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Adding and editing students requires Deputy DSL or above, or the School 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, Bromcom, or Wonde. 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)
  • Academic Year 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.
The student form showing all fields — name, date of birth, UPN, demographics, address, and profile picture

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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 an MIS, 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

Signal syncs with Arbor, Bromcom, and Wonde. If your school uses any of these, students can be synced automatically. This is the easiest way to keep your student list up to date — names, dates of birth, UPNs, academic years, 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 your MIS 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.
The Edit Student dialog, showing the student's details ready to update

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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, then confirm in the Archive Student dialog. You are taken to the archived students list, where the pupil now appears with the date they were archived.
Archiving is also what makes a pupil eligible for a records transfer.

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Restoring an archived student

If you archive someone by mistake, you can put them back — provided your school is not connected to an MIS.
1

Open the archived list

Go to Students → Archived.
2

Restore the pupil

Click Restore on their row and confirm. They return to your active student list immediately.
Their student group memberships are not restored. Group membership is removed when a pupil is archived, so you will need to add them back to any groups afterwards. Everything else — incidents, documents, comments, and action plans — is untouched.
The Restore button does not appear when an MIS is connected. Your MIS owns the student roll in that case, so a pupil put back by hand would simply be archived again on the next sync. Mark them as on-roll in your MIS instead, and the change flows through automatically.
Students synced from your MIS cannot be archived in Signal. The Archive button does not appear on their profile. Mark the pupil as having left in your MIS instead, and the change flows through on the next sync. Only students added manually in Signal can be archived here.
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 are listed under Students → Archived in the sidebar, showing each pupil’s name, date of birth, UPN, and the date they were archived. Their full history is preserved and remains available for transfers and subject access requests.

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Viewing archived students

Archived students are not shown in your active student list. To find them, open Students → Archived from the sidebar. From there you can search for or browse to any archived student and open their profile to view their full safeguarding history.
Archiving a student does not delete their record — all previous incidents, documents, and action plans remain linked and can still be viewed under Students → Archived.