Glossary
This page explains the words MarkBook uses. Each entry says what the term means and where you meet it.
A
Academic year A school year, such as 2026–2027, with a start and end date. Markbooks, periods and reports belong to one academic year. Set in Configuration → School year → Academic years. See Academic Years.
Activity Calendar The Kinderpedia module that holds the timetable and lesson registers. MarkBook reads it to show the Timetable and lesson attendance. See Activity Calendar Connection.
Allocation Naming a teacher for a subject on a markbook template. The teacher reaches that subject only in the classes they teach.
API key A secret that lets an outside tool read your school's MarkBook data. Read-only. See API Keys & the Read API.
Approval (of a column) Sending a column or a set of comments for checking and signing it off. See Checking & Approving Columns.
Assessment scale See Judgement scale.
Attainment scale A scale of numeric bands that turns a mark into a grade, for example "7 or more is B". Also called a grade scale. Set in Configuration → Assessment → Attainment scales. See Attainment Scales.
B
Bulk entry Filling a column or a selection of empty cells in one action. See Keyboard & Bulk Entry.
C
Calculated column A column whose value comes from a formula over other columns, such as Value Added = Report Grade minus Target Grade. You cannot type in it. See Calculated Columns & Formulas.
Cell One square of the marks grid: one student in one column.
Checkpoint A dated milestone inside a term, for example "Term 1A, due 20 October". It has a due date but no start and end. Marks live on checkpoints. See Terms & Checkpoints.
Column One column of the marks grid, such as Report Grade, Effort or Target Grade. A column comes from a value type switched on in a template.
Comment bank A shared list of ready-made comments that teachers can insert.
Conditional colour Colour bands that paint a cell by its value. See Conditional Colours.
Coordinator See Year group coordinator.
Coverage How much of a curriculum or standards framework is aligned or reached.
D
Dashboard The home page that shows what is due, blank or waiting. See Dashboard.
Default role The permission role given to anyone who has no role of their own.
Display in A setting on a template subject. It decides whether the subject appears in main classes, secondary (option) classes, or chosen classes.
Draft A report or comment that is not yet submitted or approved.
E
Effort A common column that records how hard a student worked, usually on a judgement scale.
F
Flag See Student flag.
Form tutor subject A subject that only the main teachers of a class write, such as a pastoral comment.
Formula The rule of a calculated column.
Framework A curriculum or standards tree. A learning outcomes framework is what a school marks against. A standards framework is a reference list of official codes. See Learning Outcomes Overview.
G
Grade scale See Attainment scale.
Grades The marks grid, opened from Markbook → Grades: students down the side, columns across.
H
Head of department A leadership role for one subject. It gives reach to every markbook of that subject. See Leadership Roles.
J
Judgement scale A list of named levels used for ratings and learning outcomes, such as Excellent, Good, Needs work. Set in Configuration → Assessment → Judgement scales. See Judgement Scales.
K
KP id A person's number in Kinderpedia. The read API shows students only by this number.
L
Leader-only column A column that only a leader may edit.
Leadership role Head of department, year group coordinator or SLT. It decides whose markbooks a person reaches.
Leaf period The lowest level of the period tree, which holds the columns. "Term 1A" is a leaf. "Term 1" is its parent.
Learning outcome A coded statement a student is judged against, such as "Can add fractions". Outcomes form a tree. See Learning Outcomes Overview.
Lock (of a period) Freezing all marks in a reporting period. See Locking a Period.
M
Main class / secondary class A student's main class is their form group. Secondary classes are option groups.
Markbook One grid of marks for one template, subject, class and academic year. It is created the first time someone enters a mark.
Markbook template The blueprint of a markbook: which columns exist, which subjects, which scales, which classes. See Markbook Templates.
Moderation Comparing the marking of parallel classes of one subject.
O
Observer A default role that can read grades, reports and analytics, and change nothing.
Outcome See Learning outcome.
P
Period See Reporting period.
Permission One thing a person may do, such as Enter and change marks. See Roles & Permissions.
Planner See Unit planner.
Publish Make a report the parents' copy. It freezes the report, saves a PDF and tells the family. See Publishing Reports.
R
Reach Which markbooks a person can open.
Reflection A note a teacher records on behalf of a student about a unit or period.
Register A record of who was present at a lesson.
Reporting period A term or a checkpoint. See Terms & Checkpoints.
Report template The design and content rules of a report, such as pages and columns. See Report Templates.
Report workflow The steps a report passes: draft, ready to check, approved, published.
Role A named set of permissions, for example Teacher or Reports officer.
Roll-up Giving a category in a learning outcomes tree a level worked out from the levels beneath it. A level typed by a teacher is never replaced. See Category Roll-up.
S
Scale conversion A map from one scale to another, such as A* to 10, so a mark can show in both. See Scale Conversions.
Senior teacher A default permission role: a teacher's rights plus targets, review and exports. It is not the same as Head of department.
SEN / EAL Special educational needs and English as an additional language, shown as badges.
SLT Senior leadership team. A leadership role that reaches the whole school.
Standards library A reference set of official curriculum codes that outcomes can be aligned to. Standards are never marked directly. See Standards Library.
Student flag A staff-only alert on a student, such as a medical or safeguarding note.
Student target A student's target grade. A year-level profile (SEN, EAL, FFT) is kept in the targets register. See Student Targets.
Subject A discipline in the school's catalogue, such as Mathematics. It has a name, code and colour.
Summary The cross-subject grid for a class and period. See Summary.
T
Target column A column that holds a target grade for each student in a subject.
Template See Markbook template.
Term A reporting period with a start and end date. It holds checkpoints.
U
Unit planner The document where a teacher plans a unit of work. See Unit Planner.
V
Value type A kind of column that any template can use, such as attainment, effort, target or comment. Also called the column library. Set in Configuration → Assessment → Markbook Templates. See Column Library.
Value Added (VA) A calculated column: the difference between the grade a student achieved and the target. See Targets, Effort & Value Added.
W
Webhook A message MarkBook sends to another system when an event happens. See Webhooks.
Y
Year group coordinator A leadership role for one year group. It gives reach to every markbook of that year group.