This page contains guidance on completing the End of Year processes in Bromcom for Secondary Schools.
For further information, documentation and links to live training for the End of Year processes, see here.
THE SCREENSHOTS USED IN THE GUIDE ARE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY AND MAY DIFFER IN A LIVE SCHOOL’S MIS.
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End of Year Tasks
It is important to set up the new academic year to ensure continued system operation following the end of the previous year.
Important: This process is also required in the Central MIS for Vision Customers.
When creating a new academic year, the system automatically checks the end date of the current year and sets the start date of the forthcoming year to the following day. This is expected behaviour; no action is required if the first academic day of the new year falls later, as it can be adjusted afterwards.
Note: All Bromcom calendar weeks must run Sunday to Saturday.
This sections covers:
Review and Amend the Current Academic Year End Date
The start date of the new academic year may require adjustment. To update this, the end date of the current academic year must be changed.
Navigate to Config > Curriculum > Academic Years.
Select the current Academic Year from the drop-down menu.
Amend the End Date if required, then click Save in the top-left corner.
Note: Saving changes to the academic year end date may take some time.
Creating the New Academic Year
Navigate to Config > Curriculum > Academic Years.
Click New
Update the End Date for the new academic year, if necessary and then select the required Number of Terms from the drop-down menu.
For each term, complete the Term Name, Start Date and End Date fields.
Ensure dates follow the required format: Start Date must be a Sunday and End Date must be a Saturday.
Important: It is recommended that term dates should include holiday periods at this stage. Holiday and other non-academic dates can be defined later via Academic Days.
Select the required Period Structure from the drop-down menu, either the structure used in the current year or a newly created period structure.
For further guidance on creating a new period structure, see How to Create a New Period Structure.
Finally, set the Timetable Day for the first week day of Term 1 as ‘1’. This value determines which day of the week is treated as Day 1; for example, selecting 2 will set Tuesday as Day 1 instead of Monday.
Click Create to save the new academic year.
For further information, see How to Create a New Academic Year
Academic Days
Navigate to Config > Curriculum > Academic Days to begin editing the days within the new academic year, including holidays, inset days, and staff-only days.
From the Academic Year drop-down select the newly created academic year.
The Key and Display Options will display the chosen period structure.
Expand each term using the drop-down arrow in the top-right corner to begin editing academic days in sequence throughout the year.
Select the Edit button on the right-hand side of the panel to amend the status of individual days within a single week.
Set the appropriate Day Status using the drop-down options in the AM and PM columns. This includes staff-only days, school holidays, and public holidays.
Click Save
Repeat this as required for each term.
Note: Some Local Authorities do not accept the Bromcom staff only code ‘$’. Please confirm with the Local Authority which code should be used instead.
For schools with a two-week timetable:
When defining a school holiday period, the Timetable Week pattern must be accurate to ensure the timetable is correct when returning to school.
For example, if a term or half term ends on Week 2, the next term should begin on Week 1. Holiday periods may disrupt this sequence and may therefore require adjustment.
Select Edit for the first week following the holiday.
Adjust the Timetable Days (TT Day) column for each day in the week as required.
Generally, Week 1 consists of Days 1–5 and Week 2 consists of Days 6–10.
Once the correct Timetable Days are set, select Cascade Timetable on Save.
If holidays are being added sequentially throughout the year, also select Cascade changes in this term and all subsequent terms to update the Timetable Week pattern for the remainder of the year.
Click Save.
For further information, see How to Edit Academic Days
Year Group Promotion is the process of moving students into their next curriculum year group for the new academic year.
This sections covers:
Important: Before running the Year Group Promotion, please check that there are no end dates for the Year Groups. For more information, refer to Year Group Promotion Checks.
Configure Next Year Settings
To ensure students are promoted correctly, the Next Year settings for each year group must be reviewed within the MIS.
Navigate to Groups > Group Type = Year Group.
Select All year groups and click View.
Using the Additional Group Details panel located on the right-hand side, ensure the correct Next Year Group is selected.
Use the Next button at the top of the page to review each year group in turn.
Refer to the table below as an example of correct year group progression.
Note: The final year group in the school will typically promote into itself, as student memberships are removed for the following academic year when they are processed as leavers.
Click Save to apply any changes.
Year Group Promotion Wizard
To complete the promotion, navigate to Config > Curriculum > Year Group Promotion.
