> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bizaxl.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Attendance

> Mark and monitor student attendance - by class session or by date - using the Attendance Tool for bulk marking, and track leave applications and absences through built-in reports.

Attendance in College Management lets you record whether each student was present or absent for every class. You can mark attendance for an entire group at once using the Student Attendance Tool, or enter records individually. Students and instructors can apply for and approve leave. Built-in reports show attendance patterns across any period.

***

## Who Uses This Feature

| Role                       | What They Do                                                                      |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Instructor**             | Marks attendance for their student groups, approves or reviews leave applications |
| **Academic Administrator** | Marks attendance, approves leave, monitors attendance reports                     |
| **Student**                | Submits leave applications                                                        |

***

## Before You Start

You need:

* **Student Groups** set up with students added
* **Course Schedules** created (if marking attendance by session)
* **Education Settings** configured - particularly the **Attendance Freeze Date** (after this date, past attendance cannot be edited)

***

## Marking Attendance with the Student Attendance Tool

The **Student Attendance Tool** is the fastest way to take attendance. It lets you mark an entire student group as present or absent in a single operation.

1. Go to **Education workspace → Tools card → Student Attendance Tool**.
2. Fill in:

| Field               | What to Enter                                                                                                                   |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Based On**        | Choose **Course Schedule** (to mark attendance for a specific class) or **Student Group** (to mark by date for the whole group) |
| **Student Group**   | The group to take attendance for (required)                                                                                     |
| **Course Schedule** | Select the specific class session (if Based On = Course Schedule)                                                               |
| **Date**            | The date of the class (required)                                                                                                |

3. Click **Get Students** - the tool loads the full student list for the group.
4. The table shows each student. Their status defaults to **Present**.
5. Click the toggle or checkbox to mark any student as **Absent**.
6. Click **Submit** to save attendance for all students at once.

Bizaxl creates one Student Attendance record per student. These records are submitted automatically.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/bizaxloptimizationsllp/images/placeholder-student-attendance-tool.png" alt="Student Attendance Tool showing student group, date, student list with present/absent toggles, and submit button" />
</Frame>

***

## Marking Attendance Individually

You can also create individual attendance records:

1. Go to **Education workspace → Attendance card → Student Attendance**.
2. Click **New**.
3. Fill in:

| Field                 | What to Enter                                           |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Student**           | The student (required)                                  |
| **Date**              | Date of the session (required)                          |
| **Status**            | Present, Absent, or On Leave (required)                 |
| **Student Group**     | The group the student belongs to                        |
| **Course Schedule**   | Link to the specific session (optional but recommended) |
| **Programme**         | Auto-populated                                          |
| **Leave Application** | Link if the absence has an approved leave application   |

4. Save, then **Submit**.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/bizaxloptimizationsllp/images/placeholder-student-attendance-form.png" alt="Student Attendance form showing student, date, status, student group, and course schedule fields" />
</Frame>

***

## Student Leave Applications

When a student needs to be absent for a known reason - illness, family event, travel - they or their instructor can submit a **Student Leave Application**. An approved leave application automatically marks attendance records as "On Leave" rather than "Absent".

### Submitting a Leave Application

**By the student (via portal, if enabled):**
Students with portal access can submit a leave application from their student account.

**By an instructor or administrator:**

1. Go to **Education workspace → Attendance card → Student Leave Application**.
2. Click **New**.
3. Fill in:

| Field                   | What to Enter                                                        |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Student**             | The student applying for leave (required)                            |
| **From Date**           | First day of absence (required)                                      |
| **To Date**             | Last day of absence (required)                                       |
| **Reason**              | Explanation for the absence                                          |
| **Attendance Based On** | Whether attendance is tracked by Course Schedule or by Student Group |
| **Student Group**       | The group to update (if attendance based on Student Group)           |
| **Course Schedule**     | The session to update (if attendance based on Course Schedule)       |
| **Mark as Present**     | Tick this if the absence is excused and should count as present      |
| **Total Leave Days**    | Auto-calculated from date range                                      |

4. Save, then **Submit**.

On submission, Bizaxl updates attendance records for the leave period. If sessions already have attendance marked, those records are updated to "On Leave".

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/bizaxloptimizationsllp/images/placeholder-student-leave-application.png" alt="Student Leave Application form showing student, date range, reason, and attendance linkage options" />
</Frame>

***

## Attendance Field Guide

### Student Attendance

| Field             | Purpose                                                               |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Student           | Who this attendance record is for                                     |
| Date              | The class date                                                        |
| Status            | Present / Absent / On Leave                                           |
| Course Schedule   | Links to the specific class session - enables session-based reporting |
| Student Group     | Used for group-level reporting                                        |
| Leave Application | Links to the approved leave for traceability                          |

### Student Leave Application

| Field               | Purpose                                                                                   |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Student             | Who the leave is for                                                                      |
| From Date / To Date | The leave period                                                                          |
| Total Leave Days    | Calculated automatically                                                                  |
| Mark as Present     | If ticked, absence is treated as excused and does not count against attendance percentage |
| Reason              | Recorded for pastoral and administrative records                                          |

