# Add a student

> Create a student account and send the welcome email.

Source: https://paatya.net/docs/students/add-a-student

Every learner in your academy has a student account. You create them here, unless you have [let students sign up](https://paatya.net/docs/students/self-registration) themselves. This page shows you how to add a student and send them the email that lets them in.

## Before you start

- You need the student's **first name**, **last name** and **email address**. Everything else is optional.
- Your academy needs balance. A new academy has welcome credit to start with; once your balance runs out, adding students is paused until you recharge. See [Add balance](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/add-balance).
- If you want to put the student on a course straight away, [create the course](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/create-a-course) first.

## Add a student

1. In the left menu, click **Students**.
2. Click **Add student** at the top right. On a phone, tap the **Add student** button at the bottom of the screen.
3. Under **Personal details**, fill in **First name**, **Last name** and **Email address**. You can also add a **Phone** number and a **Date of birth**.
4. Under **Academic details**, you can fill in:
   - **Student ID**: leave it empty and Paatya creates one for you, such as `STU-0012`. Click **Auto-generate** to see the next ID before you save.
   - **Batch or cohort**, such as "Morning batch" or "2026 A".
   - **Department**.
   - **Notes**: anything you want to remember about this student. Only admins see notes.
5. Under **Enrolment**, click the courses the student should join. A course turns highlighted when it is picked. You can skip this and [enroll them later](https://paatya.net/docs/enrollments/enroll-students). If a course has a **Default access period**, the student gets an end date from it automatically. You can change it later on the student's page.
6. Leave **Send a welcome email** switched on.
7. Click **Add student**. To add several people one after another, click **Save and add another** instead.

![The Add student form with personal details, academic details and course choices](https://paatya.net/docs/img/students-add-a-student-1.png)

> **Tip:** On the dashboard, **Quick actions → Add student** opens the same form.

![Video: adding a student and putting them on a course](https://paatya.net/docs/video/students-add-a-student.mp4)

## What you'll see

- A message at the top of the screen, such as "Priya Sharma added. An activation link is on its way to them."
- The student appears at the top of the **Students** list with the status **Invited**.
- The student receives an email with an activation link. They click it, choose their own password and click **Activate Account**. Their status then changes to **Active**.

The activation link works for **7 days**. You never see the password the student chooses.

## If you switched off the welcome email

A student added without the welcome email cannot sign in: they have no password and no link. To send them a link later:

1. Open the student's ⋮ menu in the **Students** list, or on their own page.
2. Click **Resend invitation**.

A message confirms "Invitation sent". **Resend invitation** only appears while the student's status is **Invited**. Each new link replaces the previous one, so tell the student to use the newest email.

If the student can't receive email at all, give them a password yourself instead: open the ⋮ menu, click **Set temporary password** and share it with them in person. They're asked to choose their own after signing in. See [Find and manage students](https://paatya.net/docs/students/manage-students#set-a-temporary-password).

## If something goes wrong

- **"Please add balance to continue".** Your academy has no balance yet, or it has run out. [Add balance](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/add-balance), then try again.
- **"Somebody already has an account with that address".** One email address can belong to only one account. Search the **Students** list for it: the person may already be there, perhaps as **Inactive**. An admin's email address can't be used for a student either.
- **The student says the email never arrived.** Ask them to check their spam folder. Check the address under **Details & notes** on their page. If it was wrong, correct it (see [Find and manage students](https://paatya.net/docs/students/manage-students#change-a-students-email-address)); a fresh link goes to the new address.
- **The link has expired.** The student sees "This activation link is no longer valid." Click **Resend invitation**, as described above. The student can also get a fresh link themselves by clicking **Forgot password?** on the sign-in page.

## Next step

- [Enroll students](https://paatya.net/docs/enrollments/enroll-students) on your courses.
- [Find and manage students](https://paatya.net/docs/students/manage-students).