Begin by reviewing the academic year from which memberships are to be taken from. This option will default to the current academic year, or the previous year if the process is completed in September.
As part of the process, two options are available in the next drop-down menu:
- Add to any existing Memberships – preserves any memberships already added to the Year Group for the following year (e.g. new students manually added with a future start date in September).
- Overwrite all existing memberships – removes any existing memberships in the Year Group for the following year and replaces them with the promoted cohort.
Two further options are also available:
- Create Bands matching those in the Current Year, including Memberships – Creates bands based on the current year structure and carries forward existing students memberships.
- Include Staff Memberships e.g. Head of Years – Includes staff assigned to the year group in the promotion process.
If staff are not included and their membership to the year group is set to Track Group End Date, they will remain associated with the same year group. Otherwise, their association with the Year Group will end on the assigned end date.
Finally, the Active On selector allows selection of the date from which Year Group memberships are taken and promoted.
If completing this process before the end of the current year, it is essential that the Active On Date is set to a date within the current academic year and before September, while students are still in their current Year Groups. This ensures the system uses current student memberships and promotes students into the correct Year Groups for the new academic year.
Note: If required, the Active On Date can be set to a future date (still within the current academic year) to include any new students already added to the MIS, who are due to start after the promotion process is completed.
If new students are added to the MIS after the promotion process has been completed, this can be managed in one of two ways:
- Re-run the promotion process
- Manually assign the correct year group via Groups > Group Type = Year Group.
If completing this process in the new academic year, the Active on Date must be back-dated to a date in the previous academic year to ensure students are promoted correctly
Click OK to complete the promotion process.
For further information on the differences between Year Groups and Tutor Groups, see Tutor Group Promotion Methods
Tutor Group Promotion is the process of updating tutor group memberships for the new academic year, ensuring students and staff are assigned to the correct groups in line with the school structure.
This sections covers:
- End Dating Current Tutor Groups
- Tutor Group Promotion Wizard
- Manually creating Tutor Groups
- Adding and Transferring Student Memberships
- Updating Staff and Rooms
- Registers
Note: Bromcom recommends end-dating all tutor groups and creating new groups for the new academic year. However, where a different approach may be more suitable – for example, when managing mixed or vertical tutor groups – please refer to the following guidance: Tutor Group Promotion Methods.
End Dating Current Tutor Groups
It is recommended that all tutor groups are end-dated and new groups are created for the new academic year.
Important: Tutor Group end dates must fall within the current academic year and must not extend into the new academic year.
Navigate to Groups > Group Type = Tutor Group and double-click a tutor group to open it.
An End Date can be added to an individual tutor group within the Basic Details panel.
Click Save to apply any changes.
To end-date multiple tutor groups at once, refer to How to Bulk Edit Group End Dates for Teaching Class and Tutor Group.
Tutor Group Promotion Wizard
The next step is to create new tutor groups and promote student memberships into the new groups for the next academic year.
This is completed via Config > Curriculum > Tutor Group Promotion.
Click the blue magnifying glass to open the Group Selector.
Select the Tutor Groups to be promoted and click Done.
Review the Selection List and click Go.
In the Tutor Group Linkages panel, select the existing tutor groups (they will highlight in blue), then either click Generate to allow the system to suggest a new tutor group name, or manually enter the required name in the Next Tutor Group column.
Note: This process creates new tutor groups for the next academic year and promotes student memberships accordingly.
Click Promote to continue or Save to retain the setup and return later.
Select the academic year to promote into (this will default to the new academic year) and review the pre-populated Start and End Dates.
As with Year Groups, memberships can be managed using either Add to existing memberships (default for safety) or Overwrite all existing memberships.
Additional membership options can also be carried forward:
- Maintain House Memberships
- Include Staff Memberships
- Include Rooms
Click Go to complete the process, creating the new tutor groups and promoting student memberships for the new academic year.
Tip: When merging tutor groups (e.g. 12A and 12B into 13A), duplicate group names cannot be assigned in a single promotion due to naming restrictions. Promote one group first, then re run the process to promote the remaining students into the same tutor group.
When splitting a tutor group (for example, 07A into 08A and 08B), first ensure that the destination tutor groups have been created. Next, use the Tutor Group Promotion Wizard to promote all students from 07A into 08A. Once the promotion is complete, transfer the required students from 08A into 08B using the Student Memberships panel within the Tutor Group.
