Overview

This setting tells Classter how to work out which Educational Program (also known as Grade or Program) an academic record for a Subject (also known as Module or Course) should be counted under, in the specific case where that record was not directly given an Educational Program of its own.

It is a single, institution-wide configuration: it applies the same way for every Subject and every Student, in every Academic Period, and it is not different per user or per role. It is available and works the same way in both K-12 and Higher Education operating modes (see section 6 for the practical differences between the two).

Setting location: Configuration > Main Settings > General Settings > Basic Customization.

What This Setting Does

Under normal circumstances, every academic record created for a Subject – a grade/mark, an absence, etc. – can be traced back to one specific Educational Program, because the Student who owns that record is enrolled in one (or more) Educational Programs, and the Subject record itself is linked to the relevant Program.

However, some Subject-related academic entries do not carry that direct link on their own. This typically happens when a Subject is not exclusively tied to a single Educational Program – for example, when the same Subject is shared and used by Students coming from more than one Grade/Program, or when a Student is enrolled in a Subject through a Group (class) that does not belong to the Subject’s own default Program.

In that situation, Classter still needs to decide which Educational Program the entry logically belongs to, so it can be correctly grouped, filtered, and reported on. This setting provides two ways to make that decision:

• Module’s Program (labelled ‘Subject’s Program’ in this guide – the default option): Classter uses the Educational Program that is configured directly on the Subject’s own record.
• Group’s Program: Classter instead looks at the actual Group (class) the Student is enrolled in for that Subject, and uses the Educational Program that this Group belongs to, based on the Student’s real, current enrollment.

Only one option is active at a time for the whole institution. Changing the value of this setting does not alter any mark, grade, or absence that has already been recorded – it only changes which Educational Program these records are shown and reported under, whenever the direct link is missing.

Where It Is Used

This setting has an effect wherever Classter needs to know ‘which Educational Program does this Subject entry belong to’, for entries that have no direct link of their own. In practice, this includes:

• Gradebook and marks: when marks are entered, viewed, or reported on for a Subject, and grouped or filtered by Educational Program.
• Attendance and absences: when absence records for a Subject are grouped, filtered, or reported on by Educational Program.
• Student/Parent Portal: when Students or Parents view academic information that is organised or filtered per Educational Program.
• Fees and pricing category inheritance: when a Subject’s pricing category is set to automatically follow its Educational Program (see the related setting in section 6), the specific Program used for that inheritance is worked out the same way as described in this guide.

When it affects users: only in the specific case where a Subject enrollment does not have a direct, unambiguous Educational Program link. If, in an institution, every Subject belongs to exactly one Educational Program and Students are always enrolled through a Group that matches that Program, both options behave identically and end users will not notice any difference.

Business Logic / Behavior

Confirmed behavior:

• The setting offers exactly two mutually exclusive options.
• Module’s Program (default value): the Educational Program used is the one configured directly on the Subject’s own record – i.e. the Program the Subject is set up to belong to – regardless of which specific Group the Student actually attended.
• Group’s Program: the Educational Program used is the one that the Student’s actual Group (class) for that Subject belongs to, reflecting the Student’s real, current enrollment rather than the Subject’s own configuration.

Inferred business rules (based on the setting’s design and behavior):

• Because the setting applies institution-wide, it is not possible to use one method for some Subjects/Grades and a different method for others – one consistent rule applies everywhere.
• The two options only ever produce different results when a Subject is shared across, or otherwise used by, more than one Educational Program. When a Subject belongs cleanly to a single Program and all its Students are enrolled through matching Groups, both options give the same result.
• This is a fallback/derivation rule only. It never overrides or changes a direct Educational Program link that already exists on a Student’s record; it only ‘fills the gap’ when that direct link is missing for a specific Subject entry.
• The setting influences how data is grouped and reported, not the academic result itself – a Student’s mark or absence value is exactly the same regardless of which option is chosen; only the Educational Program it is filed under can change.

Examples

Example 1 – K-12 Mode

Riverside Academy runs a Subject called ‘Music Appreciation’ as an elective open to Students from two Grades: Grade 8 and Grade 9. On the Subject’s own record, the institution has configured ‘Grade 8’ as its main Educational Program, since the Subject was originally created for that Grade.

A Student, Olivia Bennett, belongs to Grade 9, but has enrolled in the ‘Music Appreciation’ Group together with Grade 8 Students, since the elective is shared.

• If Module’s Program is selected: Olivia’s marks and absences for ‘Music Appreciation’ are counted under Grade 8 – the Program configured on the Subject – even though Olivia herself belongs to Grade 9. A report filtered to ‘Grade 9’ academic data would not show this Subject’s entries for her, while a ‘Grade 8’ filter would.
• If Group’s Program is selected: Olivia’s marks and absences for ‘Music Appreciation’ are instead counted under Grade 9, matching her real enrollment. A ‘Grade 9’ filter would now correctly show her entries for this Subject.

