A step-by-step guide to setting up ManageBac+ for non-IB curricula such as Cambridge, IGCSE and Pearson Edexcel.
For Administrators setting up ManageBac+ for Cambridge, Pearson Edexcel, Advanced Placement and other non-IB programmes. Watch the set-up guide first, then work through each area of the platform below.
| Stage | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1. Account setup | Video guide to setting up and maintaining your account |
| 2. Turnkey Design | Supported curricula and build-your-own programmes |
| 3. Curriculum | C1 unit planners and academic standards |
| 4. Teaching & Learning | Classes, Tasks, Messages, Calendar, Attendance |
| 5. Assessment & Reporting | Gradebook, Google Docs, Turnitin, Annotations, Report Cards |
| 6. Portfolio | Student digital portfolios |
| 7. Remote Learning | Zoom, KeyChat, AssessPrep |
| 8. Mobile and School-to-Home | Mobile app, OpenApply, SchoolsBuddy |
1. Account setup: watch the QuickStart guide
The video covers ManageBac+ account setup and maintenance for Curriculum-First programmes. These include Cambridge Advanced, IGCSEs and Lower Secondary, Pearson Edexcel A-Levels & International GCSEs, and Advanced Placement.
These steps should be completed by an Administrator user. This is generally your Programme Coordinator and/or Tech Director.
The rest of this guide is a feature overview of ManageBac+ for UK, US or National Curriculum. Use it to get the most out of each area once your account is set up.
ManageBac+ is designed for the modern international school.
- All-in-one curriculum planning, assessment and report cards for multi-curricula international schools.
- Support for all major curricula, including Cambridge, Edexcel and American Curriculum, with the flexibility for schools to design their own curriculum.
- Integrated remote learning and communications to support learning in different settings and a Unified Family Experience.
2. Turnkey Design
Supported Curriculum Programmes and Build-Your-Own. Curriculum-First (C1) is built to support multi-curricula international schools. It extends ManageBac+ beyond the IB programmes with curriculum-agnostic features for your Curriculum Design, Teaching & Learning, and Assessment & Reporting processes. Over 600 sets of academic & accreditation standards are available, so you can craft a programme that reflects your school's mission and values.
Designed for Multi-Curricula International Schools
ManageBac+ suits international schools that want to:
- Provide systematic support for their curriculum pathway (for example Cambridge Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSEs and IB Diploma)
- Offer a combination of National and International Curriculum as a dual-curricula school
- Build a unique curriculum, drawing from different standards and based on the school's mission and values
- Consolidate learning platforms across the whole school to provide a Unified Family Experience
- Manage joint-accreditation frameworks, including IB Standards & Practices, CIS, WASC, NEASC and/or local requirements
3. Curriculum
Plan your curriculum together with real-time unit planners. Assessment and learning experiences are integrated, with a flexible unit template editor and the world's largest collection of academic standards & benchmarks.
- Collaborative Curriculum Planning: collaboratively create, edit and share unit planners across year levels in real time.
- See the Big Picture: browse whole-school curriculum and analytics to track coverage of concepts and skills.
- Resources: embed notes, files, photos, videos and websites with the drag & drop Lessons & Resources.
C1 Unit Planners
The C1 unit planner lets you organise and plan your curriculum with resources, together with your colleagues.
Academic Standards & Curriculum Updates
Over 607 sets of academic & accreditation standards and benchmarks are available. Together they form the world's largest indexed collection of over 1.5 million fully-licensed academic standards.
4. Teaching & Learning
ManageBac+ C1 supports effective implementation of your chosen curricula:
- When you create a class, you choose from pre-built subjects linked to exam paper codes. Teachers can then share curriculum, resources, tasks and assignments with each other.
- Differentiation is supported (for example Extended and Core classes), so units, resources and assessment tasks can be taught separately.
- When a curriculum review occurs, changes are automatic. This saves schools many hours each year and keeps the curriculum accurate and up to date.
- Transition years are handled for you. For example, Year 12 will teach a new subject guide while Year 13 remains on the old curriculum.
Classes
Staff can view events, tasks, deadlines, exams and entire calendars by year group, individual class or activity group (for example, Basketball Club). Students have their own calendar, populated with their assignments and activities and updated in real time.
Tasks
Create summative and formative tasks linked to units, custom categories and resources, with support for differentiation and task-specific clarification of assessment criteria. Students can upload work, with plagiarism checking through the Turnitin integration.
Supported file types: Websites or Videos, GDocs, Files (PDF, PPT, DOC, TXT), Photos or Text Notes.
Messages
Communicate with year groups, teachers and individual students to give feedback and suggestions, and to clarify tasks and assignments. Parents using ManageBac+ can also receive messages about their student's performance, alerting them to potential issues as they happen.
Calendar
Teachers and administrators can view assignment deadlines, exams and entire class calendars by year, group (such as Basketball or Drama Club) or individual class. Students get a real-time view of their term, as calendar items sync as soon as their teachers add them.