For further information on transferring students, refer to the Adding and Transferring Student Memberships section of this guide.
Manually Creating Tutor Groups
Tutor Groups for the new academic year can also be created manually via Groups > Group Type = Tutor Group.
Note: This is required when creating tutor groups for new intake cohorts (e.g. Year 7).
Click New
Complete all mandatory fields as required.
Note: the Start Date in the example below is the first day of the new academic year.
Click Save to return to the Groups page or Save & Edit to open the newly created Tutor Group.
For further information, see How to Create a New Tutor Group.
Adding and Transferring Student Memberships
To access a Tutor Group created for the new academic year:
- Navigate to Groups and set Group Type to Tutor Group.
- Click Search Filters in the top-right corner.
- Change the Active On date to a date within the new academic year.
The Tutor Groups created for the new academic year will now be display
To manually add students to a Tutor Group:
- Double-click the required Tutor Group.
- Navigate to the Student Memberships panel.
- Click Add Multiple to add students to the group.
Note: This step is required when adding new intake cohorts to a tutor group (e.g. Year 7 students).
Click the blue magnifying glass to open the Student Selector.
The example below demonstrates how to add a new cohort of pre-admission students to the newly created Tutor Group.
To locate pre-admission students, select Pre Admission from the Status dropdown, then click Find to refresh the student list.
Select the required students and click Done.
Enter the Start Date for the student memberships, then click Save.
After using the Tutor Group Promotion Wizard, it may be necessary to transfer student memberships from one tutor group to another.
This can be done within the Student Memberships panel.
To transfer multiple students, select the required records and click Transfer.
To transfer a single student, select the transfer arrow in the Actions column on the right-hand side of the panel.
Select the required group from the Group Name drop-down. Check that the start date is correct, then click Save.
Updating Staff and Rooms
If there are changes to staff and rooms for the new academic year (e.g. staff leavers being replaced), these are best managed individually within each tutor group.
Navigate to Groups > Tutor Group > Select Tutor Group > View, then scroll down to the Associated Staff or Associated Room panel.
Note: The example below demonstrates staff updates; however, the same process applies to room changes.
To replace a member of staff, start by end-dating the current staff record. This can be done by selecting the pencil (edit) icon in the Actions column on the right-hand side of the panel.
If required, untick Tracks group end date to display the End Date field. Enter the relevant date, then click the tick icon to save the record.
To add the new member of staff to the tutor group, select Add New Record at the bottom of the panel.
Begin by entering the Start Date, which will enable the new member of staff to be assigned as the new Main Tutor. Then choose the member of staff from the dropdown list and click the tick icon to save the new record.
Registers
Once all tutor groups have been created and the correct staff and rooms are assigned, tutor group timetables must be set up to generate registers.
This can be completed in one of two ways, depending on whether the tutor group is led by a single teacher or shared by multiple teachers.
- Single Teacher Tutor Groups
Navigate to Modules > Curriculum > Tutor Group Timetable Generator.
Select the Start and End Dates for the academic year, then choose the relevant tutor groups.
Select Apply. A confirmation message will then appear; click OK.
- Shared Tutor Groups
Start by ensuring that the required staff and room are added in the Associated Staff and Room panels.
Scroll down to the Associated Timetable panel and click Add Multiple.
Select the first member of staff, then the room, and click Add Multiple Periods.
Enter the Start and End Dates for the academic year, then select the days/sessions the member of staff teaches the class. Click Save.
Repeat this process for the second member of staff and any remaining days/sessions, then click Save.
To prevent the system from automatically updating the tutor group overnight (which will result in both members of staff being assigned to all days/sessions), navigate to Config > Setup > Daily Maintenance Settings.
Ensure that setting 10) Create/Update/Delete Tutor Group Timetables is unticked.
Click Save to apply the changes.
Class Promotion is the process of moving student memberships into the correct teaching classes for the new academic year, once the school timetable has been imported into the MIS.
This section covers:
Class End Dates
Checking end dates for teaching classes is essential, as all teaching classes must have an end date within the current academic year. This ensures classes are correctly closed, prevents overlaps, and supports a smooth transition into the new academic year.
Navigate to Groups > Group Type = Teaching Class and double-click a Class to open it.
