Students: Account Set-Up and Login | Formative Help Center (2024)

This article is intended for students (and parents of K-12 students) to navigate and use Formative!

We’re excited for you (or your student) to use Formative this year! Whether learning from a school building or from home, Formative allows teachers to give assignments securely online, assess progress, and more effectively support every student's learning!

Formative is safe and private. Students cannot access other students’ work or send messages to other students.

In this article you will find information about:

Your teacher or school's administrators may have already created a Formative student account for you. If that is the case, please skip the Signing Up section and go straight to the Logging In section below. If you're not sure if an account has already been created for you, please check with your teacher!

If a Formative student account has not been created for you, your teacher could invite you to create an account in one of two ways:

If your teacher sent you an invitation email, start by clicking the Join Link in the body of the email:

You will then be re-directed to Formative's Join Class page where you will click the "Create Student Account" button:

If your teacher provided you with a 6 characters Join Code

Once the Join Code has been entered, you will be re-directed to the Join Class page, where you will click the "Create Student Account" button:

After clicking "Create Student Account"

You will be redirected to Formative's Student Sign Up page where you will have the option to sign up using an email address and a password of your choice, then click "Create Free Account".

Alternatively, if you hold an existing Google, Clever, or Microsoft Teams account, you can choose to sign up to Formative with it instead. This method is referred to as a Single Sign-On method. Simply click the respective provider's icon at the bottom of this page, proceed to choose/enter your existing account when prompted, and then enter that account's password to complete the sign up process (for example, if you're signing up with your Google account, you will need to enter your Google password).

Note: if you're using a Single Sign On method, make sure to be logged in to the correct account on your browser or device as well.

Finish your sign up process by entering your first name and last name, and click "Let's Go!" to be taken to your Student Dashboard.

Using the Join Link or the Join Code when creating your account, will add the teacher's class to your classes list on your dashboard (click the dropdown next to "Class" from the menu bar to reveal the list).

If you're missing classes on the list, you will need to either ask your teacher to add you to them or join them manually. We will discuss how to join classes manually in a later section of this article.

Once a Formative Student Account has been created, you will need to log in to that account with the same log in credentials that were used when creating it.

But what if the account was created on your behalf by your teacher or a school administrator?

In this case, your teacher or school administrator will provide you with the login credentials they have set up for you. Make sure you follow their instructions!

Here are the three possible scenarios:

In this case, your teacher will provide you with the username and password they have used to create your account. When you go to the Login page at https://app.formative.com/login , simply enter both and click "Log In".

Note: You can ask your teacher to send you a link to reset the password. This is useful in case you want to create a password that will be easier for you to remember, or if you forgot the password your teacher has assigned you.

In this case, your teacher or school will let you know which account to use to log in. When you go to the Login page at https://app.formative.com/login , simply click on the respective icon at the bottom of the page, proceed to choose/enter your Google, Clever or Microsoft Teams account when prompted, and then enter that account's password to complete the log in process (for example, if you're using your Google account, you will need to enter your Google password).

In this case, you will receive an email informing you that an account has been created for you, which will contain a link to set up a new password. Once you've set up your password, you will continue to log in using email and password credentials.

Note: In some cases you will have the option to join assignments as a "guest", but we strongly recommend to avoid using this option whenever possible by logging in to your own Formative Student Account.

A guest login is a single-use temporary access to an assignment, and you will not be able to access that assignment again once you leave it, meaning you will no option to view or edit your responses. On top of this, guest data is not stored and therefore any score you achieve will not be associated with your student account.

When a Formative Student Account is created on your behalf by your teacher or school administrator, it is most likely that they have already added you to the correct classes, and you will see these classes on your home page when you log in however, that may not always be the case.

By default the classes displayed on the home page will be only classes that had activity (a formative assigned) in them in the last 3 months. If a class had no activity for the last 3 months it will be hidden from view, in this case click on the gear icon (settings) at the top right corner of the screen and then click "show inactive classes" to display a list of them on the home screen as well.

If you are missing any classes and they are not on the Inactive Classes list either, you will need to ask your teacher to add you to them, or join the classes manually.

To join a class manually, you will need to get either a Join Link or a Join Code from your teacher.

If your teacher chooses to email you a Join Link, simply click that link and once you're logged in to your Formative account, the class will be added to your list automatically.

If your teacher chooses to provide you with a Join Code, log in to your account and click "Join Code" in the lower left corner of your screen (the bottom most option in the left side menu), and proceed to enter the Join Code there. Once entered, the class will be added to your list.

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Accidentally signed up as a teacher account

You may have signed up as a teacher account if your teacher experienced this error while inviting students to your class: "This user currently has a teacher account. Only students can be invited to a section."

You will need to create a student account to join any classrooms. The signup steps above should guide you to create a student account without any issues. If, however, you created an account on your own and accidentally selected a Teacher account, you will not be able to join classrooms or access assignments. If you find yourself unable to join a class, check that you have the right type of account:

If you accidentally signed up as a teacher, you need to delete your Formative account and sign up as a student.

Log in and follow these directions:

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