IB DP Reports: Editing Report Card Templates & Publishing

At a glance

Stage	What you do	Where
1. Collect grades	Teachers enter term grades and comments. You lock gradebooks when ready.	Gradebook > Term Grades, Settings > Academic Terms
2. Proof and review	Check and edit grades, comments and reflections.	Reporting > Proofing & Review
3. Design the template	Build sections and components, then preview with real student data.	Reporting > Templates > IB Diploma
4. Preview and generate	Choose term, years and template, check drafts, then generate.	Reporting > Generate Reports
5. View generated reports	Find reports on student profiles and in Reports History.	Student profile, Reports History
6. Update a report	Regenerate one student's report after a grade change.	Reporting > Generate Reports > Update Individual Reports
7. Hide reports and exclude	Hide reports from students and parents, or leave out classes and students.	Student profile, Manage Report Exclusions
8. Optional extras	Term aliases, CAS and EE, reflections, multi-programme reports, student photos.	Various

▶️ Feature video overview. Watch the overview video for a walkthrough of how report cards are generated on ManageBac+.

1. Collect grades and comments

Report cards pull from class gradebooks. The first step is for teachers to enter grades and comments in their class Gradebooks.

How teachers enter grades and comments

Teachers go to their class Gradebook > Term Grades tab. For each student they complete:

• Comment: the teacher comment. Use the format buttons at the top of each comment box for options such as headers or right-to-left text.
• Grade: this appears as the final grade on reports.
• Custom Rubrics: criteria for anything else you wish to assess, such as predicted grade, effort or participation. See Configuring rubrics and options below.

Changes save automatically.

Lock or unlock gradebooks

Admins can lock and unlock gradebooks by programme and academic term. This stops grades being changed after a set date, before reports are generated.

1. Open Academic TermsLogged in as an admin, go to Settings > Academic Terms.
2. Choose the programmeSelect your programme tab, then select Edit on the academic year.
3. Lock the gradebooksTick Restrict teachers from making any changes to term grades for each term you want to lock.
4. SaveClick Save Changes.

You can also get there from Reporting: select Lock Term Gradebook on Proofing & Review, or Lock Term Gradebooks in the Actions menu (⋮) on Generate Reports.

Configuring rubrics and options (Custom Rubrics)

Go to Settings > IB Diploma > Assessment > Assessment Models and select the Term tab.

Here you can create new rubrics and options. Teachers complete them together with their term grades.

1. Add a rubricClick Add Rubric in the right-hand panel and enter your rubric title.
2. Choose the typePick one of the three types listed below.
3. Create itClick Create Rubric.
4. Set values and descriptorsHover over the rubric title and click the pencil icon to edit the values and descriptors. Click Save Changes.

Type	What it does
Criteria	A set of criteria teachers select from a drop-down menu. For example, Effort grades on a range of 5 to 1, where 5 is excellent effort and 1 is the worst.
Custom Field	A customisable field where teachers enter any type of text with a defined suffix, such as attendance in %.
Formula	Calculates a rubric value based on Custom Fields or Criteria rubric values.

Once added, rubrics appear on the Term Grades tab, where teachers enter values.

Showing rubrics on reports: enable rubrics and options on your report card templates through Assessment components or Grade Descriptor components.

2. Proof and review grades

Once grades and comments are in, admins and teachers with access to Proofing & Review can proof and review gradebooks.

1. Open Proofing & ReviewGo to Reporting > Proofing & Review.
2. Choose the programmeSelect your academic programme from the drop-down menu.

You can view and edit grade information By Student or By Subject, and view student and staff reflections.

Review by student

Click By Student to view and edit Term Grades and comments from every class the student takes in the selected programme. Changes made here also update the class gradebook.

1. Choose the advisorSelect the Homeroom Advisor from the All Advisors drop-down menu.
2. Choose the termSelect the academic term from the drop-down menu.
3. Choose the studentSelect a student from the list. The Status column shows how far each student is, and Highlight Incomplete Fields marks anything still empty.
4. ReviewReview and edit grades and comments from the student's classes.

Review by subject

Click By Subject to view grades and comments for many students, shown by subject and class. Select a subject, then use the Filters panel on the right to show one class. The Field Checker shows how many grades, comments and rubrics are still empty, and changes save automatically. Use Export Term Grades to Excel to download them.

Review reflections

The Reflections tab shows reflections added by the student, Homeroom Advisor, coordinator, Head of School and counsellor. A green check shows which reflections have comments for each student. Click a student's name to see their reflections. Use Export to Excel to download them.

