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Adding and editing students requires the Owner or Admin role. If you do not see these options, check your role with your school’s Signal administrator.
There are two ways to add students to Signal: manual entry and automatic sync from your MIS. You can also edit student details, manage contacts, and archive students who have left.

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Two ways to add students

Manual Entry

Add students one at a time using the form. Best for individual additions or corrections.

MIS Sync

Automatically sync students from Arbor. The easiest option if your school uses a supported MIS.

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Adding a student manually

1

Open the student list

Navigate to Students from the sidebar.
2

Click Add Student

Select the Add Student button at the top of the student list.
3

Enter the student's details

Fill in the required fields:
  • First name and last name
  • Date of birth
  • UPN (Unique Pupil Number)
  • Year group and class
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Religion
  • Admission date
  • Address and postcode
  • SEN status (whether the student has Special Educational Needs)
  • Pupil Premium (whether the student is eligible for Pupil Premium)
  • In care status (fostered, children’s home, adopted, or other care arrangements)
  • Pre-admission flag (if the student has not yet started at your school)
  • Profile picture (optional)
4

Save

Click Save to create the student record.

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Adding contacts and guardians

Once a student record exists, you can add their parents, carers, or other guardians.
1

Open the student's profile

Navigate to the student’s profile page by clicking their name in the student list.
2

Go to the Contacts section

Select the Contacts tab on the student’s profile.
3

Click Add Contact

Select Add Contact and enter the guardian’s details — name, relationship to the student, phone number, and email address.
4

Save

Click Save to link the contact to the student.
If your school is connected to Arbor, contact information is synced automatically. You only need to add contacts manually if they are missing from your MIS or if you do not use MIS sync.

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MIS sync

If your school uses Arbor, students can be synced automatically. This is the easiest way to keep your student list up to date — names, dates of birth, UPNs, year groups, classes, and contact details are all imported and kept in sync on a regular schedule. To set up MIS sync, see MIS Integration.
When MIS sync is active, changes made in Arbor are reflected in Signal automatically. You can still edit student details manually in Signal, but synced fields will be overwritten on the next sync.

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Editing student details

1

Find the student

Use the search bar on the Students page, or browse the student list.
2

Open their profile

Click on the student’s name to open their profile page.
3

Edit their details

Update any fields as needed — personal details, year group, class, SEN status, or Pupil Premium eligibility.
4

Save

Click Save to apply your changes.

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Archiving students

When a student leaves your school, you can archive their record rather than deleting it. Archiving removes the student from active lists while preserving their full safeguarding history — all incidents, documents, comments, and action plans remain intact. Archived records are still available for transfers to other schools or subject access requests.
1

Open the student's profile

Navigate to the student you want to archive.
2

Archive the student

Click Archive and confirm the action.
Archive a student when they have left your school permanently — for example, when they transfer to another school, finish their final year, or are permanently excluded. Do not archive students who are temporarily absent.
Yes. Archived students can be viewed separately from the active student list. Their full history remains accessible to staff with the appropriate role.

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Restoring archived students

If an archived student returns to your school, you can restore their record to make them active again.
1

View archived students

On the Students page, switch to the archived students view.
2

Find the student

Search for or browse to the student you want to restore.
3

Restore

Click Restore and confirm. The student reappears in your active student list with their full history intact.
Restoring a student does not create a new record — it reactivates their existing one, so all previous incidents, documents, and action plans are still linked.