Solution to "subquery returns more than 1 row" error

= can be used when the subquery returns only 1 value.

When subquery returns more than 1 value, you will have to use IN:

select * 
from table
where id IN (multiple row query);

For example:

SELECT *
FROM Students
WHERE Marks = (SELECT MAX(Marks) FROM Students)   --Subquery returns only 1 value

SELECT *
FROM Students
WHERE Marks IN 
      (SELECT Marks 
       FROM Students 
       ORDER BY Marks DESC
       LIMIT 10)                       --Subquery returns 10 values

You can use in():

select * 
from table
where id in (multiple row query)

or use a join:

select distinct t.* 
from source_of_id_table s
join table t on t.id = s.t_id
where <conditions for source_of_id_table>

The join is never a worse choice for performance, and depending on the exact situation and the database you're using, can give much better performance.

Use MAX in your SELECT query to return one value… EXAMPLE

INSERT INTO school_year_studentid (student_id,syr_id) VALUES
((SELECT MAX(student_id) FROM student), (SELECT MAX(syr_id) FROM school_year))

instead of

INSERT INTO school_year_studentid (student_id,syr_id) VALUES
((SELECT (student_id) FROM student), (SELECT (syr_id) FROM school_year))

try it without MAX it will return more than one value