Locking a period
When the marks of a checkpoint are final, you can lock it. A locked checkpoint accepts no new marks and no changes to existing marks. Use it after reports have been checked, so that nobody changes a grade that a report or a parent has already seen.
Where: Configuration → School year → Reporting periods, on the checkpoint's row.
Who can lock and unlock
A manager, or a person whose role includes the Lock and unlock periods permission. This permission is separate from Academic years and periods, so a school can let office staff manage the calendar while only senior leaders can freeze it. A school that has not set up roles lets every person with configuration access lock.
How to lock
- Go to Configuration → School year → Reporting periods.
- Find the checkpoint, for example Term 1A.
- Hover over the row and select the Lock icon (a closed padlock).
The row's status changes from Open to Locked, and a padlock appears at the left of the row. To reopen it, select Unlock (an open padlock) on the same row.
Locking twice does nothing extra. If the checkpoint is already locked, nothing is re-sent.
What a locked checkpoint does
| Where | What changes |
|---|---|
| Grades | Cells in that checkpoint become read-only. Hovering shows "This reporting period is locked. No marks can be added or changed in it until it is unlocked." |
| Imports | An import refuses marks in the locked checkpoint. They are listed as skipped with the reason "The period is locked". |
| Bulk and cell changes | Filling cells, clearing cells and restoring an earlier value are all refused for that checkpoint. |
| Families | Columns set to show to families once the reporting period closes are released when you lock. Families are told that results are released. |
| Reports | Not changed. A report you have already published stays as published. |
| Activity log | The lock and the unlock are recorded with who did them and when. |
| Webhooks | A school that subscribes to webhooks is told when a period is locked or unlocked. |
Locking can release grades to families
If a column is set to show to families after the period closes, locking releases it immediately, even before the end date. Releasing grades early and freezing them are one action. Check your family visibility settings before you lock. See Family Permissions.
Locking a term
A lock on a term covers all its checkpoints. When MarkBook decides whether a cell can be edited, it looks at the checkpoint and at the term above it. The message then reads "This term is locked. No marks can be added or changed in any of its periods until it is unlocked."
Terms have no lock button on the Reporting periods page. You lock the checkpoints inside them. A term with no checkpoints is a leaf and behaves as its own checkpoint.
Example
Term 1 has checkpoints Term 1A (due 24 October) and Term 1B (due 19 December). On 31 October the school finishes checking Term 1A:
- A senior leader locks Term 1A.
- Teachers can still enter marks under Term 1B.
- A teacher who notices a wrong Term 1A grade cannot change it. The leader unlocks Term 1A, the teacher corrects the grade, and the leader locks it again. Both steps appear in the activity log, and the cell's history shows the change.
When a cell is read-only, and why
A cell can be read-only for several reasons. Hover over it to see which one applies. The reasons are checked in this order:
- The column is calculated, so nobody types in it.
- The column is locked by its definition.
- The column is limited to leaders and you are not one.
- The report has been published and the column locks after publishing.
- The checkpoint is locked.
- The column is under review or approved.
If a cell gives more than one reason, MarkBook shows the first. Unlocking the checkpoint does not help if an earlier reason also applies.
Edge cases
- Unlocking does not undo family release. Grades already released to families stay visible.
- A checkpoint with an approved column. Approved columns stay locked after you unlock the checkpoint. A leader must reopen the column. See Checking & Approving Columns.
- A teacher says the grid will not let them type. Check whether the checkpoint, the term above it, or the column is locked.
- Nothing happens when you select lock. You may not hold the permission. Ask a manager.