An End Date can be added to an individual teaching class within the Basic Details panel.
Click Save to apply any changes.
To end-date multiple classes at once, refer to How to Bulk Edit Group End Dates for Teaching Class and Tutor Group.
Class Promotion Tool
The Class Promotion tool is used to transfer students from this year’s teaching classes into the corresponding classes for the next academic year, where memberships remain unchanged following the timetable import.
Navigate to Config > Curriculum > Class Promotion.
Select the blue magnifying glass to open the Group Selector, choose the classes to be promoted, then click Go.
In the Class Linkages panel, select the existing teaching classes (they will highlight in blue), then either click Generate to allow the system to suggest a new class name, or manually enter the required name in the Next Class column.
Important: It is essential to enter the new class names exactly as they appear in the timetable. This ensures the wizard promotes students into the newly imported classes, rather than creating duplicate classes and assigning students incorrectly.
Click Promote to continue or Save to retain the setup and return later.
Select the academic year to promote into (this will default to the new academic year) and review the pre-populated Start and End Dates.
As with Year Groups and Tutor Groups, memberships can be managed using either Add to existing memberships (default for safety) or Overwrite all existing memberships.
Additional membership options can also be carried forward:
Note: These options are typically left unticked, as staff and room assignments are usually managed through the timetable import.
- Include Staff Memberships
- Include Rooms
Click Go to complete the process, promoting student memberships for the new academic year.
For more information on Class Promotion, see here.
Please contact usual support channels if assistance is required with this process.
Bulk Group Assignment
Bulk Group Assignment is used to efficiently update and manage student group memberships in bulk for the new academic year. It also allows class memberships to be exported for review, enabling relevant staff to check and amend setting arrangements before importing the updated data back into the MIS.
Navigate to Modules > Curriculum > Bulk Group Assignment.
From the Bulk Update Type drop-down, select Class Memberships.
Select the blue magnifying glass for Group Name to open the Group Selector.
Using the filters on the left-hand side, set the Active Date Filter to the new academic year to display teaching classes for that year.
Note: The screenshot below also demonstrates use of the Year Group filter to show classes for a single year group.
Click Find to refresh the list, select the required classes and click Done.
Repeat this process to select the required students, ensuring the Active Date Filter is updated to display students in their promoted year groups.
Select Go to manage student memberships on screen, or select Export to create an Excel spreadsheet that can be shared with staff (e.g. Head of Department) for review and updating, before being imported back into the MIS.
The screenshot below shows an example of what is displayed when Go is selected.
The screenshot below shows an example of the exported file.
Note: Student memberships are denoted by the letter ‘T’, which must be capitalised. No changes should be made to student data columns.
Important: Ensure student membership Start and End Dates are carefully checked before saving any changes.
For more information, see How to Use Bulk Group Assignment.
Processing student leavers is the process of updating student records to reflect those who are leaving the school, ensuring they are correctly off-rolled and their data is accurately closed off for the relevant academic year.
This sections covers:
Add Destination Schools
When processing student leavers, a record of each student’s destination school must be added. If the required school is not available in the list, it will need to be added to the MIS.
Navigate to Config > Administration > Schools.
Click New.
Complete the required information in the Add/Edit School panel when adding a school manually.
Alternatively, use the Online Search option on the right-hand side of the page.
The Online Search option displays a list of available schools and allows searches using the filters on the left, such as Establishment Name and Post Code.
Once a school is selected, the system redirects back to the original screen with the school’s details populated.
Once the details are complete, select Create.
For more information, see How to Add New Schools to the MIS.
Process Leavers
Processing student leavers is an important task that ensures students leaving the school are correctly off-rolled and their records are accurately updated. It is essential that this process is completed correctly to ensure leaving dates are recorded accurately and student group memberships are updated accordingly.
To process a student leaver, navigate to the Student List Page by clicking Students from the left-hand menu.
Select the relevant student(s), then choose Process Leaver(s) from the Actions drop-down.
Complete all required fields, including Leaving Date, Reason and School, then select Process.
Note: This process may need to be completed in batches.
Produce CTF Exports
Creating CTF Exports for leavers is the process of generating Common Transfer Files for students who are leaving the school, ensuring their key data is securely transferred to their next education provider.
