Update Existing and Add New Student Details

INSTRUCTIONS
Follow the four steps process to import new students and update existing students using a single spreadsheet. You may wish to speak to your school administration/enrolment staff, as this limited data can be easily extracted out from your school administration system.

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD EXISTING STUDENT DATA
STEP 2: INSTRUCTIONS TO FILL IN STUDENT SPREADSHEET
STEP 3: INSTRUCTIONS TO FILL IN SUBSCRIPTION TYPE COLUMN
STEP 4: INSTRUCTIONS TO UPLOAD STUDENT SPREADSHEET

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD EXISTING STUDENT DATA

• Log in to your CARS & STARS Online School Administration account.
• Select ‘My Account’ from the menu on the left-hand side and navigate to "Download Student Data" and click Download.
• Download your existing student school data, you can choose to include or exclude discontinued students. Note: It’s always recommended to select All (excl. Discontinued Students) to exclude the students who left school.
• Existing Student Data - Account Status and Subscription Expiry Date columns colour codes are as follows,
  ACTIVE - Green; EXPIRED - Red; DISCONTINUED - Yellow; INACTIVE - Orange; VIRTUAL - Blue; and DELETED - Grey.
• Existing Student Data - Subscription Type column colour codes are as follows,
  Paid Subscription - Green; Trial Subscription - Yellow; VIRTUAL - Blue; and DELETED - Grey.

STEP 2: INSTRUCTIONS TO FILL IN STUDENT SPREADSHEET

• Download a blank student template by selecting ‘Students’ and choose "Import Students" from the menu on the left-hand side and click "Download Student Template".
• Do not delete any rows from the downloaded template.
• Always use the latest template to upload the student details. If the Reverse Student Name Order setting is enabled for your school, the student's name columns in the spreadsheet should be LAST NAME FIRST NAME order.
• All classes need to be created in the CARS & STARS Online school account before you import new students.
• Begin entering user data in the fifth row (cell A5).
• Please ensure all columns do not contain illegal characters (' " `).
• One column at a time, copy and paste the STUDENT UNIQUE IDENTIFIER, FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, GENDER (M for Male, F for Female or NB for Non-binary), and YEAR OF BIRTH from the existing student spreadsheet/school database. Note: Please take extra care to make sure that Student Unique Identifiers and names are entered the same way as they’re currently listed in the CARS & STARS Online school account– otherwise new student accounts will be created.
• Previously, if STUDENT UNIQUE IDENTIFIER is not provided it will be marked as N/A. Student Unique Identifier is required to add a new student with a similar name to an existing student.
• You may also fill in the non-mandatory STUDENT UNIQUE IDENTIFIER column if your school requires data cross-referencing with CARS & STARS Online and/or to import multiple students with similar names in your school (e.g., John Alex and John Alexis), the Student Unique Identifier should be provided. This could be the student ID from a school management system (Schoology, Sentral, Schoolbox or Canvas), student DET/DoE email address or a school-issued student ID (non-government).
• Existing Student Unique Identifiers cannot be updated through the spreadsheet. Any changes to the existing Student Unique Identifier need to be updated on the student account before processing the spreadsheet.
• You may modify FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, GENDER (M for Male, F for Female or NB for Non-binary), YEAR OF BIRTH, SUBSCRIPTION ACTION, and CLASS for the existing students if required.
  
• You may enter new student data in this spreadsheet to add new students to your CARS & STARS Online school account. If you have not provided the Student Unique Identifier for the new students, this column should be filled in as N/A.

STEP 3: INSTRUCTIONS TO FILL IN SUBSCRIPTION TYPE COLUMN

TRANSFER STUDENTS

• To transfer students from an existing class, update the CLASS column for each student.
• For a student belonging to multiple classes, enter all the relevant class names, each separated by commas. (e.g., Room 1, Room 2)
• For a student who is not assigned to any classes, the CLASS column should be filled in as N/A.
• If you would like to remove the student from all their existing classes, the CLASS column should be filled in as N/A.
• If the student remains in the same class, fill in the CLASS column with their existing class name.