Example 2 – Higher Education Mode

Lakeside Institute of Technology offers a shared Subject, ‘Introduction to Statistics’, which is taken by Students from two different Programs: ‘BSc Business Administration’ and ‘BSc Economics’. On the Subject’s own record, ‘BSc Business Administration’ is configured as the main Educational Program, since the Subject was originally introduced for that degree and later added as an option to ‘BSc Economics’ curricula as well.

A Student, Daniel Osei, is registered under ‘BSc Economics’ and is enrolled, through his curriculum, in a specific Group of ‘Introduction to Statistics’.

• If Module’s Program is selected: Daniel’s grade for ‘Introduction to Statistics’ is counted under ‘BSc Business Administration’ – the Subject’s configured Program – rather than under his own Program.
• If Group’s Program is selected: Daniel’s grade is instead counted under ‘BSc Economics’, matching the Program of the Group he is actually enrolled in, and therefore his own, real Program.

This second example also illustrates why the choice of option tends to matter more in Higher Education: Subjects/Modules shared across multiple Programs through curricula are a common, everyday situation there, while in K-12 it is comparatively less frequent and usually limited to specific electives or cross-Grade offerings.

When to Use

When to select Module’s Program (Subject’s Program)

• Subjects in the institution are, in practice, tied to one clearly ‘owning’ Educational Program, and any cross-Program sharing is the exception rather than the rule.
• The institution prefers that reporting and billing for a Subject always follow the way that Subject was originally set up, regardless of which specific Group or Program an individual Student happens to attend it through.
• Simplicity is preferred over precision for the rare edge cases where a Subject is used outside its main Program.

When to select Group’s Program

• Subjects/Modules are frequently shared across more than one Educational Program (a very common situation in Higher Education, where the same course can belong to several degrees/curricula).
• It is important that each Student’s academic data (marks, absences) and any related billing are attributed to that Student’s own, real Educational Program, rather than to whichever Program the Subject happens to be configured with.
• Reporting accuracy per Educational Program (e.g. for statistics, dashboards, or per-Program financial cascades) is a priority.

Notes

Pre-requisites

• For ‘Module’s Program’ to give meaningful results, each Subject must have its main Educational Program (and, if applicable, any Additional Programs) correctly configured on the Subject’s own record.
• For ‘Group’s Program’ to give meaningful results, Groups (classes) must be correctly linked to their own Educational Program, and Students must be properly enrolled into the Group that matches their real academic situation for that Subject.
• This setting is only meaningful for institutions that have at least some Subjects not tied one-to-one to a single Educational Program. If every Subject belongs to exactly one Program, changing this setting will have no visible effect.

K-12 Mode vs. Higher Education Mode

This setting works the same way in both operating modes, which are switched using the ‘Enable Configuration for Higher Education’ setting (see below). There is no difference in the underlying logic between the two modes – the only practical difference is how often the setting actually comes into play:

• K-12 mode: Subjects are usually configured under one Grade, and the situation this setting addresses mainly arises with shared electives or when Students are exceptionally enrolled in a Subject/Group belonging to a different Grade than their own.
• Higher Education mode: Subjects/Modules are commonly reused across several Programs through different curricula, so the situation this setting addresses arises far more often, making the choice between the two options considerably more impactful for accurate reporting and billing.

Related Settings

• Enable Configuration for Higher Education (Main Settings > General Settings > Higher Education Customization > Basic Settings – Xrisi_parametropoihshs_kolegiou): switches the institution between K-12 and Higher Education operating mode. It does not change how this setting works, only how often the scenario it addresses occurs.
• Allow Student creation without educational program (Main Settings > General Settings > Student Form > Educational Program Parameters – Allow_Student_Save_Without_Educational_Program): controls whether a Student record can exist without any Educational Program at all. This is a related but distinct scenario: it concerns a Student having no Program whatsoever, whereas the current setting concerns a specific Subject entry lacking a direct Program link even though the Student does have one.
• Select educational program statuses for academic data connection (Main Settings > General Settings > Student/Parent Portal – Select_Educational_Program_Statuses_For_Academic_Data_Connection): limits which of a Student’s Educational Programs (by status, e.g. Registered, Graduated) are considered when connecting academic data to a Program for display in the Student/Parent Portal. It works alongside the current setting: this setting decides how to find the matching Program, while that setting decides which of the Student’s Programs are eligible to be matched in the first place.
• Module’s Pricing category is automatically inherited from educational program (Main Settings > Financial Settings > Pricelists, Fees and Taxes – Subject_PricingCategory_is_automatically_inherited_from_educationalprogram): when enabled, a Subject’s pricing category automatically follows its Educational Program’s pricing category. The specific Educational Program used for this inheritance, when a Subject has no direct Program link of its own, is resolved using the same logic described in this guide.