This guide provides a step-by-step guide to registering students for their IB Exams via ManageBac.
Register Students for their IB exams via ManageBac
Key Benefits of using ManageBac
- Students can see and even help add their own personal information
- Quickly see who still needs to have information added
- A one-click registration process once student details are in the system
- Create easy-to-follow exam calendars based on student registrations
- Invoice parents using our Export to PDF option
Configuring School & Diploma Settings
School Settings
1.Check your exam session via Settings > School Settings > Name, Address & Logo
2.Check your IB School Code is accurate/current
Please note that as a data security measure, these fields aren’t configurable. Please email us at support@managebac.com to request changes to your IB School Code or Session.
Tip: It’s only possible to register for exams in one session via ManageBac. The session available for your school will be that which matches your school settings.
3.Configure language of instruction via Settings > School Settings > Name, Address & Logo
If your school offers the IB Diploma in more than one working language, you will need to first enable additional languages of instruction in your School Settings to set subjects in those languages.
Tip: Multiple languages are now also an option for Theory of Knowledge IBIS registrations, so make sure to enable the additional language of instruction first!
Diploma Settings
1.Configure Diploma subjects via Settings > IB Diploma > Subjects
- Confirm your authorized subjects via Settings > IB Diploma > Subjects
- Your subjects on ManageBac must match your IBIS subjects exactly, or you will see an error code when attempting to register students
2.Configure options and levels via Settings > IB Diploma > Subjects > Options & Levels
- Specify the options (i.e. ab initio) and levels (i.e. SL) for your subjects
- Only those subjects enabled on your account under Subjects will appear here
Tip: Don’t forget to select your topics for relevant subjects. Example: Individuals & Societies > History, Enable SL/HL and appropriate HL streams, ie “Asia and Oceania”.
3.Configure extended essay subjects via Settings > IB Diploma > Subjects >
Extended Essay Subjects
- Enable Extended Essay Subjects to allow students to select via their Extended Essay worksheets and on their Plans Worksheets
- Only those subjects enabled on your account under Subjects will appear here
Tip: If students are reporting they can’t select a subject via their Extended Essay Proposal, ensure it’s enabled via both DP Subjects & EE Subjects.
4.Configure the number of additional subjects permitted via Settings > IB Diploma > Subjects
- If the number of subjects is set to 0, students will not be able to add additional subjects to their plans worksheet
- Select from 0, 1, 2 or 3 additional subjects
Tip: The Additional Subject tab is for students who are taking more than the prescribed 6 subjects and will not be counted towards the full IB Diploma. If students are taking two subjects that will count towards their IB Diploma credits under Group 1, Group 3 or Group 4, you may use our 'Add New Subject' button in their Plans worksheet instead.
Plans Worksheets
Organising Candidate Personal Information and Exam Choices
Year Group Settings
With the integration between ManageBac and IBIS, coordinators can send student exam registration information directly into to IBIS, bulk registering students with one click!
Tip: Don’t see the Plans tab in your year group menu? Enable it via Year Group > Edit Year Group Settings.
Plans Worksheets
Via Year Groups > Select a Year Group > Plans, coordinators can see a list of their students and the requirements that have been met.
- Students by default are grouped by advisor, with Your Students at the top of the page
- Click the view dropdown to sort your student list alphabetically
Tip: Use the Plans Roster to track if your students have met their requirements.
Plans worksheets, including Candidate Personal Info and Subjects & Levels, must first be completed before registering students for IBIS exams.
- Click Unlock all worksheets to allow students to complete their own Plans worksheets
- If you click on a student’s name, you will be shown that student's Diploma Plan worksheet
Tip: If you prefer to complete worksheets yourself, keep them locked so students are unable to make any changes.
Lock or Unlock Student Profiles via Settings > Permissions, Security & Privacy
- Personal Data syncs between a student’s Plan Worksheet and their User Profile
Note: While Plans Worksheets may be unlocked, if Student Profiles are also locked, students won’t be able to edit their personal information.
Students or Advisors can complete their plan worksheets via Year Group Manager > Plans tab on their own accounts, completing their personal details and subjects & levels.
- Administrators or Advisors can make additional changes not available to the students, such as changes to session codes or PIN numbers
Tip: Use the demo account for sessions with your students, logging in via Browser Roles & Links > and selecting student name. Email support@managebac.com for demo account access
Note: Required fields are indicated with a red star. First and Last names should be entered as they appear on your legal identification.
Tip: Bulk update information via Settings > Import > Students > ticking “Update Existing Users” to help pre-populate personal information.
As an admin, you can enter a student's IBIS Personal Code. This code is used to identify any students previously registered as anticipated candidates or in the MYP. This field is required if the student has ever previously been registered.
You can also enter the student's Candidate Session Number. Students are not able to edit these fields.
