1 When the Setup Wizard Appears The wizard automatically appears:

• First Launch: When you open the Dashboard for the first time
• New Profiles: Each time you create a new profile
• Manual Launch: Settings - Profiles & Cloud Save - Run Setup Wizard

This ensures every profile has proper configuration from the start.

2 Step 1: Choose Your Template Select which exam boards your school uses:

• IB + IGCSE: Most international schools (both boards enabled)
• IB Only: IB Diploma Programme schools
• IGCSE Only: Cambridge IGCSE schools
• Custom: Configure everything yourself

The template automatically pre-selects appropriate exam boards for you.

3 Step 2: Configure Exam Boards Fine-tune which exam boards are active:

• Official Boards: a IGCSE and a IB with built-in features
• Custom Boards: Add your own (e.g., "Internal Exams", "A-Level")

Note: You can add unlimited custom boards by clicking "+ Add Custom Board"

4 Step 3: iSAMS Integration Does your school use iSAMS

• Yes: Shows iSAMS-related features (e.g., staff invigilation sync references)
• No: Hides iSAMS-specific workflows for a cleaner interface

This customizes the app's UI based on your school's systems.

5 Step 4: Optional Features Enable/disable features based on your needs:

• Access Arrangements: Track student accommodations (extra time, etc.)
• Public Holidays: Account for holidays in exam scheduling
• Staff Assignment: Manage invigilation schedules
• Mailing Exams: Track exams sent to boards
• Subject Groups: Organize exams by subject/department

All features are enabled by default - you can toggle them off if not needed.

6 Step 5: Review & Start Review your configuration summary showing:

• Selected exam boards
• iSAMS integration status
• Enabled features

Click Start Using App to begin!

7 Changing Settings Later You can modify your configuration anytime:

1. Open the Settings page from the sidebar
2. Use Exam Boards to control active boards and custom board definitions
3. Use Centre Numbers to set board-specific centre codes
4. Use Access Arrangements to manage selectable needs and dot colors

1 Finding Profile Controls Open Settings from the sidebar, then open Profiles & Cloud Save.

• Current Profile dropdown - Shows which profile is currently active using
• Profiles & Cloud Save panel - Create, switch, rename, save, and restore profiles

2 Creating a New Profile

1. Open Settings from the sidebar
2. Open the Profiles & Cloud Save panel
3. Enter a profile name (e.g., "May 2025 Exams")
4. Optionally add a description
5. Click Create Profile

Your new profile is now created with empty data, ready for you to upload exam information.

3 Switching Between Profiles Use the Current Profile dropdown in the sidebar to switch. The page will reload with the selected profile's data. All modules automatically use the active profile's data.

4 Renaming a Profile In the Profiles & Cloud Save panel, click on any profile name to edit it inline. Click outside the field or press Enter to save.

5 Exporting a Profile (Backup) Why export To backup your data or transfer it to another computer/browser.

1. Open Profiles & Cloud Save
2. Find the profile you want to backup
3. Click Export on that profile row
4. A JSON file downloads containing all data for that profile

File format: ExamFactory_Profile_[Name]_[Date].json

Save this file safely! It contains everything: students, entries, seating, access arrangements, etc.

6 Importing a Profile (Restore) Use case: Restore a backup, move data to a new PC, or share with colleagues.

1. Open Profiles & Cloud Save
2. Click Import and choose your exported file
3. Select your exported .json file
4. Profile imports as "[Name] (Imported)"
5. Rename if needed and start using it

7 Deleting a Profile Click the red Delete button next to any inactive profile.

Note: You cannot delete the currently active profile. Switch to another profile first.

1 How Cloud Sync Works

• Per-User Storage: Your data is tied to your login email (e.g., info@theexamfactory.com)
• Per-Profile Sync: Each profile syncs independently to the cloud
• Two-Way Sync: Save local data to cloud, or load cloud data locally
• Automatic Backups: Data is safely stored in Firebase Firestore

Important: Profiles are NOT shared between users. Each person's data is private and isolated.

