Use the Attendance feature to record who attends each session of your programs. Over time, the data helps you track participation and identify students who may need extra support.

> **Example used in this guide:** \
> This guide uses a tutoring program as an example. Participants are called **Students**. Program groups are called **Activities**. Individual recorded sessions are called **Sessions**. Your system may use different names — your admin sets these when configuring the system. Look for sections in your menu that match the descriptions in this guide.


## **Before you begin**

**Admin setup required.** Before your team can use Attendance, an admin must configure the Attendance Module. This includes setting up the Record Types for activities and sessions. (This has to be done directly on the configuration in the database currently. Contact your admin if Attendance is not yet visible in your menu.)

* You need permission to create “event” records (in this example: “Session”) and at least see some “recurring activity” (in this example: “Activity”) records. Contact your admin if you are not sure.


---


## **Part 1: Create an Activity**

An **Activity** is a record for a regular program group - such as a weekly tuition class. It stores the list of participants and links all individual sessions together.

You create an Activity once. Then you record attendance for each session over time.

1. In the left menu, click **Attendance**. An overview page opens.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCTmhJWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--7bf61bf460dac34b2aa3372e08c339e3beab2ddb/image.png)

2. Click **Activities**. A list of existing activities opens.

3. Click **Add New** in the top-right corner to start creating an activity. A blank form opens.

4. Fill in the **Title** field. For example: *Monday Morning Literacy Group*.

5. Fill in any other fields - such as category or location. The fields available depend on how your admin has configured the Activities Record Type. See [Adding a new field to a form](https://chatwoot.help/hc/aam-digital/articles/1726480259-adding-a-new-field-to-a-profile-form) if a field you need is missing.

6. Add participants to the **Students** field.

   * If the field uses the **entity** type, search for and select student records from your list.

   * If the field uses the **attendance** datatype, you can also assign an overall status to each student - for example, *Active*, *Passed*, or *Dropped Out*. This status describes the student's overall progress in the activity, separate from their day-to-day attendance which is tracked on each related “Session” record.

7. Click **Save**. The new Activity record appears in the list.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCQUZKWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--c0b087d0a7c3c4cecd1e3f16ae180096796b82b8/image.png)

---

## **Part 2: Record Attendance**

The **Record Attendance** screen guides you through a roll call. A **roll call** is the process of marking each student present, absent, or another status - one person at a time, for the respective session of the recurring activity.

**Mobile and offline use:** The roll call screen is designed to work well on a mobile phone - useful when you are running a session in the field. The app also works without an internet connection. Your data is saved on the device and syncs to the server when you are back online.

### **Open the roll call**

1. In the left menu, click **Attendance**, then click **Record Attendance**. A list of all your Activities appears.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCRmRKWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--c3b4b211ca317655d39ce5c11602adbc3a99ca87/image.png)

2. The current day is selected at the top. To record attendance for a different day, click the date and choose the correct day.

3. Check the color coding on each activity:

   * **orange** activities do not have any session recorded for the selected day.

   * **green** activities already have session data recorded for that day, you can click on them to update the attendance details.

### **Run the roll call**

4. Click on an activity. The system creates a new Session record for that day and opens the roll call.

5. The system shows each student one by one. Click the correct attendance status for that person - for example, **Present**, **Absent**, or **Excused**.

   **Note:** The status options are configured by your admin. The options you see may differ from these examples.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCSzFKWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--8556cc6f3416269d0a034ed11febf9e5fd12b651/image.png?cw_image_width=568px)

6. Continue through all students. When you reach the last person, the session is saved automatically. You do not need to click a Save button.


---


## **Part 3: View & Analyze Attendance**

### **View and Manage Sessions**

A **Session** record stores the attendance data for one specific meeting. The Sessions list shows all sessions recorded across your whole project.

1. In the left menu, click **Attendance**, then click **Sessions**. A list of all recorded sessions opens.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCTTFKWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--8e4a16616808c951bf0abe7d7f36b2059162e158/image.png)

2. Use the **filter** (a tool that shows only some records from the list) at the top to narrow the list - for example, by date range or by activity.

