Choosing a week or a month
A week sheet suits anything that meets several times a week and changes often: a class, a camp, a training group, a shift roster. Seven wide columns leave room for a time or a short note next to the letter. A month sheet is the better record for a club, a choir, a course that meets once or twice a week, or an office that tracks who was in; thirty-one narrow columns fit on one landscape page and the shaded weekends help the eye find the right day. Pick the month and the year from the lists and the day numbers and weekday initials are filled in for you.
Type the names in the order you call them, one per line, so the printed list matches the roll call. Up to 40 fit on one page; with none typed, you get 30 numbered rows to write in by hand.
Marking attendance
Use the three letters from the legend: P for present, A for absent, L for late. One letter per cell is quick to write and easy to count later. If your group needs more detail, agree on a small set of extra marks and write them on the sheet, for example E for excused or a small arrow for someone who left early, and keep to that set for the whole period. Mark at the start of the session, not at the end; a sheet filled in from memory is the one with gaps.
For a week sheet, write the date of the week in the Week of field above the table, or type it before you download and it prints there. On a month sheet the header already names the month and year.
Counting with the spreadsheet
| Column or row | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Present | The P entries in that person's row |
| Absent | The A entries in that row |
| Late | The L entries in that row |
| Present per day | The P entries in each day column, at the bottom of the sheet |
The counts are case-insensitive, so a lowercase p counts too, but a letter followed by a space or a note does not. The first column and the two header rows stay frozen, so the names and the dates remain in view while you scroll through a long month. To turn a count into a rate, the percentage calculator gives you "18 of 22 sessions" as a percentage in one step.
Using the Total column on paper
At the end of the week or month, count the P marks in each row and write the number in the Total column. For a session count, read the number of columns you actually met on, since the shaded weekends and holidays stay empty. A quick way to spot a pattern is to run a finger down one weekday column: a person who is always missing on the same day has a reason you may want to ask about.
Keeping the sheets
File the finished sheets by month in one folder, or scan them and name the files by group and month so they sort in order. For a class or a paid course the sheets may be the record someone asks for later, so keep them for as long as your school, club or employer requires. Printed attendance sheets contain names, so keep them in the room with you rather than pinned to a public board, and dispose of old ones in a way nobody can read them.
When you need to pick someone at random from the people present, paste the names into the random name picker; to split those present into groups for an activity, the team generator makes even teams from the same list. For a sheet that should only cover working days, the business days calculator tells you how many weekdays a month has, which is the number of sessions an office-based group can reach at most.
Related templates
The gradebook template uses the same roster layout with assignment columns and an average per student, and the sign-up sheet collects the names before the first session.
Frequently asked questions
Is the attendance sheet free?
Yes. Download the PDF or the spreadsheet for every class, team, choir or shift you keep track of, as often as you like. No account, no email address, no watermark. One small line with our web address sits at the bottom of each sheet and page.
What do I write in the cells?
P for present, A for absent and L for late, as the legend under the table says. On paper you can use any marks you like, a tick and a cross work too. In the spreadsheet, keep to the three letters, because the Present, Absent and Late columns count exactly those letters in each row, and the row at the bottom counts the P entries per day.
How do the week and month versions differ?
Week gives seven columns with the weekday names, starting on Monday or Sunday as you choose, and a line for the date of the week. Month gives one column for every day of the chosen month, with the weekday initial above the day number and Saturdays and Sundays shaded, so you can skip them at a glance. The month version prints landscape by default.
Can I use it for more than 40 people?
Print two copies and number the second one from 41, or split the group into two sheets by team or by last name. The spreadsheet takes more rows: insert them above the Present per day row and copy the three count formulas down.
Why are some characters missing from my names in the PDF?
The PDF uses a basic font that covers English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters print without the accent, and a note under the field tells you when that happens. The spreadsheet keeps your names exactly as typed.
How do I print it two-sided?
Download two months or two weeks as separate PDFs and print them one after the other on the same sheet, or print one PDF and turn the paper over for the second. Most printers offer two-sided printing in the print dialog; pick the long-edge option for portrait and the short-edge option for landscape pages so the back is not upside down.