Troubleshooting login issues for parents - why can’t parents log in?

This article covers logging in and out of Arbor as a primary guardian. Only primary guardians can log into the Parent Portal and Arbor App.

Take a look at these other articles if you're looking for information and troubleshooting tips on:

There's a number of reasons why parents may be struggling to log in to the Arbor App or Parent Portal. You can share this article with parents so they can troubleshoot login issues they're experiencing, and to help you determine what the issue is.

Use the tips below first before raising an issue with the Arbor Support Team if supported by Arbor, or your Support Partner if not supported by Arbor

Top Tip: can't find the account? Try using the Global search.

Important note

The most common reason why a parent can't login, or can login but doesn't see any children or are missing some children, is that there is a duplicate profile for them or their email address is used on another user's profile (student, guardian or staff member). Please see this article on how to remove the email address from their duplicate profile: Check for duplicate email addresses and stop users being logged into the wrong account

 

The account details aren't recognised

First, make sure there is a guardian profile created for the user with an email address: Creating a new guardian, family member or contact for a student

Link the child to the guardian by clicking +Add in the Linked Students section on the guardian profile.

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Only people who are Primary Guardians of a child can access the Arbor App or Parent Portal for their children, so you'll need to link them to each of their children as a primary guardian. You can check this by going to their Guardian Profile and clicking the link to their child.

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The guardian hasn't received a login or reset password email

Go to the guardian’s profile and check the email address is the one the guardian is using to log in with. The email address will have been used for the welcome email.

You can see how to edit this here: Email isn't being sent, or is sent to the wrong email address

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If they are using the right email the reset password email is still not arriving, you can manually send them a reset password, or set a new password that they can change when they log in from the User Details section of their profile.

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If their email address is used on more than one school site they may not be able to get a reset password email for the most current site themselves. They would need to get in contact with the old school to remove or change the email address from that account to prevent further issues in the future.

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The reset password link hasn't worked

If the guardian has been sent a link to reset their password, make sure it was sent less than 96 hours ago. If it was sent more than 96 hours ago, the password creation link will have expired.

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Ask the guardian to click the Forgotten your Password option when logging in to reset their password.

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If the reset password email doesn't come through, you can send them a reset password link manually from the User Details section of their profile.

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They don't have permission to access Arbor

If they are getting a message that their account is suspended, they won't be able to log in.

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You can toggle whether an account is suspended from the User details section on their profile.

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The Parent Portal is not enabled

Make sure you have enabled the Parent Portal. Parents can only log into the Arbor App if you already have the Parent Portal enabled.

To enable Parent Portal, follow the instructions in this guide to prepare to switch it on then switch it on using these instructions: Enabling access to Parent Portal

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The guardian is not linked to students and sees a blank screen

A guardian will see a blank screen if their profile has not been linked to any students.

Guardians of future students may also get this message. To use the Parent Portal to collect information for new students, you'll need to have either:

  • switched the Parent Portal on for guardians of applicants - you can see how to do this here.
  • completed step 3 of the new school year setup process - you can see how to do this here.

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Only people who are Primary Guardians of a child can access the Arbor App or Parent Portal for their children, so you'll need to link them to each of their children as a primary guardian. You can check this by going to their Guardian Profile and clicking the link to their child.

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If the child is not linked to the guardian you can click +Add in the Linked Students section on the guardian profile to link them.

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The guardian can't see their child or can't switch between their children

Make sure they have agreed to the Terms & Conditions the first time they have accessed the App or Parent Portal.

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Make sure they have input the birthday of the child they are linked to.

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If the child is not linked to the guardian you can click +Add in the Linked Students section on the guardian profile to link them.

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If they are linked to a child, it might be the case that a duplicate guardian profile has been created. You'll need to merge the profiles together so the guardian can see all of their children. Take a look at this article to see how. 

Top Tip: Not sure which guardian profile is most recent? Any students linked to the guardian who are currently enrolled will have their registration form next to their name.

The guardian is being logged into the wrong account

Top Tip: can't find the account? Try using the Global search.

Check the email address the guardian is using has not also been used on a student, staff or duplicate guardian's profile. If it has, you'll need to change the email on one of the profiles so the system will know which account to log into.

For example, if a guardian and a child have the same email address, you'll need to change or delete the email of the child.

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If they are also a staff member at the school trying to log into their guardian account, you'll also need to make sure the email address on both profiles are different. Follow the instructions in this article

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If they are being logged into an old guardian account, you'll need to merge these together so the guardian can see all of their children. Take a look at this article to see how. 

Top Tip: Not sure which guardian profile is most recent? Any students linked to the guardian who are currently enrolled will have their registration form next to their name.

The guardian is clicking the link in their reset password email

Check the guardian is not clicking the link in their reset password email. They will not be able to log in from here.

Send them the address to the login page.

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If none of these tips work, check:

  • They are using Google Chrome or one of our other supported browsers on a desktop or laptop computer 
  • They are using the Arbor App on a phone. They should not use the browser version on their phone. To use the App they must be using at least Android 5.0 or iOS 10.0 in order for the App to function properly.
  • They are attempting to log in using their email address username.

Please remember that we do not advise parents directly, so if they need to pass issues on to your school, ask them for the type and model of phone they are using, e.g. an iPhone SE.

Please also ask for screenshots or a screen recording of the issues they are experiencing. On an iPhone SE, you can enable this on your control panel by going to Settings > Control Centre > Customise Controls.

You can also try logging in as a guardian to see what they can see to be able to troubleshoot issues if the guardian has not given you enough information.

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Comments

4 comments
  • I was unable to book for parents meeting or book for covid test for my daughter year9A 

    0
  • Hi Theclar, if you're having issues booking a slot or for anything else, please contact your school directly - they will be able to check the settings to resolve any issues.

    0
  • I am Aaliyah Salami and Abdultawab Oki's mum,they are both in year 10.I am unable to login to abbor app.
    Thank you

    0
  • Hi there, if you're having difficulty logging in, please contact your school to help resolve the issue.

    0

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