Add a teacher

School Admin

Give a new teacher a sign-in, connect their staff record, and assign the classes they teach. In the example, Anita Rao (anita.rao@demopublic.example) will teach Mathematics in 8-A at Demo Public School.

Before you start

• The institution structure goes down to divisions (8-A exists). See Institution structure.
• An academic session is marked current (2026-27). See Academic sessions.
• The subject exists in that session (Mathematics). See Subjects.
• A teaching role exists and is active. The Teacher role created at onboarding is one. If none exists, the access dialog shows: "No active teaching role is available. Configure a role with teaching permissions in Access & Security first." See Roles and permissions.
• Optional: departments, if you want to put the staff record in one. See Departments and shifts.
• In the top bar, pick the part of the institution the teacher works in (for example their campus). Add Teacher uses it as the default scope and as the staff record's posting.

Where to find it

Teachers & Staff → Teachers, then click Add Teacher. The page heading is Add Teacher, with the text "Teaching access, employment, and subjects in one guided flow. Each step saves independently."

A progress list shows 1. Teaching access, 2. Employment and 3. Subjects & classes. A finished step shows "· Complete".

Don't refresh mid-flow

The page remembers which step you're on only while it stays open. Refreshing it goes back to step 1. Anything already saved is kept. To carry on, find the teacher in the step 1 list and click Continue with {name}.

Step by step (recommended path)

Step 1 — Teaching access

1. On 1. Teaching access, first check the list of existing teachers (search Find an existing teacher by name or email…). If the person is already there, click Continue with {name} and go to step 2.
2. Otherwise click Give teaching access. The dialog Give teaching access opens: "Enter a new or existing account email and choose a teaching role. Existing accounts keep their password."
3. Fill in the fields (see the table below): Email anita.rao@demopublic.example, Access Role Teacher, Scope the campus that contains 8-A (or Institution-wide).
4. Click Give access.
5. If the email is new, the dialog Invitation issued appears: "The account and access are saved. Copy the invitation before continuing; it is shown once."
   • Copy the Invitation link (and Email) and send them to the teacher yourself.
   • Click Continue.
6. If the email already has a SolAssists account here, no invitation is created. The teacher signs in with their existing password.
7. If the email has an account at another institution, your browser asks: "{email} already has a SOL Assists account at another institution. Give that same account access here? They keep their existing password." Click OK to continue.

The flow moves to step 2 for that person.

Field	Required	What to enter
Email	Yes	The teacher's own email. It becomes their sign-in.
Access Role	Yes	A teaching role, usually Teacher. Only active teaching roles are listed.
Scope	No	Institution-wide, or a unit ("Access covers the selected unit and its children."). Defaults to the unit selected in the top bar. Choose a unit that contains every class they will teach. See the warning below.

Pick a scope that covers their classes

If you give access at East Campus and later assign a class at Main Campus, the teacher will see that class in their top bar, but every action on it fails with "That part of the institution is outside your access." Choose the campus that contains all their classes, or Institution-wide.

Invitation link

The link works once and expires 72 hours after it is issued. It can't be shown again, and the app has no Resend button. If the link is lost or expires, contact your SolAssists support contact. The teacher accepts it as described in First login.

If you don't see Give teaching access, your role can't give access. The page shows "An access administrator must grant new teaching access. You can continue setup for an existing teacher below."

Step 2 — Employment record

"Connect Anita Rao to their staff record, or continue without one for a visiting teacher." Choose one:

• Link an existing staff record. Search Search existing staff before adding a record…, click Select {name}, check "Link {employee no · name} to {email}?", then click Link staff record & continue.
  • The button shows Linked to another account (and is disabled) when the record already belongs to someone else. It is also disabled for a person who has left, or if you lack permission.
• Add new staff record. Opens the Add Staff form, already filled with the name, email and Designation "Teacher". Enter Employee number and Joined on, then click Add. The new record is linked to the teacher automatically. Field details are in Staff records.
• Continue without a staff record. Use this for visiting teachers, or when HR will record them later.