***

## Attendance Status Values

| Status       | Meaning                                                  |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Present**  | Student attended the session                             |
| **Absent**   | Student did not attend - no approved leave               |
| **On Leave** | Student was absent but has an approved leave application |

***

## Workflow Journey

<Steps>
  <Step title="Class session takes place">
    A Course Schedule session occurs for a student group.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Instructor opens the Student Attendance Tool">
    The instructor navigates to the Student Attendance Tool in the Education workspace.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Student group and date selected">
    The instructor selects the relevant Student Group and session date, then loads the student list.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Absent students marked and submitted">
    Students who are not present are marked Absent; the instructor clicks Submit to create individual attendance records.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Student submits a leave application">
    If a student was or will be absent for a known reason, they (or their instructor) submit a Student Leave Application.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Leave application reviewed and submitted">
    An instructor or administrator reviews the application and submits it as Approved or Rejected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attendance records updated to On Leave">
    For approved leave applications, existing attendance records for the leave dates are automatically updated to "On Leave."
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attendance reports reviewed">
    Attendance reports are run monthly or on demand to monitor patterns and compliance.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Attendance Reports

Three built-in reports help you monitor attendance:

**Absent Student Report**
Shows a list of students who were marked absent within a selected date range, filtered by student group or course.
Access: **Education workspace → Attendance Reports card → Absent Student Report**

**Student Monthly Attendance Sheet**
Shows a student's or group's attendance for every day in a selected month, with a visual grid of present/absent/leave.
Access: **Education workspace → Attendance Reports card → Student Monthly Attendance Sheet**
Also available from the workspace shortcut.

**Student Batch-Wise Attendance**
Summarises attendance percentages by batch or student group, showing the overall attendance rate for each group in a selected period.
Access: **Education workspace → Attendance Reports card → Student Batch-Wise Attendance**

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/bizaxloptimizationsllp/images/placeholder-monthly-attendance-sheet.png" alt="Student Monthly Attendance Sheet showing a grid of days across the top and students down the side, with P/A/L indicators" />
</Frame>

***

## Automatic Actions

| Action                             | When It Happens                                                                          |
| ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Student Attendance records created | When the Student Attendance Tool is submitted - one record per student                   |
| Attendance updated to On Leave     | When a Student Leave Application is submitted for dates with existing attendance records |
| Attendance records locked          | After the **Attendance Freeze Date** set in Education Settings                           |

***

## Education Settings - Attendance Options

In **Education Settings**, the following options affect attendance:

| Setting                                                    | What It Does                                                                            |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Attendance Freeze Date**                                 | No attendance records can be created or modified before this date                       |
| **Attendance Based on Course Schedule**                    | When enabled, attendance must be linked to a Course Schedule (not just a date)          |
| **Validate Batch for Students in Student Group**           | Prevents students from different batches being mixed in a group for attendance purposes |
| **Validate Enrolled Course for Students in Student Group** | Prevents attendance being marked for students not enrolled in the course                |

***

## Best Practices

* **Mark attendance the same day** - waiting to enter attendance later increases error rates and may cause records to be blocked by the Attendance Freeze Date.
* **Use the Student Attendance Tool for every session** - it's faster and creates all records in one action. Individual record creation is only needed for corrections.
* **Set the Attendance Freeze Date correctly** - this protects historical records from accidental edits but must be set thoughtfully, as it blocks legitimate corrections too.
* **Link attendance to Course Schedules whenever possible** - this gives you session-level reporting and makes the attendance data much more useful for monitoring specific courses.
* **Encourage students to submit leave applications in advance** - last-minute or retrospective leave applications are administratively awkward. Set a policy for advance notice.
* **Review the Absent Student Report weekly** - identify students at risk of attendance-related consequences before problems escalate.

***

## Troubleshooting

**I cannot edit an old attendance record.**
The **Attendance Freeze Date** in Education Settings is blocking edits to records before that date. Either change the freeze date (if you have permission) or ask your administrator to correct the record.

**The Student Attendance Tool is showing an empty list.**
Ensure the student group has students added in its Students table. Also check that the group is not marked as **Disabled**.

**A student's attendance is showing as Absent even though they have an approved leave application.**
The leave application must be **submitted** (not just saved) and must cover the date in question. Also check the **Attendance Based On** field - if it doesn't match how the attendance was originally marked (by schedule vs. by group), the update may not have triggered.

**Attendance reports are blank.**
Check that your date filter range contains submitted attendance records. Attendance must be in **Submitted** status to appear in reports - saved-but-not-submitted records are not included.

***

## Related Features

* [Timetabling](/education/college-management/timetabling) - course schedules that attendance sessions are linked to
* [Student Management](/education/college-management/student-management) - student groups used for attendance
* [Reports](/education/college-management/reports) - all three attendance reports in detail