You can read and edit reflections here. They can then be enabled to show on the report card through the report template (see Term goals and reflections).

3. Design your report template

Once grades are reviewed, build your report card template to set the look and feel of your report cards.

Open the template builder

Go to Reporting > Templates > IB Diploma. Your account comes with a set of built-in report templates for each programme. Click a template name to customise it, or click Add New Template above the Multi Curricula Templates list to create one. Older PDF templates are listed under PDF Templates as legacy templates.

• Sections: a template can have as many Sections as you need. They appear across the bottom of the builder.
• Template settings: use the gear icon at the top right of the Preview to add, remove or reorder Sections and to change the template background.
• Components: add Components to each Section with Add Component on the left. The Customisation tab sets how each one looks. You can customise them and drag them into any order. The central Preview updates with every change, and you can switch between Web View and PDF View.

Create a new template

On the Templates tab, click Add Template from Library or Add New Template, above the Multi Curricula Templates list. To edit an existing template, select it from the list on the page.

Template Library report types

Type	Description
Progress Report	Single page report card with student details and classes with rubrics.
End of Term Report	A full term report card with multiple sections and different assessment components for different programme components. Differences between programmes go in the programme-specific components. Most closely aligned to a traditional long-form report card.
Narrative Report	A longer template that focuses on comments as assessment, plus reflection components.
Core Report	Shows non-class information and assessments. Needs different components per programme, and should include Assessment Explanation and Grade Descriptors to explain the assessment rubrics.
SBG Report Card (standards-based grading)	Shows standards-based grading in all classes. Can be a long report card, depending on how the school has implemented standards. Should be prefaced by an assessment explanation.

Template settings

When you add a template, the new template window lets you set:

1. Template SettingsThe configuration and sections that are the basic building blocks of web report templates.
2. Background and themeUse Select Background and Select Theme to set the look of the template.
3. TitleGive the template a unique title. A title already used by another template cannot be reused.
4. Additional ProgrammesAdd these if the template should include more than one academic programme.
5. TypeChoose whether reports from this template are Final or Interim reports.
6. SectionsUse Add Section to add as many sections as you need to build the template structure.
7. PDF SettingsOn the PDF Settings tab, select which settings apply to PDF copies made with this template.
8. CreateClick Add Template.

Preview real student data in the builder

1. Open Preview DataSelect the Preview options icon at the top right of the Preview.
2. Pick a student and termSelect a student from the drop-down and an academic term. You can select a term for each programme included in the template. Click Save Changes.

   

3. Check the previewThe student's data replaces the default data in the builder. Select Reset Student Selection to return to the default data.

Choose components for each section

Older PDF report templates had fixed sections. In current Report Templates, the same content comes from components you can add to any section. Each Section gets Components through the Add Component button when that Section is selected. Components are grouped on two tabs, General and Academics. Open the panels below to see which component replaces each legacy section.

Cover Sheet: Report Details, Student Details and Signatures components

PDF report cards always had a Cover Sheet with school-specific information. This content now comes from the Report Details, Student Details and Signatures components. These used to be fixed to specific parts of the template. Now you can add them to any section, in any position.

Some components, such as Student Details and Report Details, come with several pre-built layouts for more customisation. Click Save Changes at the bottom right every time you change a component in a section.

Letter: Text Box components

The legacy "Cover Letter" portion is now a Text Box component. Text Boxes have a full rich text editor, so you can add files, photos, video links or tables. You can add them with relevant information to any Section of the template.

Summary: Academics and Assessment components

Core components such as CAS, Extended Essay and TOK for IB Diploma can be added to programme-specific templates from the Academics list of components. Select the Service Learning or Project-based Learning components to include core component information. Use the plus icon to add each component more than once, for example to show different TOK, EE or CAS information in different sections.

Add Assessment components to any Section to include all relevant Term Grades information from classes. Depending on the template settings and any Additional Programmes, one Assessment component can show classes from several academic programmes.

For easier web viewing, you may prefer one section per programme, each with its own Assessment component. For example: an IB Diploma section and assessments, an IB Career-related Programme section and assessments, a High School section and assessments.

Always click Save Changes at the bottom right before moving to the next Section.

Class Reports: Assessment component options

The legacy Class Reports option added one page per class so schools could include more detail for each class. Fixed sections are no longer needed, so the same class information can go in any Assessment component. You can choose what class information is visible and whether rubrics show as subject-specific or general first. All Assessment components can also show Tasks assessed within the term.

To show each class as a separate table, tick Show each Class as table in the Assessment component. Other Assessment options include Class Attendance, Class Teacher comments, subject group logos and teacher avatar photos.

