Why does a user keep getting suspended?

Realsmart suspends people who are no longer in your MIS. If someone is suspended who shouldn't be, the question is nearly always: why isn't your MIS sending them to Realsmart? This guide covers the usual reasons, how to check each one in Realsmart, and how to stop it happening again.

How suspension works

Some people are never marked for suspension: admins, anyone with Smartsync off (Protected), anyone whose status isn't Active (for example Suspended, Deleted or Locked), and pupils you've approved ahead of their start date through pre-admission.

Two symptoms, one cause. If the person is in your MIS but the import can't match them, they're marked at every import. The 15:00 check may then find them in the MIS and clear the mark, so they keep reappearing in Users pending suspension. Or the check doesn't find them, and they're suspended. Either way, the fix is the same: work out why the import isn't matching them.

Likely causes, most likely first

1. They really have left your MIS data

The person is no longer in the data your MIS sends:

• a pupil's leaving date has passed, or the school office has taken them off roll;
• a member of staff is no longer a current employee in the MIS.

How to check: ask whoever manages your MIS (SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom and so on) whether the person is on roll, or a current employee, today. In Realsmart, open Users, select the person's name, then open the Logs tab. A SUSPEND entry is written each time an MIS import didn't find them, so the dates show when they dropped out.

Fix: if they've left, nothing is wrong. If they should be there, correct their record in the MIS. Once an import finds them again, the mark is cleared. If they've already been suspended, that import makes them active again.

2. Their UPN, staff code or MIS ID is missing or shared

The MIS import matches each person to their account on one ID: their UPN, staff code, MIS ID or Wonde ID, depending on your school's settings. If that ID is missing, or two people in the MIS have the same one, the import can't tell them apart. One person's row may be skipped, or their details may land on the other person's account. The account that's left without a match is then marked for suspension. This is a common cause when someone who is clearly still in the MIS keeps being suspended.

How to check:

1. Open Users and select the person's name. On the Details tab, look at UPN (pupils) or Staff code (staff). In the From your MIS panel, look at MIS ID and Sync ID. Sync ID says which ID your MIS feed matches this person on.
2. Compare those with the person's record in your MIS. Ask your MIS manager whether anyone else has the same value.
3. Open Logs in the sidebar and switch the view to Table. Type the person's surname or UPN into Search, select Filters, then set Source to MIS / Wonde. Outcome should read All outcomes in Table view. If the import ran more than a week ago, widen Time window too. An entry that says SKIPPED; Reasons: means the import turned their row away, and it says why, for example that an ID has already been taken, or No UPN or MIS ID to match this person on.

Fix: ask your MIS manager to give the person a unique ID, or to fill in the missing one. Make the change in the MIS, not in Realsmart. For an account that came from the MIS, a change you type in Realsmart is replaced at the next sync. The exception is an account you created by hand: there, enter the UPN or staff code exactly as it appears in the MIS, so the two can be matched.

3. You made them active again, but they're still missing from the MIS

Setting someone's Status back to Active doesn't change what your MIS sends. If they're still missing, the next MIS import marks them again and they're suspended about a day later. Remove pending suspension (in the Status bulk menu) has the same limit: it clears the mark, but the next import marks them again.

Fix: if the person needs an account while they're not in your MIS, for example a leaver who needs email for a little longer, turn Smartsync off for them, then make them active:

• for one person, tick Protected (exclude from sync deletion) on their Details tab and select Save changes;
• for several, select them on the Users page and choose Status → Smartsync off.

Smartsync-off accounts are never suspended automatically, so suspend them yourself when they no longer need access. Smartsync off also stops the MIS updating their details and groups. Don't use it on someone who should keep moving up with their year. See User statuses.

4. You created them by hand without Protected

Accounts you create in Realsmart, such as supply or cover staff, governors and test accounts, aren't in your MIS. Add user ticks Protected (exclude from automated sync deletion) by default, which keeps them safe. But if the box was unticked when the account was made, or the account was added some other way, the first import marks it, and because there's no MIS record to check, it's suspended at the next 15:00 run.

Fix: keep Protected ticked when you create an account that will never be in your MIS. See Create a user. For an account that's already been suspended, turn Smartsync off (as in cause 3) and set it back to Active.

5. Lots of people were suspended at once

• Sync has just resumed after the summer. Leavers are marked at the first MIS import after your resume date, and suspended about a day later. That's expected. See What happens to a leaver's account?. To keep this year's leavers for a while, see Keep Year 11 and Year 13 leavers' accounts active.
• Someone suspended them in bulk, or a setting changed. See the troubleshooting section in Users pending suspension for how to find out who did it and when.

Stop a suspension before it happens

The Users pending suspension panel on the Dashboard lists everyone who's marked and when each will be suspended. To find them on the Users page instead, select Filters → User status → Pending suspension.

If someone in that list shouldn't be suspended, fix the cause above. To keep their account while you do, turn Smartsync off for them. They drop off the Dashboard panel straight away and won't be suspended.

Bring back someone who was suspended by mistake

1. Fix the cause first, or turn Smartsync off for them. Otherwise they'll be suspended again.
2. Set their Status to Active on their Details tab and select Save changes. For several people, use Status → Active on the Users page. Their Google and Microsoft accounts are re-enabled when the change syncs.
3. Check their groups. Groups you added by hand are normally put back automatically within about an hour of making them active, whether the scheduled 15:00 run suspended them or someone did it by hand, as long as they were suspended in the last 90 days. (Hand suspensions made before late October 2026 weren't recorded, so their hand-added groups can't come back on their own.) Groups that come from your MIS come back at the next MIS import, but not while Smartsync is off, because Smartsync off stops the import changing their groups. Add any missing ones by hand — see Add a user to a group.

Don't leave a mistaken suspension for long. A suspended account is purged once nobody has signed in to it for your purge retention period. That countdown starts from their last sign-in, not from the suspension, so for someone who rarely signs in it can be very short. See What happens to a leaver's account?.

Still stuck? What to send support

Contact Realsmart support with:

• the person's name, role and username;
• their UPN (pupils) or Staff code (staff), plus the MIS ID and Sync ID from the From your MIS panel on their page;
• confirmation from your MIS manager that they're on roll, or a current employee, today;
• when they were suspended, or when they were last marked (the SUSPEND entries on their Logs tab);
• whether anyone else in your MIS has the same UPN or staff code.

Related

• Users pending suspension
• What happens to a leaver's account?
• User statuses
• Edit a user
• User not syncing — troubleshooting