Reset passwords
Reset passwords
You can reset a single user's password from their profile, or reset passwords for a group of users at once from the Reset passwords page.
Reset a single user's password
Step 1 — Open the user's edit page {#step-1-single}
Go to Users in the sidebar, find the user, and select Edit.
Step 2 — Reset the password {#step-2-single}
On the Details tab, select Reset password.
A confirmation dialog appears asking "Reset this user's password to the school default?". Select OK to confirm.
Result {#step-3-single}
The user's password is reset to the school's default password. They will be prompted to change it at next login (depending on your school's password policy).
Reset passwords for a group (bulk reset)
Step 1 — Open the Reset passwords page {#step-1-bulk}
Select Reset passwords in the left sidebar.
Note: This option is visible to mentors (teachers) as well as admins, if the school has enabled it. It may not appear if your account has been restricted.
Step 2 — Select a group {#step-2-bulk}
The page shows a list of groups for the current school. Find the group whose passwords you want to reset (e.g. "Year 7", "7A") by searching or browsing the list.
Step 3 — Review the members {#step-3-bulk}
Selecting a group shows its members. Review the list to make sure you are resetting the right people.
Two icons can appear next to a learner's name to help you spot who needs attention: a warning triangle for still has their default password, and a clock for must change their password at next login. See Password-state icons for what they mean.
Step 4 — Reset all passwords {#step-4-bulk}
Select Reset all passwords (or the equivalent reset button shown for the group).
A confirmation dialog appears. Confirm to proceed.
Result {#step-5-bulk}
All members of the group have their password reset to the school default. They will be prompted to change it at next login.
Bulk reset from the Users page
You can also reset passwords for any selection of users from the Users page using bulk actions:
- Go to Users and select the users you want to reset.
- In the action bar, open Password actions.
- Select Reset to default.
- Confirm.
Control who can change their password
Whether a user can change their own password can be turned off at four levels. The Password change column on the Users table shows who's affected at a glance, and each user's edit page names the level.
Per user (Users → Edit → Password change) {#control-per-user}
On a user's edit page, the Password change switch controls that one person:
- For a student, turning it on stops them changing their password on their own profile page.
- For a member of staff, turning it on stops them resetting other users' passwords.
A note names why a student can't change their password ("turned off for this user", "this year group", or "school level"). Changes take effect immediately and are recorded in the activity log.
In bulk (Users → Password actions) {#control-bulk}
From the Users page, select users and open Password actions to Enable or Disable password change for students — or Enable / Disable password reset for teachers — for the whole selection at once. Enable skips any student whose year group is currently disabled by the year-group setting below — they need that setting turned off for their year group first.
For a year group (school setting) {#control-year-group}
Settings → Password → Disable passwords for specific year groups turns off password changes for every student in the selected year group(s), without affecting other year groups. See Password settings → Disable passwords for specific year groups.
For all students (school setting) {#control-school}
Settings → Password → Disable student passwords turns off password changes for every student in the school. While it's on, the per-user switch is shown but can't be changed — the school setting takes precedence over both the year-group setting and any per-user/bulk change. This same toggle — plus the school's default passwords, minimum length, complexity, and expiry — is covered in full in Password settings.
These controls govern self-service changes (a user changing their own password). An admin can still set or reset a password from the Users page — except Reset to default, which always skips students whose password change is turned off.
Keeping your default password in sync {#default-password-resync}
Resetting a user to the default password updates their sign-in straight away. For most schools it also re-sends that password to your connected platforms (Google, Microsoft Entra, on-premise Active Directory) so the person can sign in there with the same password.
For some older schools, the stored default is held in an older, one-way format. It still resets the in-app password, but it can't be read back to send on to those external platforms. When that happens:
- The reset still works — the person can sign in to Realsmart with the default.
- The confirmation message says the new password wasn't passed on to your connected directory, so that account keeps the password it already had there.
- If your school does push passwords to a platform, the notifications bell shows "Re-save your default password when you get a moment" and names the platform(s) affected. Schools that don't sync passwords anywhere never see it.
The fix is a one-off: an admin re-saves the default under School settings → Password (see Password settings). That restores full syncing for future resets, and the bell notification clears itself. Nothing is out of sync in the meantime — everyone's current password still works everywhere it already did. This is historical housekeeping, not a mistake on your part.
Troubleshooting {#troubleshooting}
"This school has no default password set for password resets" {#error-default-not-configured}
If a reset stops with a message like "This school has no default learner password set for password resets. Set the password under School settings → Password, then try again", no passwords were changed — the reset was refused on purpose rather than silently doing nothing.
This is now uncommon: it means the school has never set a default password for that role (learner or staff), so there is nothing to reset to. The fix is quick:
- Go to School settings → Password (an admin must do this).
- Enter the Default learner password and/or Default mentor password and select Save password settings. See Password settings.
- Return to the reset and try again — it will now work.
Setting the default doesn't change anyone's current password on its own; it just gives "Reset to default" a value to apply.