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

# Academic year and terms

> Setting up the year, its three terms, and the calendar of school and feeding days — plus the current-term rule that governs everything else.

## The structure

EduControl follows the Ghanaian basic school shape:

```text theme={null}
Academic year (2026/2027)
  └── Term 1, Term 2, Term 3
        └── Classes (Creche → JHS 3)
              └── Class subjects
```

Fees, enrolments, registers, marks and report cards all hang off a **term**, not off the year. This is why a pupil's class is recorded per term rather than on their profile — see [Enrolling a pupil](/docs/pupils/enrolling-a-pupil).

## Exactly one term is current

<Warning>
  One term, and only one, is marked current. Billing, attendance and marks entry all default to it. If your registers are opening on the wrong dates or a billing run bills the wrong term, the current-term setting is the first thing to check.
</Warning>

Making a new term current is the action that moves the school forward. It is normally done as part of [closing the previous term](/docs/closing/closing-the-term), not on its own, because the new term needs enrolments before it is any use.

## The calendar

Each term carries a day-by-day calendar. Every date can be marked:

* **A school day, or not** — weekends, holidays and mid-term breaks are marked as non-school days so they do not count against attendance figures.
* **A meal day, or not** — feeding is billed and registered only on days a meal is actually served. A school day with no kitchen is a school day with `meal served` switched off.
* **A day type** — regular teaching, examination period, holiday, or an event you name yourself.

<Tip>
  Set the calendar before the term starts. Attendance percentages printed on report cards are calculated against the school days you declared, so a term with an unfinished calendar produces attendance figures that are quietly wrong.
</Tip>

## Setting up a new year

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create the academic year">
    Named for the span it covers, for example 2026/2027.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add its three terms with their start and end dates">
    Dates matter: they bound the calendar and the registers.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Build each term's calendar">
    Mark holidays, mid-term breaks and any day the kitchen is closed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Make Term 1 current">
    Only once your classes and enrolments are ready — the current term is what everyone else's screens will default to.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Reference number prefixes carry over from the year before, so you do not reset them here. See [School profile](/docs/before-the-term/school-profile).

## Who can edit it

The `edit_academics` permission. Viewing needs `view_academics`.