Academic years
An academic year (also called a school year) is the calendar everything else in MarkBook hangs on. Markbook templates, markbooks, reporting periods, targets and reports all belong to one year. You create the year first, then divide it into terms.
Where: Configuration → School year → Academic years
Who can change this
A manager, or a person whose role includes the Academic years and periods permission. Everyone else can see years in pickers but cannot edit them.
What you set up
Each school year is a card on the page. A card shows the year name and its terms, each with a start and end date.
When you add or edit a year you enter:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| School year | The name. Use the form 2026 - 2027. |
| School interval name | The name of a term, such as Term 1. |
| Start date and End date | The dates of that term. |
Select Add school interval to add another term. Remove interval removes one (there must always be at least one).
The year's own start and end dates are worked out for you. The year starts when its first term starts and ends when its last term ends. You do not type them.
Creating a year
- Go to Configuration → School year → Academic years.
- Select Add school year.
- Type the name, for example
2026 - 2027. - Fill in the first term: name, start date, end date.
- Select Add school interval for each further term.
- Select Save.
Your terms appear on the card. Next, add checkpoints inside each term. See Terms & Checkpoints.
Prefer a guided start?
Guided setup, at the top of the page, creates the year, terms, scales, subjects and a markbook template in one go. See Setup Wizard.
Example
A school in Romania starts on 8 September and finishes on 30 June, with two semesters:
| Interval | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 | 2026-09-08 | 2027-01-29 |
| Semester 2 | 2027-02-08 | 2027-06-30 |
The card shows the year as 2026 - 2027, running from 8 September to 30 June. A gap between Semester 1 and Semester 2 (the winter break) is fine.
Rules
- Terms must not overlap. If two terms share a day, MarkBook shows "Two or more intervals overlap. Adjust the dates so each period is independent before saving." and does not save. A gap between terms is allowed.
- One year is "current". The current year carries a Current badge. Screens that need a default year, such as the Dashboard, open on it. Only one year can be current at a time. The setup wizard marks the year it creates as current when you ask it to.
- Names must be unique. If you reuse the name of a year you deleted earlier, MarkBook brings that year back instead of making a second one.
- Dates inside a year. Reporting periods and checkpoints must sit inside the dates of their term.
Editing a year
Select Edit on a card to rename the year, change a term's dates, add a term or remove one. Take care when you change dates. A checkpoint outside its term's new dates will no longer match, and you will need to edit the checkpoint too.
Once marks exist, some things stop moving to protect them. A period's year and its parent term cannot be changed, because that would move marks to a different part of the calendar.
Deleting a year
Open the year with Edit and select Delete. MarkBook asks you to confirm.
- A year that holds marks cannot be deleted. Marks must not disappear from under a report card.
- Deleting a year with no marks also removes its terms and checkpoints.
Edge cases
- Next year is already set up. You can create next year's calendar while this year is still running. The Dashboard then opens on the current year if it has any markbooks. If it has none, it opens on the most recent year that does.
- A school with a different pattern. Three terms, two semesters or four quarters all work. The number of terms is yours to choose.
- Different years for different phases. One year serves the whole school. Use separate markbook templates to give each phase its own checkpoints.