Select the Candidate Status as Diploma or DP Course. Note that DP Course students cannot register for EE, ToK or CAS via ManageBac - if your Course students are opting for these components, they will need to be registered directly via IBIS.
Tip: DP Course status cannot be combined with Anticipated Registrations.
Under Subjects & Levels, click Edit. Click on the Subject Group, and use the dropdown menus
to select the appropriate subject, level (HL or SL) or language, then click Confirm Subject.
- Click on a student’s name to view and Edit a completed worksheet
- Plans can be locked individually via Lock Worksheet, preventing students making changes
Tip: Avoid locking worksheets with missing or outdated personal information. The Candidate Personal Info will be used for exam registration and must be accurate.
Catered to IB Requirements
Guidance & Scenarios: Diploma versus Course
As a full Diploma candidate, ManageBac will automatically check to make sure that you have selected at least 3 HL subjects.
Thus you will want to complete your Subjects & Levels in one sitting, remembering to click Save Changes to confirm.
Tip: If you have made a mistake and need to start over, click Reset Plan at the bottom of the page to begin your selections fresh.
Guidance & Scenarios: Adding Additional Subjects
Diploma students registering for more than one subject of the same subject group need to add the subject as an Arts subject or by clicking Add New Subject.
If you are taking two Language A exams, the second language A subject can be selected by clicking Add New Subject and selecting “Second Language & Literature”.
Diploma students registering for additional subjects outside of or in addition to their 6 exam subjects, or Course students taking multiple subjects from the same group, should add these by clicking Additional Subject.
Guidance & Scenarios: Anticipated Candidates
For students who are sitting exams in their DP 1 year, please tick the Anticipated Candidate
checkbox via the DP 1 tab.
Select the subject & levels for the anticipated exam, tick the Exam Subject checkbox and Confirm Subject. An E will appear next to the appropriate subject.
On your DP2 worksheet, you must either check your anticipated exam subjects (e.g. Chinese B HL) or select a new subject and level for your final Diploma exams.
You should double-check your subject package for accuracy and ensure that the appropriate exams are indicated as Anticipated Exam. An A will appear next to the appropriate subject.
Guidance & Scenarios: Bilingual Programme
For bilingual programme students, you must select two Language and Literature subjects, or select a subject of a different language under Group 3 or 4.
Pamoja Online Courses Next Steps
- Since all submissions on IBIS for May 2021 Pamoja students will be done by Pamoja Education, Pamoja will submit your students’ IA marks, predicted grades and will generate and upload moderation samples and any externally assessed components, where applicable on IBIS.
- It is, therefore, required that upon registering your student(s) via ManageBac for their IB Exams you indicate the student(s) have taken their course(s) online.
- This must be indicated using the DP online courses option. After completing the registration of candidates for a session, navigate into IBIS and to the ‘DP Online courses’ option.
- Search for the candidate using the search options provided or select List all candidates to view all candidate registrations for subjects available via a DP online provider. Click on the “Search candidates” button. The search results will be displayed in the table.
- Tick/check the Indicate online course box, select the course provider and then click on the “Save change(s)” button.
Managing the Roster
- Prompt students to fill out their worksheets by clicking Send Email Reminders on the right navigation panel of the Plans roster
- Students will receive an email notification as per the above
- They can access and complete their worksheets via the Plans tab on their own accounts
Tip: Send reminders while students are in class, so you can run through the steps together!
- As students fill in their worksheets, track progress via the roster checkmarks
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Follow up with those missing information, who may require extra assistance
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The CAS checkmark will appear when the student’s CAS worksheet is marked as “Student has successfully completed the CAS programme.”
Tip: You don’t need to achieve a checkmark for CAS to successfully register a student, as Diploma students are registered for CAS automatically.
- Coordinators can review all students’ progress in bulk by clicking Export to PDF
Tip: Use the Export to double check Candidate Personal Information and Subject Selections!
- Once satisfied with the worksheets, navigate back to Year Group > Plans
- Click Lock All Worksheets to prevent students from making further changes
- Perform a final review via Export to PDF or Export IBIS to Excel
When ready, click Register via IBIS!
Tip: Don’t worry, clicking Register via IBIS opens another page where you can review which students to register.
The Stages of Registration
Registering via IBIS
- First, it's important to clear anticipated candidates via Registered > Clear Anticipated Candidates for your DP 2 year groups
- Clearing anticipated registrations allows you to register anticipated Diploma candidates for their final exams in the second year of the diploma programme
Tip: We would recommend to clear the anticipated registrations as your first step in the process, if you have previous anticipated candidates.
On the IBIS Registration page, students will fall into one of five categories sorted by different tabs.
Pending
These students have not finished entering either Exam Subjects or Personal Information and are not currently eligible for IBIS registration.
Navigate back to their worksheet, and make the relevant revision to progress them to Scheduled.
