 2026.

3. Review

The review shows, for each kind of item:

Label	What it means
Created	The item is new here. MarkBook creates it
Already here — used as it is	An item with the same key exists. MarkBook uses it and does not change it
Already here, different	The item exists but its settings are not the same as in the file. MarkBook still uses yours, unchanged, and names the differences

Errors are listed under These must be fixed before importing. Warnings are listed under Worth knowing. The Import button stays disabled while there are errors.

4. Done

MarkBook writes everything in one step. If something fails, nothing is written. The last step shows how many items of each kind were created.

The rules

Reuse, never overwrite

MarkBook creates only what is missing. It never changes an item that your school already has. An item that your school has but that is not active (inactive, archived, or a draft template) stops the import: activate it or rename it, then import again. An item that was deleted is brought back with the settings of the file.

Item	Matched by
Attainment scale	Its code
Judgement scale	Its name and scale type
Scale conversion	Its name
Column	Its code
Subject	Its code
Markbook template	Its name, in the chosen year
Curriculum	Its code, else its name
Report template, report workflow	Its name

A subject code that exists at your school is reused even when the subject has another name. For example, the file has MATH · Mathematics and your school has MATH · Maths. MarkBook uses Maths and does not rename it. The review shows it as different.

When a curriculum already exists, MarkBook adds only the outcomes it does not have. An outcome matches one in the same place by its code; an outcome without a code is matched by its text. Nothing is deleted or moved. The review says how many outcomes will be added to each curriculum that is already here.

Report workflows

A report workflow is imported only when every report template it names is created by this import. A workflow that names a report template your school already has would change who approves that report template, so MarkBook leaves it out and says so in the warnings. An imported workflow never applies to all report templates.

Periods by code

Periods are matched by code, never by name. Give your periods the same codes at both schools if you want them to match without changes.

Classes by name, never empty

Classes are proposed by name because each school has its own classes. A class name that does not exist at your school is left out and named in the warnings.

Checks that stop the import

Error	What to do
An item refers to something that is neither in the file nor at your school	Usually an archived scale, column or period at the other school. Make it active there and export again
A markbook template has no class	Choose at least one class on the Map step
A subject code is longer than 5 characters	Shorten the code at the other school and export again
An item exists at your school but is not active	Activate it or rename it, then import again
Two periods of the file were matched with the same period here	Match each period with a different period on the Map step
A class name of the other school could not be read	Export the file again when MarkBook can read the classes
A curriculum is deeper than it allows	Raise the depth of the curriculum here or in the file, or remove a level
A markbook template already has another curriculum here	A template can have one curriculum. Unlink the other one first
A period was mapped to a period of another year	Choose a period of the selected year
The school's classes could not be read	Wait a moment and try again
The file is not a MarkBook configuration export, or it comes from a newer version	Export the file again from MarkBook

After the import

1. Upload images again. The review names each image of the other school that was left out. Open the report template and upload it.
2. Allocate teachers. Open each markbook template and give its subjects their teachers.
3. Check the columns. Open each markbook template and check its columns and periods before teachers start to enter marks.
4. Check the report template. Preview a report for one student.

Import history

The card Transfer configuration lists the last imports, with the date, the starting point and who imported it. You see the history only if you have the permission Users and roles.

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