# Sessions and terms

> Academium SMS Help › Academics
> For: School Owner, School Admin
> Web page: https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-sessions-and-terms
> Last updated: 2026-10-06

A **session** is your school year, and it holds **three terms**. Registers, fees and exams all belong to a term, so getting sessions and terms right comes first. Open **Academics → Session Settings**.

## Creating a session

1. Add a session, for example *2026/2027*.
2. Academium creates the three terms with the usual Nigerian term dates. If a session has no terms yet, it offers to fill in the standard three.
3. Check each term's **start** and **end** dates. Academium shows how many weeks each term has while you edit.

## Out-of-term periods

You can add a period outside the normal terms, such as **holiday coaching**. These periods:

- can have fees and attendance;
- do **not** have exams;
- are never counted in term results;
- start inactive, until you turn them on.

## Making a session current

**Activating** a session moves the whole branch to it for **every user**. Academium asks you to confirm first, and records who did it.

Anyone can still look back at an earlier year: the **year picker** in the top bar changes what *you* are viewing, without changing the session for everyone else.

Your school can also choose to move to the next session automatically when the time comes.

## Locking a term or session

**Locking** closes a term or session once it is finished. When locked:

- exam timetables, mark entry and promotions respect the lock;
- any marks not yet authorised are authorised.

If you need to make a correction later, **unlock** it for a set time, between 1 hour and 7 days (24 hours by default). It locks again by itself.

## Changing term dates

If you shorten a term after registers have been taken, Academium asks whether to **delete attendance outside the new dates**. Check before you confirm, because that attendance cannot be brought back.

## Catch Up reminders

Catch Up tells you when the next session or term is not ready, for example when there are no term dates, or fees have not been allocated.

## Common issues

**I cannot take attendance or enter marks.** The term may be locked, or today may be outside the term's dates. Check the dates here, or unlock the term for a while.

**The top bar shows an old session.** You may have picked an earlier year in the year picker. Switch it back to the current session.

## With Academium Surepass

**Academium Surepass** takes its session and terms from here and updates them every hour. See [Academium Sync](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-surepass/article/sp-academium-sync-overview.md).

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