Mark Attendance Manually

Mark Attendance Manually

Record student attendance for a class session using the manual entry method.

Time Required: 5-10 minutes (depending on class size) Module: Attendance User Role: Attendance User, Faculty

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Table of Contents

1. Before You Begin
2. Create Attendance Sheet
3. Mark Student Status
4. Confirm and Complete
5. Field Reference

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Before You Begin

Ensure you have:

• Students enrolled in the batch
• Your user account has Attendance User permissions
• (For subject-wise) Session exists in timetable

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Create Attendance Sheet

Step 1: Navigate to Attendance Sheets

1. Click OpenEduCat in the main menu
2. Click Attendance
3. Click Attendance Sheets
4. Click Create button

Step 2: Fill Header Information

Fill in the following fields at the top of the form:

Field	What to Select	Example	Required
Course	The course for this attendance	”Bachelor of Computer Science”	✅ Yes
Batch	The specific batch/section	”BCS-2025-A”	✅ Yes
Date	Date of attendance	Today’s date (auto-filled)	✅ Yes
Subject	Subject being taught (if subject-wise mode)	“Data Structures”	Depends on mode
Session	Timetable session (if linked)	“DS - Monday 10:00 AM”	No
Faculty	Teacher taking attendance	Your name (auto-filled)	✅ Yes

How Course and Batch Work

1. Select Course first
2. Batch dropdown filters to show only batches for that course
3. After selecting batch, students auto-populate in the lines

💡 Tip: If students don’t appear automatically, check that students are enrolled in the selected batch.

Step 3: Verify Students Loaded

After selecting Course and Batch:

• Student names appear in the Attendance Lines section
• All students default to “Present” status
• Count shown: “X students in batch”

⚠️ Warning: If no students appear, the batch may be empty. Go to Students > [Student] > Courses to verify enrollments.

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Mark Student Status

Step 4: Update Each Student’s Status

For each student row, set their attendance status:

Option A: Click Status Buttons

Each row has status buttons:

Button	Click When	Result
P (Green)	Student is present	Marks as Present
A (Red)	Student is absent	Marks as Absent
E (Yellow)	Student has excused absence	Marks as Excused
L (Orange)	Student arrived late	Marks as Late

Option B: Use Dropdown

1. Click the Status dropdown for a student
2. Select from: Present, Absent, Excused, Late

Option C: Keyboard Shortcuts

When row is selected:

• Press P for Present
• Press A for Absent
• Press E for Excused
• Press L for Late

Step 5: Add Remarks (Optional)

For each student, you can add a remark:

Field	What to Enter	Example
Remark	Note about this attendance	”Medical certificate provided”

Common remarks:

• “Medical certificate provided”
• “Parent informed”
• “Arrived 10 minutes late”
• “Left early with permission”

Step 6: Bulk Actions (Optional)

Mark All Present

1. Click Mark All Present button
2. All students set to Present
3. Then update individual exceptions

Mark All Absent

1. Click Mark All Absent button
2. All students set to Absent
3. Then mark those who attended as Present

💡 Tip: Use bulk actions when most students have the same status, then adjust exceptions.

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Confirm and Complete

Step 7: Review Before Confirming

Check the summary at the bottom:

Statistic	What It Shows
Total Students	Number of students in sheet
Present	Count marked present
Absent	Count marked absent
Excused	Count with excused absence
Late	Count marked late

Verify:

• All students have a status
• No obvious errors (e.g., entire class absent)
• Date is correct

Step 8: Save and Confirm

Save as Draft

Click Save to save without confirming:

• Can still edit
• Not final
• State remains “Draft”

Confirm Attendance

Click Confirm button (or Start → Done):

• Attendance is finalized
• State changes to “Done”
• Included in reports
• Cannot be easily modified

⚠️ Warning: After confirming, changes require Manager permissions. Double-check before confirming.