2 Viewing Cloud Sync Status Open Profiles & Cloud Save and you'll see real-time sync status for each profile:

• Synced X items recently: Data is in cloud, shows item count and last sync time
• Never synced to cloud: Profile exists only locally
• Profile in cloud but no data: Profile metadata exists but data missing
• Loading... Checking cloud status

This status updates automatically when you open Profile Manager.

3 Sync All Profiles (New!) Sync multiple profiles at once.

1. Open Profiles & Cloud Save
2. Click Sync All at the top of Your Profiles
3. The system will iterate through all your profiles and sync them one by one.
4. A summary will appear showing success/failure counts.

When to use: Periodic full backups of all your exam sessions.

4 Auto-Save Indicator Real-time feedback on saving.

As you work (e.g., editing seating plans, updating entries), the system automatically saves your changes locally.
Watch for the Auto-Save Indicator in the top-right of the Dashboard header:

• Saving... - Data is currently writing to storage
• Saved - Save complete successfully

5 Saving to Cloud (Individual) Uploads your current local data to Firebase.

1. Open Profiles & Cloud Save
2. Find the profile you want to backup
3. Click Save on that profile card
4. Wait for confirmation message

What gets saved: ALL data for that profile (students, exams, seating, access arrangements, etc.)

When to use: After making significant changes, before switching devices, or as regular backups

6 Loading from Cloud Replaces your local data with what's stored in the cloud.

1. Open Profiles & Cloud Save
2. Find the profile you want to restore
3. Click Load on that profile card
4. Confirm the overwrite warning
5. Wait for data to download
6. Page automatically reloads with cloud data

Warning: This OVERWRITES your local data! Make sure you want to replace it.

When to use: Switching to a new computer, recovering from local data loss, or reverting to a previous backup

7 Sync Status Indicators Each profile card shows its cloud status:

• Item Count: "Synced 2,450 items" = All your data categories (students, exams, etc.)
• Last Sync Time: "2 hours ago", "Just now", "3 days ago"
• Never Synced: Profile hasn't been backed up to cloud yet

Tip: If sync status shows "Never synced" but you know you uploaded, try clicking "Load" to pull down the data.

8 Multi-Device Workflow Scenario: You work on Computer A and want to continue on Computer B

On Computer A:

1. Make your changes
2. Click Save
3. Wait for confirmation

On Computer B:

1. Log in with same email
2. Open Profiles & Cloud Save
3. Click Load for that profile
4. Confirm and wait
5. Start working with synced data!

9 Data Privacy & Security

• Per-User: Only you see your data (tied to your login email)
• GDPR Compliant: No cross-user data sharing
• Secure Storage: Firebase Firestore with authentication
• Local + Cloud: Data exists in both places for redundancy

Your data is as secure as your Google/Firebase account.

1 Download Templates Click the Download Templates button to get the exact Excel formats required. Do not alter the column headers.

2 Populate & Upload Files Upload files in the specific order below to maintain data integrity:

1. Exam Catalog: Defines all exam codes and durations.
2. Students (IGCSE/IB): Student roster with Candidate Numbers.
3. Master Timetable: Schedule of all exams (Date, Start Time).
4. Entries: Links Students to Exams (Candidate # + Exam Code).

1 Pick or Create a Candidate Select a candidate from the list or click New, then choose the exam board.

2 Add Exams by Clicking Rows In Exams to take, click an exam row to add it. Once selected, it is removed from the top exam list so you only see unassigned exams.

3 Remove Exams from Per-exam Overrides In Per-exam overrides, click Remove to unassign an exam from that candidate.

4 Set Extra Time Use ALL: Extra time % for defaults and per-exam override dropdowns for exceptions. Supported values are 25%, 50%, and 100%.

5 Select Access Needs Click Select to open the access-needs picker. Choose one or more needs, and use Other when a custom note is required.