Scheduled
These students are ready for exam registration and have provided all required information.
- Once you have reviewed their Plan worksheets to ensure correct subject selection, you can either register individually by clicking 'Register Now' or by selecting 'Register all Candidates’
- After clicking one of these options, your exam registration process will be initiated securely
Processing
Once you choose to register students from the scheduled tab, they will temporarily appear under the processing tab until they are moved to either Registered or Failed.
Note: Please be patient and perhaps have a cup of coffee while you wait, as it will take 5-10 seconds for the registration process to complete for an individual student, but up to 60 minutes for hundreds of students.
Registered
These students have been registered successfully and no further action is required. Students previously registered for Anticipated exams will also appear here.
Failed
These students could not be registered, with an error message provided.
Tip: Schools may see “The ability to register candidates for this session has been withdrawn as your school has outstanding debts over 90 days old. Please contact Finance via myaccount@ibo.org for further discussion.”
Please contact the IBO directly if you see this particular message.
Additional Notes about Registering
Once students are successfully registered, personal codes will be automatically updated immediately and session numbers will be automatically updated to ManageBac in January (for May session schools) and September (for November session schools).
You can also update these manually or via bulk import by clicking Update IBIS Personal Codes.
Note: PIN codes are not automatically pulled from IBIS. They will need to be manually updated if you wish for students to access them on ManageBac
Tip: It is important that you check your students’ worksheets individually before registering them. The IB Still requires this of Coordinators, and while ManageBac validates the records to catch basic mistakes (e.g. fewer than 3 HL subjects) failing to indicate the personal code, choosing a subject your school is not authorized for, etc. may result in failed registrations.
Handling Common Scenarios
Managing Failed Students
Click Failed to view students whose registration failed, there will be instructions on how to fix and re-register.
Candidate exists in another school and cannot be registered again on ManageBac. Please register via IBIS.
This error occurs if the student had transferred from another school, and if they had been registered as an MYP candidate or for Anticipated exams in their first year of the Diploma Programme. As the IB Coordinator, you will need to contact the prior school and request the student’s IBIS personal code (e.g. dmg891) and then register directly via IBIS.
The candidate already exists in IBIS. Please fill out the Candidate’s Personal Code from IBIS and try again.
- This means that the student has been previously registered for an Anticipated Diploma exam or for MYP moderation through your school. You will need to check on IBIS and ensure that the student’s IBIS personal code is updated on the Plans tab via Update IBIS Personal Codes
- This will ensure that the student is identified correctly and you can then re-submit the exam subject registrations via the Register via IBIS page by clicking the Register button to the right of the student’s name
This Candidate is already registered in IBIS, and can not be registered again from ManageBac.
This error occurs when students are registered manually on IBIS before being registered on ManageBac. If this is the case, you will need to make all your updates for that student on IBIS directly.
Tip: In this instance, you can still keep the students’ Candidate Personal Info and Selected Subjects on ManageBac for reference.
Self-taught subjects / School-based syllabus / Pilot subjects
- Self-taught subjects and other special request registrations must be made directly to the IBIS help desk
- Although subjects can be indicated on the Plan worksheets, ManageBac is unable to automate and confirm these registrations
- You must still contact the IBIS help desk to confirm these registrations
Exam Calendars
Issue Calendars, Exam Proctors and Locations for Students and Teachers
You can create exam calendars via the Plans tab. With each exam, you'll have options for exam times, proctors, and locations.
Under the Plans tab, click the Exam Calendar link in the sidebar.
Tip: Exam dates are built-in annually for the May and November exam sessions together with durations and dates for each paper.
You will be prompted to enter the starting time for each exam together with the location and up to three exam proctors. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Teachers and Advisors can click Exam Calendar to view all exam times, proctors, and locations. Assigned Exams show the teacher's individual exam assignments.
Students will be able to access their personalized exam schedules via the right menu of the DP Plan Worksheet. As DP Coordinator or homeroom advisor, by clicking on a student's name under Plans, you can view that student's exam calendar.
Click Exam Calendar on the right menu to view the student's exam schedule, which will display their or her exams in chronological order.
Note: Only once times, locations and proctors have been specific, will they display in the student’s exam calendar.
Invoicing
Automated and personalised invoices for your DP families
Enabling invoicing for your students’ selected exams via Year Group > Edit Year Group Settings > Invoicing Options.
After enabling, configure your invoice options via the Plans roster and right navigation panel. You can make changes to the following fields:
- Subject Fee
- Currency
- Payment Information
Navigating to a student’s Plans Worksheet, you will find:
- Individual Exam fee
- Registration Fee if applicable
- Automatically calculated total
Clicking Export to PDF from the Plans Roster or Plans Worksheet, the information will be included for administrator reference. This PDF can be downloaded and sent to parents or students.