If the teacher is already linked, you'll see "Already linked to employee {number}." with Use linked staff record.

Link here, or not at all

Step 2 is currently the only place in the app where a staff record can be linked to a sign-in account. The staff profile page has no link button.

Step 3 — Subjects & classes

1. The step reads "Teaching access is ready for Anita Rao." followed by the employment record number, or "No employment record linked in this flow."
2. Click Assign a teacher. The Teacher field is locked to Anita Rao.
3. Pick Subjects Mathematics and Division 8-A, then click Assign.
4. The status line changes to "Teaching assignments saved. You can assign another class or return to Teachers." Repeat for other divisions.
5. Click Return to Teachers.

If the step shows "No division selected", pick a unit in the top-bar working-scope picker first. The table below the button only lists this teacher's assignments. The full rules are in Teaching assignments.

You can stop after step 1 or 2: "You can finish now and assign subjects later. Saved access and employment records will remain."

Other ways to add a teacher

Path	Where	Creates	Does not create
Add Teacher (recommended)	Teachers & Staff → Teachers → Add Teacher	Account (if new), teaching access, one-time invitation; optionally a linked staff record and teaching assignments	—
Give access with the Teacher role	Access & Security → User Accounts & Access → Give access	Account (if new), access at the chosen scope, one-time invitation. Same dialog, but every role is listed.	Staff record, teaching assignments. Add assignments afterwards on Teaching assignments.
Add Staff	Teachers & Staff → All Staff → Add Staff	A staff record only	No sign-in, no access, no assignments. A staff record alone never makes someone a teacher. To link it later, run Add Teacher and select the record in step 2.
Teacher account at institution onboarding	SolAssists Console onboarding wizard (platform staff only) — the optional "Create a Teacher account" slot	The school's Teacher role, one account with access at the chosen unit (or institution-wide), and an invitation for a new email	Staff record, teaching assignments. That teacher still needs assignments.

Built-in roles have no permissions

In Give access, roles marked "· built-in" (for example "TEACHER · built-in") have no permissions. A person given one signs in to an empty app. Pick the school's own Teacher role instead.

What happens next

• The teacher appears on Teachers (with "Nothing assigned yet" until step 3 is done).
• A new account stays unusable until the teacher opens the invitation link, chooses a password and confirms their name. See First login.
• Once they have assignments in the current session, they see those classes after signing in. See A teacher's day.
• Giving access is recorded in the Audit trail.

Who can do this

• Step 1 (give access): people who can create user access and can see roles and the institution structure. By default that is the School Admin. A campus-level admin can only give access inside their own campus; only a school-wide admin can choose Institution-wide.
• Step 2: adding a record needs permission to add staff. Linking needs permission to edit staff and to create user access.
• Step 3: people who can publish the timetable (School Admin by default).
• Nobody can give access to their own account.

Common problems

Symptom	Why	Fix
Access Role list is empty; "No active teaching role is available…"	No active role with timetable permissions	Activate the Teacher role or add timetable permissions to your teacher role (Roles and permissions)
"You can't change your own access. Ask another administrator."	You entered your own email	Use the teacher's email
"Couldn't load roles or institution units. Close this dialog and try again."	Roles or units failed to load, or your role can't read them	Retry; if it persists, check your role's permissions
"Only a school-wide role can set this for the whole institution"	You chose Institution-wide from a campus-level role	Choose your campus or a unit below it
No invitation dialog appeared	The email already has an account	The teacher signs in with their existing password
Invitation link lost or expired	Shown once; expires after 72 hours	No resend in the app — contact support
"Couldn't link this staff record. You can retry; teaching access is already saved."	The record left, is linked elsewhere, or is outside your reach	Pick another record or Add new staff record
Teacher signs in but sees no classes	No assignments, or no current session	Complete step 3; check Academic sessions
Teacher sees a class but every action says "That part of the institution is outside your access."	Access scope doesn't contain the assigned class	Edit their access in User Accounts & Access to a scope that covers the class

Related

• Teachers overview
• Teaching assignments
• Users and access
• Teacher onboarding workflow
• First login