1 Profiles and Cloud Use Your Profiles and Cloud Profiles to sync, copy, rename, import, and export profiles.

2 Exam Boards Use Exam Boards to enable built-ins and add custom boards. Board values are used by Catalog/Master Timetable matching.

3 Centre Numbers (Board-based) The Centre Numbers card auto-builds fields from boards selected in Setup and boards already used in Catalog/Master Timetable. Click Save Centre Numbers after updates.

4 Access Arrangements in Settings Add each access need as Code + Label + Color. Extra-time dot colors are managed separately for 25%, 50%, and 100%.

1 Understanding the New Upload Form In the Data Center, under the Staff Timetable card, you'll find a form-based upload interface with:

• Week Slots: Individual upload slots, each with a date picker and file selector
• "Add Another Week" button: Adds more week slots as needed
• "Upload All Weeks" button: Processes all filled slots at once
• Uploaded Weeks Summary: Shows all uploaded weeks with dates and assignment counts

2 Uploading Staff Weeks

1. In the Data Center, scroll to Staff Timetable
2. For the first pre-loaded week slot:
   • Use the date picker to select the week commencing date
   • Click Choose File and select your iSAMS weekly file
3. Click + Add Another Week to add more slots
4. Repeat for each week of your exam session
5. Click Upload All Weeks to process

3 Managing Uploaded Weeks After uploading, the Uploaded Weeks summary panel displays:

• Week commencing date (sorted chronologically)
• Number of staff assignments in that week
• Original filename for reference
• Remove button - Delete individual weeks if needed
• Clear All button - Remove all uploaded weeks at once

4 How Multi-Week Data Works Once uploaded, the system automatically:

• Combines all weeks into a unified dataset
• Staff Schedules: Shows assignments across ALL uploaded weeks
• Daily Scheduler: Pre-fills invigilators for any date covered
• Printing Centre: Staff PDFs include complete schedules
• Analysis: Invigilation clash detection uses all weeks

No manual merging needed - all features automatically use the combined data!

5 Handling Duplicate Weeks If you try to upload a week that already exists:

• The system prompts you to confirm overwriting
• Click OK to replace the old data with new
• Click Cancel to skip and keep the existing week

1 Priority Order (Highest to Lowest) The system checks these three sources in order. The first one found is used:

1. Specific Room (from Entries): Set in your IGCSE Entries or IB Entries file, in the "Specific Room (Optional)" column. This overrides everything else.
2. Fixed Seat (from Fixed Seating): Assigned in Data Centre a Fixed Seating. This applies to ALL exams unless overridden.
3. Master Timetable Default: The room specified in the Master Timetable for that exam (usually "Main Hall").

2 Common Scenario: Fixed Seat Student Needs One Exam Elsewhere Problem: A student has a Fixed Seat in Room N2.20 (for access arrangements), but one exam is Listening and must be in Main Hall.

Solution: In your IB Entries or IGCSE Entries file, find the row for that specific exam and type "Main Hall" in the "Specific Room (Optional)" column.

Result:

• That one exam a Main Hall (from Specific Room override)
• All other exams a N2.20 (from Fixed Seat)

3 Important: Blank vs. Explicit Values Blank cell in "Specific Room" = "Use the default for this student" (Fixed Seat or Master Timetable)

Explicit value (like "Main Hall") = "Override and use THIS room"

Example: If you want to move a Fixed Seat student back to Main Hall for one exam, you MUST write "Main Hall" explicitly. Leaving it blank will still use their Fixed Seat.

1 What Are Layouts Each room can have multiple layouts (e.g., Layout 1, Layout 2, etc.). Each layout is an independent seating configuration for that room:

• Layout 1 a Default configuration (e.g., Main Hall with 80 students)
• Layout 2 a Alternate configuration (e.g., Main Hall - Listening with 40 students)
• Layout 3+ a Additional configurations as needed

Think of layouts as "versions" of the same room with different student-to-seat assignments.

