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A reporting period is the school term – or a single assessment round within a term – that a set of ratings belongs to. It is the foundation of everything else in WAVE: rating levels, class imports, student ratings and generated reports are all tied to the reporting period that is currently active. Set this up first.

Naming convention (do this consistently)

Name every period year-first so they always sort in calendar order:

• Year, then T for term, then the term number (1, 2, 3 or 4).
  Example: 2026T3 = 2026, Term 3.
• If you run more than one assessment round in the same term, add a letter suffix – A, then B, then C if needed.
  Example: 2026T3A, 2026T3B.

Year-first naming (2026T1, 2026T2, 2026T3A, 2026T3B…) keeps the reporting, trends and publishing screens in the right order automatically. Avoid names like “Term 3” on their own – they sort unpredictably across years.

Create a reporting period

1. Click Add Reporting Period.
2. Enter the name using the convention above (e.g. 2026T3A).
3. Set the start and end dates.
4. Save. The new period appears in the table.

Make it the active period

Only one reporting period is active at a time. The active period is the one teachers enter ratings against, and the one used when you generate and publish reports. Set your new period active when you are ready for staff to begin working in it.

You’re done when

Your new term exists in the list and is set as the active reporting period. Next, set up your Rating Levels so teachers have something to assess against.

Watch the step-by-step walkthrough →