Archiving school records: what to keep, how to store, how to find

A former student returns ten years later asking for a duplicate report card or a certificate: the answer depends entirely on what the school has kept and how it has filed it. This guide says what to keep, how to set retention periods, how to organise the paper and digital archive, and how to prove that a document is genuine years later.

What to keep, by category

Keep by category of document, not in a heap. Common practice in schools distinguishes the school’s registers, individual files and documents issued.

The texts in force provide that each teacher copies the marks of the whole class onto a summary sheet for archiving, regarded as the most authentic basis. Any other way of keeping records, software included, must rely on that basis.

• The registers: number register, class register, lesson log, register of sanctions.
• The results: teachers’ summary sheets of marks, report cards for each period, minutes of class councils.
• Individual files: enrolment documents, discipline decisions, health sheets.
• Documents issued: school attendance certificates, leaving certificates, certificates, school record books, with the date of handing over.
• Lists of exam candidates and certificates of success.
• Financial documents: receipts, fee statements, register of documents issued.

How long to keep them

We have not found a national retention period that we can quote. Set it according to the instructions of your supervising ministry and your own rules, then write it into an internal rule.

One principle comes up everywhere: do not keep indefinitely what no longer serves a purpose, especially personal data, and protect what you do keep. Distinguish what must be kept for a very long time, such as the results and the number registers that allow a duplicate to be issued, from what can be destroyed earlier, such as some proofs of absence.

Organising the archive, paper and digital

A good archive is judged by one test: can a document be found in five minutes? Here are the steps that make it possible, and the traps to avoid.

• File by school year, then by class, then by student, with a contents list for each box.
• Use labelled boxes, in a dry room locked with a key, away from water and insects.
• Keep a register of files taken in and out: who, when, why.
• Scan the essential documents and keep the copy somewhere other than the office.
• Apply the three-copy rule: three copies, on two media, one of them away from the school.
• Trap: a single copy, in a single place, managed by a single person.

Finding a former student

The search starts from what the person knows: their name, the year they left, their class, sometimes their number. The more the archive is filed by year and by number, the faster the search.

• Ask for the full name, date of birth and years of schooling.
• Look first in the number register, which gives the student’s number.
• Check the person’s identity with a document before issuing anything.
• Record the request and the date of handing over in the register of documents issued.
• If the spelling of a name is in doubt, compare it with the date of birth.

Proving authenticity years later

A signed paper can be forged or disputed. For a document to remain verifiable years later, it must carry what is needed to check it: a number, the date, the signatory, and a way of comparing it with the original kept by the school.

When an institution asks for proof, the school compares the document presented with its archive copy. That comparison is only possible if the copy exists and if the document carries a number that can be found in the register.

With Sahel EDU

In Sahel EDU, the student file keeps its history: record, results, discipline, documents issued. Documents issued by schools whose opening authorisation is verified carry a Sahel Shield QR Code; it opens a verification page, without an account, that says whether the document is authentic, replaced, withdrawn, revoked or not found, with the issuing school, the date and the signatory. The verification address is stable, engraved in the QR codes for the whole life of the document, and a duplicate keeps the trace of the original.

The teacher’s summary sheet of marks, the academic transcript and the school record book can be printed. Backups are encrypted and made every hour, and the school can export a complete archive of its data, which belongs to it. Even when a subscription ends, access first becomes read-only, and the head keeps the export.

Read also: School documents verifiable by QR Code — Sahel Shield · School Data Security: What to Protect and How

Frequently asked questions

How long should school records be kept?

According to the instructions of your supervising ministry and your own rules. We have not found a national period that we can quote.

What must absolutely be kept?

The registers, teachers’ summary sheets of marks, report cards, minutes of councils and documents issued, because they are what allow a duplicate to be issued.

Can records be archived in digital form only?

The texts indicate that any way of keeping records other than the summary sheet must rely on it. Keep the original sheet, and make digital copies as well.

How can an old document be checked?

By its number and its archive copy. When the document carries a Sahel Shield QR Code, the verification page checks it without an account.

What happens to the archive if the school stops using Sahel EDU?

The data belongs to the school, which can export a complete archive. At the end of a subscription, access first becomes read-only before suspension.

See also

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