Grade Descriptors: Assessment Explanation and Grade Descriptors components

The legacy Grade Descriptors tab, where you customised Grade Descriptors and Assessment Explanation, is now two separate components: Assessment Explanation and Grade Descriptors. Add either to any section as needed.

The Grade Descriptors component can show more than one table per row. For example, rubric descriptors can sit side by side instead of stacked, which reduces scrolling.

Attendance: Assessment and Homeroom Information components

If your school subscribes to the ManageBac+ Attendance Module, you can add attendance data by adding an Assessment or Homeroom Information component to a section.

• Class Attendance: included through the Assessment component, for each class in the programmes enabled in that component.
• Homeroom attendance: configured separately in the Homeroom Information component. It can also be shown through a Report Details component.

📝 Note

To show Class Attendance for one programme but not another, add a separate Assessment component for the second programme and leave Class Attendance out of it.

Report Resources: Signature, Image and Badges components

Upload badges, signatures and images to the Report Resources library, then add them to any template through the Signature, Image or Badges components.

Open it with the Report Resources button at the top of the Templates tab. It has Badges, Signatures and Images tabs.

Anything uploaded here can be added to report templates as a component.

4. Preview and generate reports

Choose your report settings

Go to Reporting > Generate Reports and confirm the following.

1. ProgrammeMake sure IB Diploma is selected for IB DP report cards.
2. TermSelect a term with the correct grade data.
3. YearsGenerate for all year levels at once, or choose specific years. This lets you, for example, generate Grade 11 reports with one template and Grade 12 reports with another. To include non-IB grades, tick the checkbox and specify the term.
4. TemplateCheck that the template includes the information you want and leaves out anything you do not. Click the template title shown below the selector to edit it. You can have an unlimited number of templates.
5. TitleGive your report a Title, such as First Semester Report.
6. Report Generation TypeChoose Web and PDF Reports, Web Reports Only or PDF Reports Only. This decides whether students and parents see a PDF stored on the student profile or an online version that can be downloaded separately. Any option that includes PDF shows the Generate Draft buttons at the bottom of the page.
7. Sort Order and file nameChoose your Sort Order and, under Report PDF Naming Convention, what information appears in the report card file name.
8. Preparation Date, release and notificationsSet the Preparation Date. Choose whether parents and students receive email notifications with Notify parents & students via e-mail, and check the message with Preview Report Notification E-mail. To generate early and release later, tick Schedule Future Release Date and select a release date and time. Notification emails are then held until the release time.

   

Preview and create drafts

• Preview Individual Report: view or download one student's report. This is a quick way to see what report cards will look like.
• Generate Draft: bulk generate draft reports for all students and classes in the selected year levels. Drafts appear by programme on the Reports History tab and are not visible to students or parents. This option only appears when the Report Generation Type includes PDF.
• Generate Draft With Zip: review draft reports for individual students instead of one long draft document for all students.

Generate the final reports

When you are confident the reports are ready, click Generate Reports. If the Report Generation Type includes PDF, a full PDF is also stored as a master copy in Reports History. Generated report cards also provide data for student transcripts.

5. View generated reports

On the student profile

Open the student's profile. The Reports card on the Profile tab lists each report, with options to view the web report or download the PDF. Parents, students and teachers can view the report card. It stays on the student profile for as long as the student has a ManageBac+ account.

In Reports History

Reports History lists every generated report card set, including drafts, for the selected programme. Sets stay there indefinitely unless deleted. Use the menu (⋮) on each set to view individual reports, download PDFs, download a ZIP file of individual reports or download a Term Grades ZIP. Use Upload External Reports to add reports made outside ManageBac+.

6. Update an individual report

You can update one student's report card after changing their grades.

Go to Reporting > Generate Reports and select Update Individual Reports.

On the Update Reports tab:

1. ProgrammeSelect the academic Programme the report card was generated in.
2. Academic TermSelect the Academic Term the report card was generated in.
3. StudentSelect the student the report card was generated for.
4. Report cardSelect the specific Report Card to update.
5. Check itClick Download to confirm this is the report you intend to update.
6. Template and titleSelect the Report Card Template and Report Title to use for the update.
7. Date and file nameSelect the Preparation Date and File Name items.
8. PreviewClick Preview to check the updated report card.
9. UpdateClick Update Individual Report. The updated report card replaces the old one on the student profile automatically.

Use the Previously Updated Reports tab to review and download updated report cards by academic programme.