A CTF export can be produced either during the Process Leaver(s) routine or separately via the Actions button on the Student List page and within the Student Record.
During the Process Leavers(s) routine, ensure that Produce a CTF Export is ticked.
After Process is selected and the routine is finalised, the CTF export is created and saved to the downloads folder on the local PC.
For more information, see How to Process a Student as a Leaver.
This section contains supplementary processes that support the setup and maintenance of the new academic year.
Note: Some areas may not be used by the school and can be skipped if not applicable.
This section covers:
- Register Update Parameters
- Behaviour Pathways
- MCAS and Student Portal
- Outstanding Dinner Balances for Leavers
Register Update Parameters
It is important to configure Register Update Parameters for the new academic year if this has been used previously, to ensure registers continue to update statutory attendance marks correctly.
Navigate to Config > Attendance > Register Update Parameters.
Change the Single Date radio button to Multiple Dates.
Set Academic Start to the first academic day of the new academic year and Academic End to the last academic day of the year.
If the forthcoming year’s structure has not changed, click the Last Available Settings button at the top left of the screen, followed by Save.
If changes are required (e.g. the school has a new period structure), start by ensuring the relevant days have been selected for the settings to apply to.
Set the required configurations to match the school’s setup.
The screenshot below demonstrates a school where students do not attend AM or PM registration, and statutory attendance marks are recorded from teaching class registers.
Click Save to apply any changes.
For more information, see How to use Register Update Parameters.
Important: If there is any uncertainty regarding the Register Update Parameters settings, please contact the usual support channels.
Behaviour Pathways
If using Behaviour Pathways (this process is not required otherwise), it is essential to start a new points total for the new academic year. This clears behaviour points linked to Behaviour Actions and ensures the Pathways process starts from zero points in the new academic year.
Important: This process must be run after the last academic day of the current academic year, with the Start New Points Total date set to the first academic day of the next academic year. This applies whether the process is scheduled to run automatically or completed manually.
Navigate to Modules > Behaviour > Routines > Reset Student Actions.
Select Start New Points Total and enter the date from which the new points total should begin.
Typically, the All Students option is used, after which the relevant Actions can be selected via the blue magnifying glass.
Select Apply to start a new points total from the date entered.
Note: This process can be scheduled to run automatically on an annual basis using the Schedule button.
For more information, see How to Reset Student Actions.
MCAS and Student Portal
MCAS and Student Portal require housekeeping in preparation for the new academic year. This ensures the new academic year is available to parents and students so they can continue to access and view relevant data. It is also important to manage leaver accounts appropriately.
To ensure the new academic year is visible to both parents and students, navigate to Config > MyChildAtSchool > General Settings.
Use the Academic year data to display in MCAS option to control visibility.
- If set to All – the system will automatically display data for all academic years.
- If User Defined is selected – ensure the new academic year is ticked when the school is ready to share this information with parents.
Click Save to apply any changes.
Note: This applies to both MCAS and Student Portal
Managing MCAS Leaver Accounts
Within Config > MyChildAtSchool > General Settings, ensure Automatic Removal of Parent(s) when all associated students are off roll is set to Yes. This will disable MCAS parent accounts once all associated students have been processed as leavers.
To remove these disabled accounts, navigate to Modules > MyChildAtSchool > User Accounts.
Within the User Account Maintenance panel, select Contacts from the User Account drop-down menu and turn off the MCAS Enabled Only toggle to display disabled user accounts. Then use the Active Students column header to filter for accounts with zero active students.
Review the list, select the required accounts, and choose Delete from the Actions menu.
Managing Student Portal Leaver Accounts
Navigate to Modules > Student Portal > User Accounts.
Select the relevant students, then click Delete in the top left corner.
The grid can be sorted by Year Group to make selection easier.
Outstanding Dinner Balances for Leavers
Managing outstanding dinner balances for leaver students ensures that any remaining credit is correctly identified and refunded when students leave the school.
For schools using Cashless Catering, to identify accounts in credit, navigate to Modules > MyChildAtSchool > School Meal Balances.
Use the Year Group filter to refine the list of students, then sort the Balance column to bring accounts in credit to the top.
Credit balances can be refunded via Modules > MyChildAtSchool > View Orders.
Locate the relevant orders and process refunds for the required amounts.
For more information, see How to Manage Existing Orders in MyChildAtSchool, including Refunds.