# Sessions & terms — Academium SMS

[View the HTML page](https://academium.com.ng/sms/features/sessions-and-terms/)

> Set up each school year with its three terms, add holiday coaching periods, lock finished terms and move the school into the next session.

Sessions & terms

## Your school year, in three terms.

Sessions and terms decide where every mark, fee and register belongs. Set them up, lock what is finished, and move into the next year when it starts.

[Download to get started](https://academium.com.ng/downloads?product=sms) [All SMS features](https://academium.com.ng/sms/features)

An example year: three terms plus a holiday coaching period outside the academic year. Finished terms can be locked.

Setting up a year

## Three terms, ready to adjust.

A new session starts with first, second and third term already in place.

-   **A familiar starting point.** Term dates follow the usual Nigerian pattern. Check them against your school’s calendar and edit any term.
    
-   **Weeks counted as you type.** The number of weeks in a term updates while you change its dates.
    
-   **No year left empty.** A session without terms can be filled with the standard three in one step.
    

Example term dates. Moving an end date updates the week count straight away.

Out-of-term periods

## Holiday coaching, kept apart from results.

Add a period that runs on school premises outside the academic year.

-   **Fees and attendance.** An out-of-term period can carry its own fees and attendance.
    
-   **Never counted as a term.** No exams are sat during it, and nothing recorded in it counts towards a student’s term results.
    
-   **Added inactive.** A new period does not change anything until you make it current.
    

An example out-of-term period: it carries fees and attendance, but no exams, and nothing in it counts towards term results.

Locking

## Close a term when it is finished.

Lock a term or a whole session to stop further changes to it.

-   **Results signed off.** Locking authorises any exam marks still outstanding, and locked periods are respected by mark entry, exam timetables and promotion.
    
-   **Unlock for a set time.** Reopen a locked period for between one hour and seven days. It closes again on its own.
    
-   **Easy to tell apart.** Locked and open periods are drawn differently, so their state is clear without reading each label.
    

Locking a finished term signs off its results. A temporary unlock closes again by itself. Example dates.

Moving into a new year

## Move the school. Or just look back.

Changing the school’s session and viewing another year are separate actions.

-   **One move, for everyone.** Activating a session moves the whole school into it, after a confirmation. The change is recorded in the audit log.
    
-   **A personal view of another year.** Look at last year from the year picker without moving anyone else.
    
-   **Automatic, if you want it.** With session automation on, each branch moves into its next year and term when its dates arrive. Each branch keeps its own calendar.
    

Activating a session moves everyone. Looking at another year from the year picker moves only you. Example years.

Catch Up

## Told when the calendar is not ready.

Without a session and terms, screens are simply empty. Catch Up says why.

-   **Plain explanations.** Catch Up flags a branch with no academic year, a year with no terms, or terms with none marked current.
    
-   **Why it matters.** Marks, fees and attendance are all recorded against a term, so these come first.
    

The three situations Catch Up explains, in its own words, each resolved in turn as the calendar is set up.

FAQs

## Sessions & terms questions

How the school year is organised in SMS.

[Still have a question?](https://academium.com.ng/main/page-contact)

### Do we have to create terms by hand?

No. A new session comes with three terms using the usual Nigerian dates. Adjust any dates that differ for your school.

### Can we look at last year without moving the school?

Yes. The year picker changes what you see. Only activating a session in Session settings moves the whole school.

### Does the session change on its own?

Only if session automation is turned on. Then each branch moves when its dates say it should. Otherwise you move the school yourself.

### Can we charge fees for holiday coaching?

Yes. Add an out-of-term period. It can carry fees and attendance without affecting term results.

## Set up your school year in Academium SMS.

Download Academium SMS and set up your school, try a demo, or start in free mode.

[Download to get started](https://academium.com.ng/downloads?product=sms) [Explore other features](https://academium.com.ng/sms/features)