Importing students from Excel

How to import a student list and what to do if a name can’t be saved.

In this guide: Setting up your spreadsheet| Name couldn’t be imported| Does this affect typing names in?| Still need help?

Setting up your spreadsheet

The easiest way to get started is to download the template directly from your team dashboard. Click the Excel import button, then Download the template. The template has the correct column layout already set up.

Column layout

Your spreadsheet needs these columns, in this order:

Column	Header	What to put here
A	Code	A unique label for each student — you can use their name here too. This is used internally and isn’t shown to students.
B	Name	Required. The student’s name as it will appear in Clever Groups.
C	Category	Optional. A category label for balanced groups — for example Male, Female, or a reading level. Leave blank if you’re not using categories.
D onwards	—	Optional. Preference names — the names of students this student would like to be grouped with. One name per column.

Before you import

Save the file as .xlsx (Excel Workbook) — not the older .xls format. In Excel: File → Save As → Excel Workbook (.xlsx).
The first row must be a header row — the importer skips it.
One student per row.

Importing

On your team dashboard, click the Excel import button and select your file. Students are added immediately — you don’t need to save separately.

Tip: If you already have a student list elsewhere, you can copy and paste names into column B of the template. Just make sure the file is saved as .xlsx before importing.

A name couldn’t be imported

This happens when the spreadsheet file stores a student’s name in an older format that Clever Groups can’t save. It usually affects files that were last saved in the older .xls format rather than the newer .xlsx format — particularly files with accented characters (like é, ñ, or ö) in student names.

No students were added from the file — the import is all-or-nothing, so nothing is saved until the whole file is accepted.

How to fix it in 2 steps

Open the file in Excel or Google Sheets. Find the spreadsheet on your computer and open it normally.

Save it as an Excel Workbook (.xlsx). In Excel: File → Save As → Excel Workbook (.xlsx). In Google Sheets: File → Download → Microsoft Excel (.xlsx). Then import the newly saved file into Clever Groups.

Why does this work? The newer .xlsx format stores names in a way that Clever Groups can always read correctly, regardless of which characters they contain.

If the error continues after re-saving

Try opening the file, copying all the student names into a new blank spreadsheet, and saving that new file as .xlsx before importing. If it still doesn’t work, contact us and we’ll help you get the students added.

You can also add students by typing their names directly into the team — see below.

Does this affect typing names in directly?

No. Typing names directly into Clever Groups always works — accented characters, non-Latin scripts, and any standard keyboard input are all accepted. The import issue only affects certain older spreadsheet files.

If you’re in a hurry, you can add students one by one by clicking Add Students on your team dashboard while you work on fixing the spreadsheet file.

Still need help?

If you’ve tried the steps above and the import still isn’t working, contact us and include the name of the student that caused the error. We’ll get it sorted.

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