Attendance
Teachers record class attendance based on the configured preferences (for example weekdays and rotation-based, categories, days off). Admins can manage attendance by student, class or curriculum. They can set daily digests, send reminders to teachers and send absences to parents. Parents can also submit attendance excusals through ManageBac+.
5. Assessment & Reporting
Built for the needs of international schools, with customisable gradebooks, built-in assessment and annotation tools, and integrations with Google Docs for coursework submission and Turnitin for plagiarism prevention.
Gradebook
Submit individual task and term assessments by custom assessment criteria, points or comments. Create term rubrics for all or specific subjects and convert them automatically to local grades. Administrators can track the progress of term grade submissions by subject or student in real time.
Google Docs
In less than 3 clicks, teachers can link, assign and distribute a Google Doc template to their entire class. Students get one-click access to their GDocs editor with the coursework template pre-loaded. The submitted GDoc is saved to their portfolio automatically, with all marks and annotations kept for future reference.
Turnitin
Student coursework can be submitted through Turnitin automatically before grading. This helps improve student writing, encourage original thinking and prevent plagiarism. All Feedback Studio features are available from within ManageBac+.
Annotations
Vantage Reader is the built-in tool for marking and annotating submitted coursework. Several authors can comment on and annotate the same assignment at the same time, as in Google Docs.
Report Cards
Report card templates are customisable and integrated with homeroom, class gradebooks and attendance. They can include:
- A cover letter with signatures
- Summary of achievement and class reports
- Advisor and student reflections
- Attendance and extra-curricular activities
- Grade and rubric descriptions
Generate reports in bulk as print-ready PDFs. You can also share them securely online with parents and students.
6. Portfolio
Students build a digital portfolio over time as they submit coursework into their classes for individual assessments.
- Track Progress: track the progression of a student's core values and focus area through their learning goals and submitted work.
- Centralise Coursework: all submitted work is grouped automatically into subjects with learning goals.
- Export Locally: export portfolios as PDFs, or sync them to our partners when students take the next step in their learning journey.
7. Remote Learning
Bring your curriculum to life with a unified remote learning platform, with built-in Zoom, AssessPrep and KeyChat integrations.
Design
Three pillars supported by PD & best practices:
- Teaching & Learning: online lesson delivery with Zoom and Presentation Mode.
- Communication: whole-school communication with KeyChat.
- Engagement: engagement analytics and automated reminders with weekly digests.
Online Lesson & Presentation Mode
Schedule your virtual lesson with your own video conferencing tool or the built-in Zoom integration. Start the lesson with one click from your calendar or your unit's Stream.
Online Events & Meetings
The Zoom integration used for Online Lessons is also enabled for Calendar > Events.
- Add an eventGo to Calendar and select the Add Event button.
- Create the meetingIn the Event interface, select Create Zoom Meeting.
Events differentiated for different students only show to, and only allow, the linked students to join the Zoom call.
KeyChat
- Centralise Whole-School Communication: designed to support school communication with Remote Learning. Channel membership is provisioned and managed automatically based on Class & Year group memberships and Teacher & Advisor relationships.
- Improve Collaboration for Remote Learning: supports staff communication, teaching & advisory relationships (for example Subject Teachers, SL or PBL Advisors) and the School Office for administrative contacts.
- Provide Social & Emotional Support: students can share how they are feeling with classmates and advisors via text or emojis.
- Enhance School-to-Home Communication: streamline parent communications to provide a Unified Family Experience.
AssessPrep
- Online Exams: securely manage remote examinations. Answers are accurate and easy to read for faster grading. Choose your exam delivery method, use the analytics, and assess by criteria or points.
- Live Invigilation: deliver assessments within a live, synchronous online lesson, and monitor students visually during remote testing using online meeting platforms.
- Flipped Classroom: assign assessments for students to complete asynchronously.
8. Mobile and School-to-Home
ManageBac+ for Mobile
For Students, Parents, Teachers and Coordinators. The ManageBac+ mobile app supports all user types, including students, parents, teachers, coordinators and admins, across all curriculum programmes. It covers key functions on tablet and phone: taking attendance, classroom management, messaging, and managing SA and project requirements.
School-to-Home
Give students and families a consistent, modern experience from initial inquiry to enrolment, school life and beyond.
- Teaching & Learning: curriculum planning, assessment and reporting, and academic management for teachers and students.
- Admissions & Enrolment: OpenApply, our School Admissions Management System, is integrated with ManageBac+. Families can update their information, confirm re-enrolment and complete applications for siblings in one place.
- Communications: streamlined communications and notifications support the school-to-home experience and increase student and teacher engagement.
- SchoolsBuddy: our Extra-Curricular and Activities Management System, integrated with ManageBac+. Schools can book and manage activities and parent-teacher conferences, with an advanced payments solution.