2 When to Use Multiple Layouts Common use cases:

• Listening Exams: A reduced/different seating plan when audio equipment is used (e.g., only half the desks are used, different spacing)
• Practical Exams: Science labs or art rooms may have different stations for different exam types
• Split Sessions: AM uses one configuration, PM uses another
• Access Arrangements: Creating a dedicated layout for students requiring specific accommodations

3 Creating and Managing Layouts In the Data Centre a Fixed Seating Editor:

1. Select your room from the dropdown
2. You'll see a Layout dropdown showing "Layout 1" by default
3. Click + Add Layout to create a new layout (e.g., "Layout 2")
4. Drag students to seats in this new layout a these assignments are separate from Layout 1
5. Use the Layout dropdown to switch between configurations
6. Click Delete Layout to remove a layout (confirmation required if students are assigned)

4 How the System Uses Layouts When generating seating plans, the system checks layouts in descending order (Layout 2 before Layout 1). This means:

• If a student is in Layout 2, they use that seat assignment
• If not in Layout 2 but in Layout 1, they use that seat
• If not in any layout, they go to the default room from Master Timetable

This allows you to override specific students without affecting others.

5 Example: Listening Exam in Main Hall Scenario: Your Main Hall normally seats 80 students, but for a French Listening exam, you only use 40 seats with speakers positioned around the room.

Solution:

1. Open Fixed Seating Editor a Select "Main Hall"
2. In Layout 1, assign your 80 regular students
3. Click + Add Layout to create Layout 2
4. In Layout 2, assign ONLY the 20 French Listening students to specific seats (e.g., alternate rows for better audio)
5. In your IGCSE Entries, set the "Specific Room" for the French Listening exam to "Main Hall"

Result: When generating seating plans:

• French Listening a Uses Layout 2 assignments (40 seats)
• All other Main Hall exams a Use Layout 1 assignments (80 seats)

6 Example: Access Arrangements Room Scenario: Room N2.20 has 10 seats for access arrangement students. Some students need a specific location (near door, window light, etc.).

Solution:

1. In Layout 1, assign students who always sit in the same spot
2. Create Layout 2 for "Reader/Scribe exams" where you need different positioning
3. Use the Entries file to direct specific exams to use Room N2.20

Generate Single Timetable Type a student's name or candidate number in the search box. Select the student from the dropdown and click Generate.

Handling Extra Time 25% or 50% will be added automatically to timetable PDF through the access arrangements tab.

Understanding Colour Codes

• Red (Key Time): Exam finishes before 11:00 or 15:00. Student needs supervision.
• Orange (Clash): Back-to-back exams. Supervision required during the break.

1 View Daily Chart Select a date and click Load Timeline. The chart displays all exams for that day with IGCSE exams in green and IB exams in blue.

2 Interpreting the Chart Bars represent exam duration. Hover over any bar to see the specific Exam Code, time, room, and number of students.

3 Adjusting Exam Times (Drag & Drop) NEW! Click and drag any exam bar left or right to change its start time:

• Bars snap to 5-minute intervals for precision
• A time indicator shows the new time while dragging
• Modified bars display a pulsing gold border
• A floating action bar appears showing pending changes

4 Saving Changes After adjusting exam times, click Save Changes in the floating bar to update the Master Timetable. Click a Discard to revert all changes.

1 Workflow for Setting Up ALL DAY Exams IMPORTANT: Follow this 4-step process to schedule Art/Practical exams correctly:

1. Catalog: Add the exam to your Exam Catalog (e.g., "Art Practical").
2. Entries: Add students to this exam in IGCSE/IB Entries as normal.
3. Analysis: Go to the Analysis tab and find the "All-Day Exam Scheduler" card. Select your exam and click Find Available Dates.
4. Update Master: Click the Schedule button next to a suitable date string. This automatically adds entries to your Master Timetable.

