How to Make a School Timetable (and Handle Substitutions Every Morning)
Build a school timetable in a fixed order: set the bell schedule, decide periods per subject per week for each class, assign teachers, record constraints (part-time staff, shared labs, games periods), place the hardest-to-schedule periods first, then fill the rest and check every teacher's weekly load. Substitutions need their own daily process: know who is absent by the first bell, assign free teachers fairly by load, and record every arrangement.
Start with the bell schedule
Before any subject goes on the grid, fix the frame: the number of periods each day, their length, the assembly, breaks, and any short day such as Saturday. Every later decision depends on it, so agree it with the principal first and do not change it mid-way.
Decide periods per subject per week
For each class, list the subjects and how many periods each gets in a week. Start from your board's curriculum guidance and your school's priorities, and make sure the total matches the number of periods available. A common mistake is a plan that needs 46 periods in a 44-period week, discovered only when the grid will not close.
| Class 8 example | Periods per week |
|---|---|
| English | 6 |
| Second language | 5 |
| Mathematics | 7 |
| Science | 6 |
| Social science | 6 |
| Computer science | 2 |
| Art, music, physical education | 6 |
| Library, value education, activity | 4 |
| Total | 42 |
Assign teachers and check the load
Assign a teacher to every subject in every section, then add up each teacher's periods for the week. Watch for:
- Overloaded teachers. A teacher with 34 or 35 teaching periods a week has no time to plan, check work or cover absences. Keep loads balanced within a department.
- Underused teachers, who are then the first called for every substitution.
- Class teacher periods. Give each class teacher at least one period with their class daily, ideally the first.
Write down the constraints
Most timetable failures come from constraints nobody wrote down. Collect them before you start placing periods:
- Part-time or visiting teachers available only on certain days.
- Shared rooms: science labs, computer lab, music room, playground.
- Double periods for practicals.
- Teachers who also teach in the senior wing.
- Periods that must not be last (mathematics for young children) or that work best last (games).
Place the hardest periods first
Fill the grid in this order:
- Fixed events: assembly, house activities, any period shared across the whole school.
- Visiting and part-time teachers.
- Double periods and shared labs.
- Subjects taught by teachers who also teach other wings.
- Everything else.
Placing easy periods first and squeezing the hard ones in later is how a timetable ends up with a lab booked twice.
Check before you publish
- No teacher in two places at once, and no room booked twice.
- Every class gets exactly its planned periods per subject.
- No teacher has more than three or four consecutive periods without a break.
- Each teacher has a free period on most days, which is what makes substitutions possible.
Substitutions: a daily process, not a daily scramble
The timetable is only half the problem. On any morning, a few teachers will be absent, and their classes need cover before the first bell. A process that works:
- Know who is absent early. Leave applications and morning check-ins should reach the coordinator before 7:30, not when a class is found sitting empty.
- See who is free in each affected period. Only teachers without a class that period can cover it.
- Assign fairly. Give the period to the free teacher with the lowest load this week, and spread arrangements across the department over the term.
- Prefer the same subject where possible, so the class can continue the lesson rather than lose it.
- Tell the substitute in writing with the class, period and what to do.
- Record every arrangement, so load is visible and nobody covers five periods in a week while others cover none.
How EduVizio helps
EduVizio keeps bell schedules and weekly timetable grids, and lets the coordinator assign a substitute when a teacher is absent. Staff check in on the app and apply for leave there, so absences are known early, and the principal's attention list flags staff away without cover and teachers over 30 periods a week. See features, or the school ERP overview.
Frequently asked questions
How many periods should a teacher take per week?
It varies by school and level, but a load that leaves the teacher a free period most days is the practical target. Teachers at 34 or more periods a week have no time to plan, check work or cover absences.
What is an arrangement or substitution period?
A period taken by a teacher who is free at that time, covering a class whose own teacher is absent. Arrangements should be assigned fairly by load and recorded.
Can timetable software build the timetable automatically?
Some tools generate a draft from constraints, but the constraints still have to be entered accurately, and a person should check the result. The bigger daily saving usually comes from handling substitutions, not from the yearly build.