Term 4 Admin Checklist for South African Schools (2026)

The 2026 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations began on Tuesday 13 October and run until 26 November, with a record 962 832 candidates registered, according to SAnews. On the Department of Basic Education (DBE) calendar, Term 4 runs from 6 October into the second week of December, and Term 1 of 2027 starts on 13 January.

That leaves school offices roughly seven weeks in which exam logistics compete with everything else. The admin you postpone now turns into the January scramble. Here is a practical checklist, in the order most offices find it easiest to work through.

1. Close the attendance gaps while people still remember

Missing registers are far easier to fix in October than in December, when teachers are marking, packing up and going on leave. Pull a list of classes with unmarked days this term and ask each teacher to confirm what happened: absent teacher, flat device, public holiday mix-up.

If you use MyEncore, the Past Roll Call wizard lets a teacher capture missed registers up to 14 weekdays back, with a reason for each absence. Whatever tool you use, settle it now.

2. Reconcile fees before the year ends

Year-end is when unpaid balances quietly become next year's problem. Before the holidays:

• Run an age analysis, which is a list of accounts grouped by how long they have been overdue.
• Send every parent with an outstanding balance an up-to-date statement, so nobody learns the amount in January.
• Agree payment arrangements in writing, and record them where the next person in the office can find them.
• Flag learners leaving at the end of the year, such as Grade 7 and Grade 12, so their accounts are settled or arranged before they go.

In MyEncore, parents can see their own fee statements in the app, and the debtors section includes an age analysis, so the office is not rebuilding the picture from spreadsheets.

3. Finish marks and get reports ready early

Set a firm cut-off date for final-term marks and publish it to staff. Then check that every assessment's weighting adds up to 100%, because a mistake there is much cheaper to fix before report cards are generated than after parents have seen them.

Decide who proofreads comments and who releases reports to parents. In MyEncore, report cards are released by the school and arrive in the parent app as a PDF, so the release date is yours to choose.

4. Clean up learner and parent records

Parents change cell numbers more often than schools realise, and an old number means a missed notice. Use the last weeks of term to:

• Ask parents to confirm their contact details, using one notice rather than a dozen individual calls.
• Remove or archive learners who have left during the year.
• Check that learners moving to a new grade or phase are placed correctly for 2027, so the class lists are almost ready on the first day back.

5. Keep parents informed through the exam period

Matric exams affect the whole school: restricted areas, quieter corridors, adjusted bell times, and sometimes changed transport. Send one clear notice with the dates and what changes for non-matric learners, rather than a trickle of reminders. The official paper-by-paper timetable is on the DBE website for your candidates' dates and the final paper.

6. Start planning 2027 now

The DBE's 2027 calendar has Term 1 running from 13 January to 19 March. Work backwards from that date:

• Confirm the 2027 fee schedule with your governing body and communicate it to parents early, so there are no surprises in the first week.
• Draft the first-week timetable and class lists before the December break.
• Check that learner details in your management system match what you will submit for SA-SAMS, and ask your district office what it needs at year-end.
• Plan for transport routes, tuckshop and textbook allocation, so those are not decided on day one.

A quick one-page version

• Missing registers captured and signed off
• Age analysis run, statements sent, arrangements recorded
• Marks cut-off published and weightings checked
• Parent contact details confirmed, leavers archived
• One exam-period notice sent to parents
• 2027 fee schedule, timetable and class lists drafted

None of this is complicated. It just has to happen while the term is still running, and a short weekly slot for each item is usually enough.

Sources

• SAnews: Matric exams get underway (13 October 2026)
• South African Government: School calendar 2026 and 2027
• Department of Basic Education

Related guides: catching up missed attendance registers and marks management made simple.

← Back to News