2 Time Display ALL DAY exams show different times depending on where you view them:

• Student Timetables: "ALL DAY" in Time column, "Full Day" in Duration
• Daily Scheduler & Room Schedules: 08:00 - 16:30 (full school day range)
• Timelines: Full-width purple bar spanning the entire day

3 Purple Color Coding ALL DAY exams are consistently marked with purple highlighting across all views:

• Student Timetable PDFs: Purple row highlighting
• Session Timelines: Full-width purple bars
• Full Session Timetable: Purple row background (overrides other colors)

4 Session Assignment Important: ALL DAY exams appear in BOTH AM AND PM sessions for:

• Exam Registers
• Seating Plans
• Daily Pack documents

This ensures students taking ALL DAY exams are accounted for when planning both morning and afternoon sessions.

5 Daily Scheduler Integration The Daily Scheduler page (dedicated tab in main navigation) shows ALL DAY exams with the full school day range (08:00 - 16:30). This helps you:

• See which rooms are occupied all day
• Plan invigilation rotas for the entire day
• Calculate staffing requirements across all periods

Generate Register Select the Date and Session (AM/PM). The system lists all students scheduled for that session, sorted by Room (if assigned) or Candidate Number.

1 Configure Rooms Create your rooms first (e.g., "Main Hall") and define the Row x Column layout (e.g., 10x10) to create a grid.

2 Seat Students Go to the "Seating Map" tab. Select Date/Session to see exams. Check the exams you want to place in the room and click Generate Map to auto-fill.

3 Manual Adjustments Drag and drop students to swap seats. Double-click a desk to manually assign or remove a student.

1 Loading a Room Schedule Select a Date and Room, then click Load Daily Schedule. The system shows:

• Exams Today: All exams in that room with start/end times and candidate counts
• Invigilation Rota: Period-by-period staffing showing iSAMS timetabled staff (auto-populated) and manual assignments

2 Understanding Time Ranges

• Regular exams: Show actual start/end times (e.g., 09:00 - 11:30)
• ALL DAY exams: Display 08:00 - 16:30 (full school day) to indicate the room is reserved all day

3 Invigilator Requirements Each period shows a required invigilator count badge:

• Blue badge: IB rules apply (1 per 20 students, minimum 2)
• Green badge: IGCSE rules apply (1 per 30, or 1 if a30 students)

Hover over the badge to see the calculation details.

4 Staff Assignment The system auto-populates invigilators from your iSAMS timetable data. You can:

• Add manual staff codes (comma-separated)
• Override iSAMS assignments
• Click Save Assignments to store your manual changes

1 Configuration Set your supervision settings at the top of the page:

• Supervision Room: Default room name for Key Time Supervision (appears in staff schedules)
• AM Key Time: When students can leave in morning sessions (default: 11:00)
• PM Key Time: When students can leave in afternoon sessions (default: 15:00)

2 Running Analysis Click Analyze Schedule to scan your Master Timetable. The system:

• Calculates end times for each exam (including extra time if applicable)
• Compares to the session's key time
• Flags exams ending >15 minutes before key time
• Shows how many students are affected per slot

3 Assigning Staff For each supervision slot, enter a staff code in the "Staff Assigned" column. One staff member is required per slot regardless of student count. Click Save Assignments to store your changes.

4 Staff Schedule Integration Assigned Key Time Supervision slots automatically appear in Staff Schedules with:

• Blue highlighting: Key Time sessions are visually distinct
• Light blue rows: In both on-screen and PDF exports

The period shows as "Key Time (AM/PM)" with the supervision room name.

When to Use the Printing Centre Once all your data is uploaded and verified, use the Printing Centre to generate documents in bulk for the entire exam period. This saves you from generating each document individually.

1 Configuration Before running analysis, configure your settings:

• Scripts per Packet: How many exam scripts fit in one packet (default: 25)
• Max Scripts per Box: Maximum capacity of each courier box (default: 100)
• Cost per Box (a): Shipping cost for cost estimates (default: a26.99)
• Analyse From Date: Start date for the analysis period

These settings are saved and persist across sessions.