3. Click on any session to open it. You can review the participants and their status for that session.

4. To change any data, click **Edit**. Update the relevant fields and click **Save**.


### **Review Attendance of an Activity**

Each Activity record shows the full history of its sessions and summary statistics. This is useful when you want to review how a whole group of participants is performing.

1. In the left menu, click **Attendance**, then click **Activities**.

2. Click on an activity to open its details view.

3. Scroll down to see:

   * **Attendance statistics** - overall attendance rates for each student in this activity.

   * **Calendar view** - a month-by-month overview showing on which days sessions were recorded.

   * **Sessions list** - monthly stats of sessions. Click on a month to open the list of individual sessions with dates and attendance data.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCUGRKWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--8bf66e0ca31ea2fcbfca262ffaf9b830f5d88e02/image.png)

4. Click on any session in the list to open and review it.


### **Review Attendance for a Student**

You can see all attendance data for one student directly in their record - across all the activities they are part of.

1. In the left menu, click **Students**. The list opens.

2. Click on a student's name to open their record. For example: *Aisha Mwangi*.

3. Open the “Attendance” tab. You will see:

   * **Attendance statistics** - a summary of attendance, grouped by activity.

   * **Individual sessions** - a list of each session the student was recorded in, with their status for each one.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCQlJLWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--e8ebc8e56d1a56caf1f17bfe01b5f0df606b509d/image.png)

4. Click any session in the list to open it.

This view works the same way as the Activity details view in Part 4 - the difference is that it shows one student's data across all activities, rather than one activity's data across all students.


### **Dashboard**

The **Dashboard** highlights attendance concerns at a glance, so you can act without searching through records manually.

1. In the left menu, click **Dashboard**.

2. Find the attendance panel. It shows students who have been absent more than twice in the current week.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCRHRLWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--c5f7129946649eaec74aa7d0c7b107861b85494f/image.png?cw_image_width=283px)

3. Click on a student's name to open their record and review their full attendance history.

The dashboard updates automatically. Check it at the start of each day or week to stay on top of absences.


### **Reports**

The **Reports** section lets you calculate statistics across any time period. Your admin can set up custom reports using any field from your student or activity records.

1. In the left menu, click **Reports**. A list of available reports opens.

![](https://app.chatwoot.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCSDlLWUFVPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--d62c0b2abf495c8a61aaeff46fa026c5d6a9cc71/image.png?cw_image_width=522px)

2. Click on a report to open it.

3. Select the time period you want to analyze - for example: *1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025*.

4. Click **Run**. The results appear on screen.

Reports can show, for example:

* The total number of sessions recorded in a selected period.

* The number of unique students reached - without counting the same student twice across different activities.

* A breakdown of students by any field in their record - such as age group, gender, or location.

**Note:** Contact your admin to request a new report or to change an existing one.


---

## **What you can do now**

You have set up an activity, recorded attendance, and can review the data from several angles - by activity, by student, on the dashboard, and in reports. Over time, the data builds a clear picture of each student's engagement with your programs.

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### **Common issues**

**I cannot see the Attendance option in the menu.** Your user account may not have permission to use the Attendance feature or the feature is not configured yet. Contact your admin.

**The roll call is showing the wrong students.** The student list comes from the Activity record. Ask the person who manages activities to open that activity and check the Students field.

**My data is not showing up after recording attendance offline.** The app saves your data on the device and syncs when you are online. Check your internet connection and wait a moment for the sync to complete. If the data is still missing, contact your admin.

**The Dashboard attendance panel is empty.** No students have been absent more than twice this week. If you expect to see data here, contact your admin to confirm the dashboard panel is configured.

**A report shows no results for my selected time period.** No sessions may have been recorded in that period. Check the Sessions list to confirm. If sessions exist but the report is still empty, contact your admin to check the report configuration.

---

### **Related**

* How to configure the Attendance Module *(for admins) [GUIDE COMING SOON]*

* [Adding a new field to a form](https://chatwoot.help/hc/aam-digital/articles/1726480259-adding-a-new-field-to-a-profile-form)

---

# Video Guides

* [Tutorial: Organizing information to track activities and attendance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHeNfwDe5XE)

* [Tutorial: Quickly record attendance of an event in Aam Digital](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKrkRDaNNk)

* [Tutorial: Review & Edit an Event in Aam Digital](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wXRvkLen4s)