You want to know, at any point in the month, which students are missing too many days, without counting ticks across a paper register. This free Excel sheet takes one code per student per day and does the counting, the percentages and the warnings.
The problem it solves
A paper register tells you what happened on a day. It does not tell you that a student has now missed three days in four weeks, that another is one absence away from your limit, or that an excused absence should not be treated like a skipped day. Those are the questions you are asked by the head teacher and by parents, and they take time to answer by hand.
What is inside
- Settings: school, class, the date of the first day of the month, and your absence limit (the number of unexcused days at which you want a warning). It also holds the code legend.
- Students: number, name and the parent's phone number, up to 60 students.
- Attendance: a monthly grid with one column for each day of the month. For each student and day you choose a code from a list: present, absent, late or excused absence. The sheet counts each type per student, calculates the attendance percentage and a status, and shows how many are absent on each day.
- Month summary: school days in the month, class average attendance, how many students passed the limit and how many are near it, total unexcused and excused absences, the day with the most absences and the top five students by absences.
A worked example
The example is sample data: a second-grade class of 12 students in October 2026, with a limit of 3 unexcused absences. Fridays, Saturdays and one holiday are left blank, which gives 20 school days.
- Ahmed Salem: 16 present, 3 absent, 1 late. His attendance is 85.0% and his status is "over the absence limit", because 3 reaches the limit.
- Mohamed Adel: 18 present, 2 absent: 90.0% and "near the limit".
- Sara Hassan: 17 present and 3 excused absences: 85.0%, but her status is "regular", because excused absences do not count toward the limit. Her percentage is lower only because the excused days are recorded days on which she was not present.
- Layla Fouad: 16 present and 4 late: 100%, since a late student counts as present.
- Class average attendance is 94.6%; one student is over the limit and one is near it. The day with the most absences is 5 October, with 2 students absent.
Why these features matter
- Warning before the problem. The "near the limit" state gives you a chance to speak to a parent while it still helps.
- Fair rules built in. Excused absence and lateness are treated differently from a plain absence, so the figures match what you would say by hand.
- Holidays do not distort anything. A day with no code is not a school day.
- Nothing to add up. Counts, percentages and the top-five list come from the codes you enter.
- It works in Excel 2016 and later, Google Sheets and LibreOffice, is free and needs no sign-up.
Using the online version
The template page (in Arabic) opens directly on the October example. Edit the white input cells in the page, for example change a code from present to absent, and the grey calculated cells update immediately. You can import your own .xlsx file made from this template, export your work to .xlsx, or download the original Excel file. Your data stays in your browser and is not sent to the server. All templates are listed at /templates.
Common mistakes, and when a sheet stops being enough
- Typing a code on weekends or holidays: leave those days empty.
- Reusing the same month for the next: copy the Attendance sheet or save a new file each month, then change the date and clear the codes.
- Forgetting that a day counts as a school day as soon as any student has a code.
One sheet covers one class and one month. If you need attendance, grades and teacher notes together for every student, with reports for parents, see the student performance platform and our guide for schools.
FAQ
What do I write on holidays? Nothing. A day without any code is not counted, so it does not affect the percentage.
Does a late student count as absent? No. In the attendance percentage a late student counts as present.
Does an excused absence trigger the warning? No. It is kept out of the absence limit, though it still counts among the student's recorded days.