Guide
Moving to a School Management System: From Data Clean-Up to Go-Live
How to move from paper, Excel or another system: choosing what to migrate, matching by student number, non-standard name characters (外字), test-printing certificates, retention periods and when in the school year to switch.
In short
(1) Separate data to migrate from data to archive, (2) match by student number and remove duplicates, (3) check non-standard name characters (外字) and readings, (4) move history in the order attendance, grades, graduation checks, (5) check fee balances and test-print certificates, and (6) go live at the start of a year or term. Before cancelling the old system, decide where records with retention time left will be kept.
Last updated: October 26, 2026
What to migrate and what to archive
You need not move everything. Prioritise records used daily and records needed to issue certificates.
- Current students’ enrolment
- Common approachMigrate
- WhyBasis of daily attendance, grades and invoices
- Graduates’ enrolment
- Common approachMigrate what certificates need
- WhyCertificates are issued after graduation
- Past attendance
- Common approachMigrate this year; archive earlier years
- WhyPrioritise what attendance rates use
- Past grades
- Common approachMigrate all years for current students
- WhyUsed for graduation checks and transcripts
- Fees
- Common approachMigrate receivable and prepaid balances at the cut-over date
- WhyStart from balances, not every transaction
- Message history
- Common approachArchive the old system’s export
- WhyThe new system can start afresh
This is a common pattern, not a rule. Decide by your school regulations and required retention.
Match by student number and find duplicates
- Use the student number as the matching key. Number any list that has none before importing.
- Check for one student on several rows (change of department, re-admission, name change).
- Compare imported counts with the source list. Record the reason for any mismatch before fixing it.
- After import, check guardian–student links, including siblings.
Non-standard characters (外字) and readings
Custom characters (外字) created in an old system can turn into “〓” or blanks when exported. Check the export for garbling, and test-print certificates that need the official name.
Align readings (furigana), romanised names for international students and preferred names (通称名), and decide which form certificates use.
Past grades and attendance
Move history in the order other records depend on it.
- 1Attendance first: attendance rates and teaching hours depend on it. Reconcile totals.
- 2Grades next: by course and term, then reconcile credits earned.
- 3Graduation checks last, once attendance and grades are complete.
Fee balances and arrears
- Set a cut-over date and migrate each student’s receivable and prepaid balance at that date.
- Reconcile the total against your accounting books.
- Record invoices and payments after the cut-over only in the new system.
- For students part-way through instalments or reductions, confirm the remaining schedule.
Test-print certificates
- Print a few enrolment, transcript and (expected) graduation certificates for both current students and graduates.
- Check that name, date of birth, department, course names and credits match the previous format.
- Check seal positions and certificate numbering.
Check retention periods
Article 28 of the Enforcement Regulations for the School Education Act requires schools to keep their registers — attendance, admission selection and assessment records and others — for five years in principle, and the enrolment part of cumulative records (指導要録) for twenty years. Article 189 applies Articles 25–28 to vocational schools (専修学校) as well.
Cancelling an old system can delete its data. Before cancelling, decide whether records with retention time left move to the new system or are exported and archived.
When in the school year to switch
- Colleges, language schools, universities
- Easiest timeBefore April or October intake
- WhyNew students start in the new record
- Private K-12
- Easiest timeAt a term change
- WhyAvoids report-card season
- Juku and lesson schools
- Easiest timeAny time
- WhySwitch at a monthly fee close
- Driving, drone and skills-training schools
- Easiest timeAny time
- WhyConfirm hand-over of trainees in progress first
Running both systems
Keep the period of running old and new systems side by side short. If it drags on, nobody knows which record is right.
Decide per task which system is used during that period, and set the end date at the start.
Common mistakes
- Leaving data clean-up until after import, then finding duplicates.
- Going live without reconciling counts and balances.
- Not checking 外字 or preferred names, so certificate names were wrong.
- Noticing records with retention time left only after cancelling the old system.
- Never ending the parallel period, so double entry continued.
In Classio
Classio registers students in bulk from an Excel template (.xlsx, up to 5 MB and 500 rows). When switching from another system, you map the export’s columns to Classio’s fields; UTF-8 and Shift_JIS files and Japanese-era dates are read. Receivable and prepaid balances at cut-over can be imported too. After import, the import reconciliation centre (取込照合センター) compares source and registered counts.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does migration take?
- It depends on data volume and condition. Plan back from your go-live date, including clean-up, import and checking, a trial and staff practice.
Related pages
Sources
Regulatory statements follow the scope of the cited documents. External documents do not certify Classio’s behaviour or compliance.
- Enforcement Regulations for the School Education Act (e-Gov, Japanese) — Art. 28: registers and retention (5 years; 20 years for enrolment records)
- Enforcement Regulations for the School Education Act (e-Gov, Japanese) — Art. 189: application to vocational schools
- Personal Information Protection Commission: General Guidelines (Japanese) — 3-4-1 accuracy and deletion
- Personal Information Protection Commission: General Guidelines (Japanese) — 3-4-4 supervision of contractors
- Classio: Switching from another system — product description (not a certification by a public body)
- Classio: First set-up — product description (not a certification by a public body)
Sources checked: October 18, 2026
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