User roles explained

User roles explained

Every user in ADAdmin has one of six roles: Admin, Mentor, Learner, Observer, Governor, or Ofsted. The role controls what the person can see and do in ADAdmin and affects how their account is treated by connected platforms.

Admin

Admins have full management access. Use this role for:

• IT managers and system administrators
• Senior leaders who need to manage the system
• Anyone who needs to create or edit users and groups

Admins can access all features for the schools they are authorised for, including importing data, managing settings, and triggering syncs.

Mentor

Mentors are classroom users — typically teachers and support staff. They have limited access:

• Cannot create or delete users
• Cannot change group memberships
• Can reset passwords for learners (if the school has enabled this permission)
• Can access Smart Parents notifications if the feature is on

In Google Workspace and Entra, mentor accounts are typically treated as staff and are placed in staff organisational units or groups accordingly.

Learner

Learners are pupils and students. They have minimal ADAdmin access (only their own profile). Their accounts are treated as pupil accounts in all connected platforms.

Note: Learners cannot search for other users anywhere in ADAdmin.

Observer, Governor, and Ofsted

These three roles are all "staff-lite": they can edit their own profile and search for users and groups, but — unlike Mentor — they don't get My cohorts, and like Mentor they cannot create, edit, or delete users or groups, change memberships, or access admin/sync settings. They exist to give someone limited, non-management visibility without making them a Mentor or Admin.

• Observer — a general-purpose read-only-style role for anyone who needs to look people up (e.g. a governors' clerk or a trust-level visitor) but should never manage accounts.
• Governor — for members of the school's governing body.
• Ofsted — for inspector access, typically set up for the duration of an inspection.

These three roles are also referenced in Require MFA for staff and students: the "Enable 2FA for new staff" school setting applies to every non-learner, which includes Observer, Governor, and Ofsted alongside Admin and Mentor.

Choosing the right role

If you are unsure, use Mentor for staff and Learner for pupils. You can always change the role later on the edit user page.

Changing a role

1. Go to Users in the sidebar.
2. Find the user and select Edit.
3. On the Details tab, change the Role field.
4. Select Save changes.

Related

• Roles and permissions overview
• Create a user
• Edit a user
• Require MFA for staff and students