EXPIRED ACCOUNTS

• Expired accounts should be either renewed or discontinued.
• If you do not wish to renew/upgrade an expired account, mark the SUBSCRIPTION ACTION as DISCONTINUE. The discontinued accounts will be deleted after the account has expired for 6 months.

SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL/UPGRADE

• Each CARS & STARS Online student subscription consists of a combination of the modules (CARS & STARS and FOCUS Reading), and the subscription type, which is based on duration (3-, 6- and 12-months). You can assign the relevant subscription(s) to students by filling in the SUBSCRIPTION TYPE for each module, separated by commas.
• For a CARS & STARS subscription account, SUBSCRIPTION TYPE should be entered as CS-3M, CS-6M or CS-12M with the number indicating duration. FOCUS Reading subscriptions should be entered as FR-3M, FR-6M or FR-12M in the same way. You can have a CS-3M and a FR-3M for a single student, but not two subscriptions for the same module (e.g. a CS-12M and a CS-3M subscription) for the same student at the same time. For a CARS & STARS + FOCUS Reading bundled subscription, this should be entered as CS-FR-3M, CS-FR-6M or CS-FR-12M.
• If the account does not need to be renewed/upgraded, SUBSCRIPTION TYPE should be filled in as N/A.
  
• The SUBSCRIPTION TYPE column should be entered as VA to create a virtual account for the student. The virtual account is utilised for manual recording, and the students will not be given an access code. To learn more click here.
• A subscription account cannot be downgraded to a free trial account or a VA (virtual account). A free trial account cannot be downgraded to a VA (virtual account).

STUDENTS WHO LEFT SCHOOL  

• For students who have left the school, specify the SUBSCRIPTION ACTION as DISCONTINUE and fill in their CLASS column as N/A. The discontinued accounts will be deleted after the account has expired for 6 months. Please note that any existing classes for the discontinued students will be deleted.

REACTIVATE INACTIVE/DISCONTINUED ACCOUNTS

• To reactivate an inactive/discontinued TA or SA that has not expired, SUBSCRIPTION ACTION should be filled in as REACTIVATE. Expired accounts can only be renewed, not reactivated.
• To reactivate an inactive/discontinued CARS & STARS subscription that has not expired, SUBSCRIPTION ACTION should be filled in as CS-REACTIVATE. Expired accounts can only be renewed, not reactivated.
• To reactivate an inactive/discontinued FOCUS Reading subscription that has not expired, SUBSCRIPTION ACTION should be filled in as FR-REACTIVATE. Expired accounts can only be renewed, not reactivated.
• To reactivate a discontinued VA, SUBSCRIPTION ACTION should be filled in as REACTIVATE.

DEACTIVATE ACTIVE ACCOUNTS

• To deactivate an active trial or subscription account, fill in the SUBSCRIPTION ACTION as DEACTIVATE. A virtual account cannot be deactivated.
• To deactivate an active CARS & STARS subscription, fill in the SUBSCRIPTION ACTION as CS-DEACTIVATE.
• To deactivate an active FOCUS Reading subscription, fill in the SUBSCRIPTION ACTION as FR-DEACTIVATE.

STEP 4: INSTRUCTIONS TO UPLOAD STUDENT SPREADSHEET

• Save your updated spreadsheet to your computer as a .xlsx file.
• Navigate to 'Students' from the menu on the left-hand side and select "Import Students".
• Under the Student Details File section, click the select file option to locate the .xlsx file on your computer and click Upload.
• If the validation failed and any errors are detected in the spreadsheet, you may download the error details spreadsheet and rectify the highlighted errors marked in red and try uploading again. After downloading the error details spreadsheet, you may find more information on the error by clicking on the highlighted cells. Rectify the errors and import the updated spreadsheet again.
  
• If you have an error indicating that similar student names are appearing multiple times in the spreadsheet and you have provided their respective Student Unique Identifier details. You may send us the student spreadsheet by replying to our Client Support Specialist email or by submitting a support ticket, click here and attach the spreadsheet as this would require our verification to be uploaded to ensure that repeated student accounts are not created in your CARS & STARS Online school account.
• If you require any further assistance or have any questions, please reply to our Client Support Specialist email or submit a support ticket, click here. You may also attach the student template to the support ticket.