Step 9: Verify Completion

After confirming:

• State shows Done (green badge)
• Confirm button disappears
• Set to Draft button appears (for managers)

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Field Reference

Attendance Sheet Fields

Field Name	Technical Name	Type	Required	Description
Course	course_id	Many2one	✅	Course for attendance
Batch	batch_id	Many2one	✅	Batch within course
Date	attendance_date	Date	✅	Date of attendance
Subject	subject_id	Many2one	Mode-dependent	Subject (if subject-wise)
Session	session_id	Many2one	No	Linked timetable session
Faculty	faculty_id	Many2one	✅	Teacher taking attendance
State	state	Selection	Auto	Draft → Start → Done

Attendance Line Fields

Field Name	Technical Name	Type	Required	Description
Student	student_id	Many2one	✅	Student record
Status	present / absent	Selection	✅	Attendance status
Remark	remark	Char	No	Optional note

Status Values

Status	Technical Value	Color
Present	present	Green
Absent	absent	Red
Excused	excused	Yellow
Late	late	Orange

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Workflow States

Attendance Sheet States

┌─────────┐    Confirm    ┌─────────┐    Complete    ┌─────────┐
│  Draft  │ ────────────> │  Start  │ ─────────────> │   Done  │
└─────────┘               └─────────┘                └─────────┘
     ↑                                                    │
     └────────────── Set to Draft ────────────────────────┘
                    (Manager only)

State	Can Edit	In Reports	Next Action
Draft	Yes	No	Confirm
Start	Yes	No	Mark Complete
Done	No*	Yes	Set to Draft

*Managers can set back to Draft for corrections.

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Buttons Reference

Button	When Visible	What It Does
Save	Always	Saves current state
Confirm	Draft state	Moves to Start state
Mark Complete / Done	Start state	Finalizes attendance
Set to Draft	Done state, Manager only	Reopens for editing
Mark All Present	Draft/Start	Sets all students to Present
Mark All Absent	Draft/Start	Sets all students to Absent
Print	Any state	Generates printable report

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Troubleshooting

No students appear in the sheet

Problem: Selected course and batch but no students in lines.

Solutions:

1. Verify students are enrolled:

   • Go to OpenEduCat > Students
   • Open a student record
   • Check Courses tab
   • Ensure they’re in the correct batch

2. Check batch dates:

   • Batch start/end dates must include today
   • Go to Batches and verify dates

Cannot confirm attendance

Problem: “Confirm” button is greyed out or missing.

Solutions:

1. Ensure all required fields are filled
2. Check you have Attendance User permissions
3. Verify sheet is in Draft state

Wrong date showing

Problem: Date defaulted to wrong date.

Solution:

• Date field is editable in Draft state
• Click the date field and select correct date
• Ensure you’re not editing a past sheet by mistake

Student marked wrong status

Problem: Confirmed attendance with wrong status.

Solution (Manager only):

1. Click Set to Draft button
2. Make corrections
3. Click Confirm again

For regular users, contact an Attendance Manager.

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Examples

Example 1: Regular Class Attendance

Scenario: Mark attendance for Data Structures class, Monday morning

Course: Bachelor of Computer Science
Batch: BCS-2025-A
Date: 2025-09-15
Subject: Data Structures
Session: DS - Monday 10:00 AM
Faculty: Prof. Smith

Students:
- John Doe: Present
- Jane Smith: Present
- Bob Johnson: Absent (Remark: "No notification")
- Alice Williams: Late (Remark: "Arrived 10 min late")
- Charlie Brown: Excused (Remark: "Medical appointment")

Example 2: Generic Daily Attendance

Scenario: Homeroom teacher marks daily attendance

Course: Grade 10
Batch: Grade 10-A
Date: 2025-09-15
Faculty: Ms. Johnson

Students:
- [All 25 students marked Present]
- Exception: Tom Wilson - Absent (Remark: "Sick, parent called")

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Tips for Efficient Attendance

1. Use bulk actions: Mark all present, then update exceptions
2. Use keyboard shortcuts: P, A, E, L for quick marking
3. Add remarks for absences: Helps track patterns
4. Confirm promptly: Don’t leave sheets in draft
5. Check daily: Review any pending attendance sheets

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Related Topics

• Configure Attendance Settings
• Create Attendance Register
• Student Kiosk Mode ⚙️
• Attendance Reports
• Timetable Sessions

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Last updated: January 2026