diff --git a/backend/src/controllers/attendance.ts b/backend/src/controllers/attendance.ts
index 6069c3e..29df9d5 100644
--- a/backend/src/controllers/attendance.ts
+++ b/backend/src/controllers/attendance.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { validationResult } from "express-validator";
 import { Types } from "mongoose";
 
 import { AttendanceModel } from "../models/attendance";
+import { Section } from "../models/sections";
+import { SessionModel } from "../models/session";
 
 import type { RequestHandler } from "express";
 
@@ -54,6 +56,37 @@ export const updateAttendanceById: RequestHandler = async (req, res, next) => {
   }
 };
 
+const getStudentsInSection = async (sectionId: Types.ObjectId): Promise<Types.ObjectId[]> => {
+  const section = await Section.findById(sectionId).select("enrolledStudents");
+
+  // Can't be null because of validation checks prior to calling this function
+  return section!.enrolledStudents;
+};
+
+export const ensureAttendanceForSession = async (sessionId: string) => {
+  const existing = await AttendanceModel.find({ session: sessionId });
+  if (existing.length > 0) return existing;
+
+  const session = await SessionModel.findById(sessionId);
+  if (!session) throw new Error("Session not found");
+
+  const sessionDate = new Date(session.sessionDate);
+  const today = new Date();
+  sessionDate.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0);
+  today.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0);
+  // Don't create attendance for future sessions
+  if (sessionDate > today) return [];
+
+  const students = await getStudentsInSection(session.section);
+  await Promise.all(
+    students.map(async (studentId) =>
+      AttendanceModel.create({ session: session._id, student: studentId, status: "PRESENT" }),
+    ),
+  );
+
+  return AttendanceModel.find({ session: sessionId });
+};
+
 export const getAttendanceBySessionId: RequestHandler = async (req, res, next) => {
   try {
     const errors = validationResult(req);
diff --git a/backend/src/controllers/session.ts b/backend/src/controllers/session.ts
index 9182da1..6065cf8 100644
--- a/backend/src/controllers/session.ts
+++ b/backend/src/controllers/session.ts
@@ -1,18 +1,11 @@
 import { validationResult } from "express-validator";
 
 import { AttendanceModel } from "../models/attendance";
-import { Section } from "../models/sections";
 import { SessionModel } from "../models/session";
 
-import type { RequestHandler } from "express";
-import type { Types } from "mongoose";
-
-const getStudentsInSection = async (sectionId: string): Promise<Types.ObjectId[]> => {
-  const section = await Section.findById(sectionId).select("enrolledStudents");
+import { ensureAttendanceForSession } from "./attendance";
 
-  // Can't be null because of validation checks prior to calling this function
-  return section!.enrolledStudents;
-};
+import type { RequestHandler } from "express";
 
 type CreateSessionBody = {
   section: string;
@@ -30,22 +23,6 @@ export const createSession: RequestHandler = async (req, res, next) => {
       sessionDate,
     });
 
-    // create Attendance records for all students enrolled in Section
-
-    // Get all student Ids in the section (enrolledStudents list)
-    const students = await getStudentsInSection(section);
-
-    // Create attendance records for all students in session
-    await Promise.all(
-      students.map(async (studentId) =>
-        AttendanceModel.create({
-          session: session._id,
-          student: studentId,
-          status: "PRESENT",
-        }),
-      ),
-    );
-
     return res.status(201).json(session);
   } catch (error) {
     next(error);
@@ -87,14 +64,13 @@ export const getSession: RequestHandler = async (req, res, next) => {
       return res.status(404).json({ error: "Session not found" });
     }
 
-    // Check what we are searching for in the Attendance collection
-    const query = { session: id };
-    // Run the query
-    const attendanceRecords = await AttendanceModel.find(query).populate("student");
+    // This creates records if missing, checks the date, returns them
+    const attendanceRecords = await ensureAttendanceForSession(id);
+    const populated = await AttendanceModel.populate(attendanceRecords, { path: "student" });
 
     const response = {
       ...session.toObject(),
-      attendees: attendanceRecords,
+      attendees: populated,
     };
 
     res.status(200).json(response);
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/(pages)/attendance/page.tsx b/frontend/src/app/(pages)/attendance/page.tsx
index adaadab..14a8488 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/(pages)/attendance/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/(pages)/attendance/page.tsx
@@ -62,13 +62,12 @@ export default function Attendance() {
     void load();
   }, [activeSectionId]);
 
-  // Derive available dates from the loaded sessions for this section
+  // Derive available dates using local time
   const availableDates = sessionList.map((s) => {
     const d = new Date(s.sessionDate);
-    // Use UTC values to avoid timezone shift
-    const year = d.getUTCFullYear();
-    const month = String(d.getUTCMonth() + 1).padStart(2, "0");
-    const day = String(d.getUTCDate()).padStart(2, "0");
+    const year = d.getFullYear();
+    const month = String(d.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, "0");
+    const day = String(d.getDate()).padStart(2, "0");
     return `${year}-${month}-${day}`;
   });
 
@@ -88,8 +87,13 @@ export default function Attendance() {
     if (!activeSectionId || !activeDate) return;
 
     const match = sessionList.find((s) => {
-      const sDate = new Date(s.sessionDate).toISOString().split("T")[0];
-      return sDate === activeDate;
+      const d = new Date(s.sessionDate);
+      const year = d.getFullYear();
+      const month = String(d.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, "0");
+      const day = String(d.getDate()).padStart(2, "0");
+      const localSessionDate = `${year}-${month}-${day}`;
+
+      return localSessionDate === activeDate;
     });
 
     if (match) {