2 Running Analysis Click Run Analysis to generate optimal box packing. The system:

• Groups exams by destination (IGCSE, IB Standard, IB Multiple Choice)
• Calculates mailing deadlines (3 working days from exam date, excluding weekends & holidays)
• Optimizes box packing based on scripts-per-box capacity
• Excludes already-sent items from the pending list

3 Understanding the Display Boxes are organized by urgency:

• OVERDUE (Burgundy): Past deadline - send immediately!
• DUE TODAY (Gold): Must be sent today.
• UPCOMING (Navy): Future deadlines, sorted by date.
• RECENTLY SENT (Grey): Last 5 sent items for reference.

Each box card shows: destination, deadline, exam codes, script/packet counts.

4 Marking as Sent When you send a box:

1. Click Mark as Sent on the box card
2. Enter the Date Sent
3. Enter the Tracking Number
4. Optionally enter a Custom Cost if different from default
5. Add any notes
6. Click Confirm Sent

The box moves to "Recently Sent" and won't appear again in future analyses.

5 Undo Mark as Sent Made a mistake? Click the red Undo button on any sent item in the "Recently Sent" section. After confirmation, the box will reappear in the pending analysis.

6 Cost Estimation The blue summary panel at the top shows:

• Pending Boxes: Number of boxes to send
• Total Scripts: Total exam scripts across all boxes
• Est. Shipping Cost: Calculated as boxes x cost-per-box
• Already Sent: Boxes already dispatched and their total cost

7 Export Options Expected Sending List (Export Expected List):
A PDF showing all pending boxes with:

• Profile name and generation date
• Summary (total boxes, scripts, estimated cost)
• Boxes grouped by destination with deadlines
• Cost breakdown by destination

Proof of Sending (Download PDF / Download Excel):
Records of dispatched boxes with:

• Date sent, destination, tracking numbers
• Filterable by date or destination
• Total cost summary

Automated Health Checks Click Run Full Analysis to check your data against these rules:

• Excessive Duration: Identifies students with >6 hours of exams in one day (accounting for Extra Time).
• Listening Clashes: Finds multiple listening exams in the same room at the same time.
• Lunch Break Gaps: Highlights students with less than 30 mins break between AM and PM sessions.
• Exam Start Overlaps: Warns if a new exam starts in a room whilst another is still in progress.
• Invigilation Clashes: Checks if staff are invigilating their own subjects.
• Public Holiday Staffing: Calculates invigilator needs for exams on public holidays.

Scheduling ALL DAY Exams (e.g., Art) The All-Day Exam Scheduler card allows you to intelligently schedule multi-day practical exams.

Workflow:

1. Select the exam from the dropdown (must be in Exam Catalog).
2. Set number of days required and date range.
3. Click Find Available Dates.
4. The system checks every student enrolled in that exam and finds dates where NO student has any other exam.
5. Click Schedule next to a date to automatically add it to your Master Timetable.

1 Add exams Use the search box to find a master timetable exam. Click a dropdown item to add it as a tile (auto-selected). Use Date + Session (AM/PM) to auto-fill tiles for that sitting.

2 Start and control timers Use Start All or Start Selected. Each tile also has its own Start button (green), Pause/Resume, and Remove.

3 Extra time Click +25%, +50%, or +100% on a tile. A second countdown appears directly under the main timer with the same size font, showing the extended time remaining. A small +% marker appears in the tile header; click the x on the badge to clear.

4 Reset / stop Reset All Times clears all starts/pauses. Stop All Times ends all timers immediately. Clear Finished removes ended tiles.

5 Reading time overlay Click 5-min Reading to show a full-screen timer. It flashes when complete until dismissed.

6 Tiles fullscreen & ordering Use Tiles Fullscreen to focus on the tiles only. Drag and drop tiles to reorder them.

7 Fallback behavior The display auto-saves per profile. If no prior state exists, it defaults to todayaTMs date with an empty tile list.