7. Hide reports and exclude classes or students

Hide reports from students and parents

1. Open the profileGo to the student's profile and click Edit Profile.
2. Hide reportsIn the Additional Options section, tick Hide Reports.

   

3. SaveClick Save Changes.

• Students and parents cannot access the Reports tab, and report email notifications are not sent to them.
• Admins and teachers can still view the reports. Only admins can hide or unhide reports. Teachers can see that the reports have been hidden.

To unhide reports, untick Hide Reports and click Save Changes. Students and parents can then access and download reports as usual.

Export a list of students with Hide Reports enabled

Admins can export a student list that shows whose reports are hidden. Go to Settings > School Directory.

In the right-hand Details panel, under Exports, select Student & Parent Information to download a record of user information in your School Directory.

The Student and Parent information spreadsheet shows whether the "Hide Report Cards" option is enabled for each student.

Exclude classes and students from report generation

You can exclude specific students or classes from report generation for reports that use the Multi Curricula report template. Go to Reporting > Generate Reports, open the Actions menu (⋮) and select Manage Report Exclusions. This opens the "Exclude Classes", "Exclude Students" and "Exclude a Student from a Class" tabs.

Exclude Classes

Select the programme and grade level of the classes to exclude. Tick the checkbox in the "Exclude" column for each class and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. Each class shows several pieces of data to help you identify the right one.

Click Show Only Excluded Classes to see only classes already marked as excluded. Untick a class to include it in report generation again.

Exclude Students

Select the programme and grade level of the students to exclude. Tick the checkbox in the "Exclude" column for each student and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Click Show Only Excluded Students to see only students already marked as excluded. Untick a student to include them in report generation again.

Exclude a Student from a Class

Select the programme, grade level and student. You will see the student's active classes. Tick the checkbox in the "Exclude" column for each class to exclude for that student and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Click Show Exclusions to see classes already marked as excluded. Untick a class to include it in report generation again.

8. Optional extras

Use these when your school needs them.

Show a custom term name on reports (term alias)

Go to Settings > Academic Terms and click Edit on the academic year. Tick Set Alias for Report Cards and enter your preferred Report Alias. The custom name appears only on the report card's assessment page. Click Save Changes at the bottom. The Reports Alias field sits next to each term name (see the screenshot in Lock or unlock gradebooks).

Enable and report CAS and EE assessment

Enable the CAS rubric

1. Open assessment modelsGo to Settings > IB Diploma > Assessment > Assessment Models > Term. You can edit values and descriptors for any rubric here.
2. Enable CASTick the box for CAS to enable assessment rubrics for CAS Term Grades.
3. Edit the rubricChoose CAS in the Rubrics filter. Hover over the title and click the pencil icon to edit the rubric. Click Save Changes.

Assess CAS and EE

1. Open the CAS rosterGo to Year Groups > select the year group > CAS. Select Submit Term CAS Evaluation in the Details panel.
2. Enter marks and commentsEnter a grade and term comment for each student. Changes save automatically.
3. Repeat for EEGo to the year group EE tab, click Submit Term Grades and follow the same process.

Show CAS and EE on report cards

Go to Reporting > Templates > IB Diploma > select the template.

Add the Service Learning and Project-based Learning components to any IB Diploma template and customise them to include CAS, EE or TOK information.

Add term goals and reflections

Enable Term Goals and Reflection Questions for students to answer in their profiles through Settings > select the academic programme > Reflections. Reflection Question responses can be added to reports. Term Goals are view-only in Student Profiles.

Students answer the term goal and Reflection Questions through Profile > Reflections, then click Save Changes.

To show student responses on the report, go to Reporting > Templates > edit the selected template > Components > Reflections. The term goal cannot be included.

Multi-programme report templates

Multi-programme templates let students who take classes in more than one programme have all their classes on the same report card.

For example, a student in an IB Diploma year group may have a non-IB High School class added to their report when IB Diploma reports are generated. They would not get a second report card when High School reports are generated, as they are not part of the High School year group.

You no longer need main and sub-templates for this. The Assessment components handle it, based on how the template itself is configured.

Display student photos on reports

1. Upload photosGo to Settings > Import Manager > Students > Import Student Photos. Upload a zip file of student photos, with each photo name matching a student ID. The ZIP file must be under 100 MB.

   

2. Check the formatUse PNG, JPEG or GIF files under 1 MB each. For best results, use portrait photos at 300px by 300px.
3. Turn photos onOpen your template in Reporting > Templates, select the Student Details component and tick Student Photo on the Customisation tab.

Reports generate with the student photo wherever the Student Details components were added.