T6 vs Edval

[Nearthemark]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had moved from T6 to Edval, and if so what your experience was like. Would be really grateful to hear your thoughts, and any advice.

 

Many thanks,

 

 

 

Mark

[ABR82]

Just bumping this - anyone out there using Edval, and how do they find it compared to T6? How is the learning curve if we we to switch.

[Nearthemark]

I've arranged a demo with Edval next week for our trust, happy to share thoughts with you?

[Data2]

Would love to hear thoughts on this.

[supportman]

Looked good when we took a look at it. But if my memory serves me correctly, they were still working on a cloud product and it was all still pc based.

[DavidYoung]

We've just moved to Edval as are switching from SIMS to Arbor for our MIS. Our timetabler was convinced there was nothing better than NovaT6 out there having looked at Timetabler and some others but was very impressed by Edval.

 

It is still Windows based and they said they were working on a cloud version. It is pretty expensive but you get a fair chunk of training included which our team are starting now. Fingers crossed it should be good!

[gh5000]

We've just moved to Edval as are switching from SIMS to Arbor for our MIS. Our timetabler was convinced there was nothing better than NovaT6 out there having looked at Timetabler and some others but was very impressed by Edval.

 

It is still Windows based and they said they were working on a cloud version. It is pretty expensive but you get a fair chunk of training included which our team are starting now. Fingers crossed it should be good!

Can you share costs?

[supportman]

Its about 3k I believe. Actually cheaper than Nova-T6 (if you buy it independently from Sims).

[ITGuyNW]

We are looking at timetabling software... Currently on T6. Is Edval worth the jump?

[MartinT]

Last year we switched to Edval (it was the timetabler's decision without reference to digital strategy). It was a huge disaster as Edval couldn't or wouldn't understand our bi-weekly tiered timetables. Possibly co-incidentally, possibly not, the timetabler has now left.

 

This year we are back on NT6 and all is well again with our 2022/23 timetable well in the advanced planning stage.

 

A lesson in what happens when a member of staff goes rogue without reference to others.

[lmgtfy]

Sorry to bump an old thread but has there been any improvements to edval since the last posts or has everyone stopped using it? Our large MAT who uses sims and t6 are thinking about moving to it and I haven't read anything good yet so am getting a bit worried.

 

Thanks

[RichP]

When we moved to Arbor we opted for Edval having been impressed with it's functionality. It's big selling point is it's automation of the timetable, something that T6 does but not well.

 

There are countless and not particularly well documented, options to tweak it with all of the insights you already have about the timetable.

 

It builds 98% of the timetable well, and makes it near impossible to make a tweak. Want to swap some classes in a linear block? Nope. Want to swap some rooms around consistently for a class? Nope.

We used this the first year they introduced the Arbor sync and it was stressful to say the least.

 

We use Timetabler now, so I don't know if it's improved over the last year but we renewed Timetabler again this year.

 

Neither have the tight integration with the curriculum structure that T6 had and as much as SIMS had very strict curriculum membership and structure rules it's quite the opposite in Arbor and not in a good way (unless the you operate a school in which the laws of physics don't apply). I still have a number of reservations about the timetable and curriculum management in Arbor.

 

There isn't the ability the manage the timetable in either Edval or Timetabler and sync it back and forth as was possible in T6. There is limited functionality for timetabler, but it's broken easily.

[techy32]

I completely agree with the concerns raised by RichP about Edval, as the software does automate 98% of the timetable, but the remaining 2% has proven to be a major challenge or impossible. Additionally, its cost of £3.5K makes it significantly more expensive compared to other options such as Timetabler.

 

Given these challenges, we have begun the process of moving away from Edval, but unfortunately, we had originally signed a three-year contract. We are currently reviewing the terms and conditions to see if we can cancel the contract. Any tip/guidance on this matter will be greatly appreciated.

 

While Edval has a nice interface, it is not tailored to the needs of the UK market, as it is owned by an Australian company.

Edited February 12, 2023 by techy32

[David44]

We are looking at this at the moment, looking at their website anyway, we haven't actually seen the software yet. I've never been involved with timetabling before but as far as I can see, Edval generates a .etz file, Noca T6 generates a .spl file. Can SIMS and/or Nova T6 import a .etz file? What is the work flow if using Edval?

 

Also, is anyone actually using Edval for timetabling at the moment?

 

EDIT: To answer my first question, yes, it's possible to use with SIMS and/or Nova T6 (see PDF file on this page... https://www.edval.education/sims-novat6/?lang=uk)

 

I'd still be interested to hear experiences of anyone else using this in the UK with SIMS though.

Edited May 9, 2023 by David44

[KHadley]

Not using Edval but looking too, very interested to hear anyone's thoughts? [bUMP]

[TimetableClaire]

Hi I am a bit biased because I used to do some consultancy work for Edval but for what it's worth... Edval is, in my opinion, streets ahead of any other piece of software in terms of its ability to deal with complex timetable scenarios. BUT it's quite complicated to use and also very different to other software and therefore novice users can find it really difficult to achieve the timetable they're aiming for, particularly in their first year.

 

For info: Edval will sync to all the major MIS but some of them make it more hard work than it should be!

[bobsmith]

We've used Edval for 2 timetables now and are planning on starting our 3rd shortly.

 

It's allowed our last 2 timetablers (both completely new to timetabling) to get a functional and workable timetable out the door their first time around.

 

The automation of scheduling is the best I've seen. (compared to e-timetabler, nova-t6 (and T4!) and scheduler - not used timetabler for a real timetable yet).

 

I'm an old skool timetabler and like a combination of good planning and feasibility checks before going anywhere near scheduling - if you've done all of that then the software for scheduling it should have a much easier time of it. I'm quite happily doing it in excel then just building it in the timetable software just so i can import it (but I know I'm a dying breed). That said Edval, along with their excellent support team/trainers, is a system I'm happy enough using.

 

While you wouldn't go back to EdVal to make changes midyear - when using bromcom you just make the changes directly in the MIS so it's simply not needed.

If I was using SIMS I'd stick to T6 - but for any other MIS I'd dumpy T6 as fast as I could unless you really like the early 90s windows 3.11 aesthetic.

[Disease]

Following this as we are in the process of moving to Arbor and are trying to decide between Edval and Timetabler.