Timetabling Software

[Ditto]

Just for intrigue, has anyone ever spent the time to put together all the inputs and requirements into an AI tool and see what it can come up with. I'd be shocked if it made a decent fist of it, but perhaps it would be an interesting experiment. I expect it would take a significant effort on the input side, but AI tools work best when in discussion goes in to a lot of detail on what problem is being resolved.

[bobsmith]

Edval is probably the closest thing I've seen to AI - we've done 2 timetables where we let the software produce the actual scheduled version with very little direct input from us. Mostly in Edval you end up just adjusting the prority of the rules if it's not producing a timetable with high enough quality.

One of the nice things it has is a quality indicator (measured against the rules you've provided it) and I know that in our 2nd year we got it down to a really good score compared to other schools.

I know I'm pretty good at seeing moves that other people struggle to see but the software algorithm can do those moves in milliseconds compared to minutes.

AutoScheduling in older software was often so bad that I'd end up doing it all in excel myself and then simply plugging that solution into the software. With Edval it's been much more of a matter of adjusting the rooming requirements or relaxing a rule on spread of lessons and then the software solves it in seconds.

 

The downside (yes there are one or two) is that mid year changes need doing directly in bromcom (but it's actually easy to do so not a huge downside) but a major rewrite mid year would be a massive pain in the bum.

 

Saying that I believe that issue is actually a bromcom issue rather than an Edval one. I think that in a SIMS school you could use Edval just like you do Nova in terms of just importing a new version with an effective date?

[ANON23]

I have written numerous timetables and would consider myself experienced on this matter.

 

Over the last few years, due to an MIS change to Bromcom, I have worked with wTimetable within Bromcom.

 

I would say for a new timetabler, it is really intuitive and walks colleagues through the process and logic really well. 

Bromcom have continued to develop the software year on year, and the functionality is now there for the most complex of timetables. There are still improvements to make, but it is definitely on the right path.

 

If you are experienced with Nova it is a culture and mind shift and does take some getting used to. You have to be open-minded and almost forget how Nova's process worked, but you do get used to the new way of working as you do when you consider any change management process.

 

I do have schools that use Timetabler alongside Bromcom which obviously incurs additional cost but they do like it.

[GeekDragon]

2 minutes ago, ANON23 said:

I have written numerous timetables and would consider myself experienced on this matter.

 

Over the last few years, due to an MIS change to Bromcom, I have worked with wTimetable within Bromcom.

 

I would say for a new timetabler, it is really intuitive and walks colleagues through the process and logic really well. 

Bromcom have continued to develop the software year on year, and the functionality is now there for the most complex of timetables. There are still improvements to make, but it is definitely on the right path.

 

If you are experienced with Nova it is a culture and mind shift and does take some getting used to. You have to be open-minded and almost forget how Nova's process worked, but you do get used to the new way of working as you do when you consider any change management process.

 

I do have schools that use Timetabler alongside Bromcom which obviously incurs additional cost but they do like it.

I agree with ANON23. Again, I am an experienced timetabler and have recently been using wTimetable in Bromcom. It was definitley a culture shock compared to my years using Nova-T, however It has improved greatly over the last few years, and it continues to do so. 

[titch]

On 16/01/2026 at 14:39, Keith-Johnson said:

I don't think my views have changed substantially in recent years. 
I have sometimes been appalled at how long some MIS take to complete 'immediate' tasks.  Has your MIS network ever gone down?  How often do you see a 'spinning circle' before you get a response from your MIS?
   
Can all the features of a desktop timetabling program be replicated in a Cloud version??
Has ANY timetabling software yet moved successfully to the Cloud?
   

Could you (as Timetabler) afford to wait while a Cloud version found some possible solutions for you (as the human who knows about your colleagues) to choose from?   If not, what is the likelihood of getting a Quality timetable. which your colleagues have to operate (and be subjected to) for the next 190 days?
     
You can see that I'm dubious.
    

Thanks for this.

We did discuss recently about moving away from Kieth Johnson due to the lack of "cloud" option. It would certainly make the licensing and install/file management much more managaeable but our timetabler still loves the product. Another concern was now timetabler has now been bought out by the key, the key may look to incorporate the product directly into Arbor. Do you think this could be a possibility? 

[TheCookieMonster]

On 03/02/2026 at 16:19, titch said:

Thanks for this.

We did discuss recently about moving away from Kieth Johnson due to the lack of "cloud" option. It would certainly make the licensing and install/file management much more managaeable but our timetabler still loves the product. Another concern was now timetabler has now been bought out by the key, the key may look to incorporate the product directly into Arbor. Do you think this could be a possibility? 

If they did I would not expect a clumsy 'lift and shift' of the existing software into a Cloud environment but rather a re-write into the Cloud which would mean long development cycles to achieve the previously enjoyed functionality and even then, it will probably still change how it works. If you're looking to go into the cloud as a priority with timetabling, other options are already available in this space as others have said above. 

[Keith-Johnson]

Does your Cloud software regularly (regularly! eg. always) respond immediately (ie. very quickly) with the results of a calculation/procedure?
ie. the way that desktop software currently does?
[essential for timetable scheduling in UK secondary schools]

   

Edited February 14 by Keith-Johnson

[davie887]

Rather than start a new thread I'll ask here if nobody minds? We're using Bromcom since October half term and our timetabler wants to continue using NT6. While this isn't really a me problem, any potential future issues might be. Does anyone know of any gotchas with using NovaT6 as the exclusive timetable software for Bromcom? 

[supportman]

9 minutes ago, davie887 said:

Rather than start a new thread I'll ask here if nobody minds? We're using Bromcom since October half term and our timetabler wants to continue using NT6. While this isn't really a me problem, any potential future issues might be. Does anyone know of any gotchas with using NovaT6 as the exclusive timetable software for Bromcom? 

 

We started like that an no real problems, only issue was the cost which was about 4k when quoted from EES for NovaT6 on its own.

 

We eventually moved away to Keith Johnsons product and then to the Bromcom cloud native timetabler this year.

[davie887]

2 minutes ago, supportman said:

 

We started like that an no real problems, only issue was the cost which was about 4k when quoted from EES for NovaT6 on its own.

 

We eventually moved away to Keith Johnsons product and then to the Bromcom cloud native timetabler this year.

 

Our timetabler couldn't get round the fact he can't see the two week cycle on one page in wTimetable... I don't really understand the problem but then I know nothing about timetabling.

 

Are you able to make minor adjustments in Bromcom when the timetable is from NT6?  

[colly72]

Anyone using or considered Atlantis?

 

https://www.atlantis.education/

[Devaleth]

54 minutes ago, davie887 said:

 

Our timetabler couldn't get round the fact he can't see the two week cycle on one page in wTimetable... I don't really understand the problem but then I know nothing about timetabling.

 

Are you able to make minor adjustments in Bromcom when the timetable is from NT6?  

 

I timetable for a two week cycle. For me, the biggest benefit of being able to see the whole cycle in one go is building in consistency wherever possible. E.g. if Year 11 has Maths P1 on Monday morning, I'd want to try and get that in the same place for both weeks. Having to flick backwards and forwards between the weeks not fitting on the same screen would be very frustrating if you're doing this (potentially) hundreds of times.

 

When updating your timetable you have two approaches:

1. Make all further changes in Bromcom directly, via the group screen. This is ideal when it's small, simple changes (like a teacher or room swap)

2. Make amendments in NT6 and reimport into Bromcom as if it were a brand new timetable. This would be the approach if you are doing big changes, but does wipe out any work done in the future (e.g. any cover assignments, attendance marks...). I've also had some wierd issues in the past with it wiping out cover assigned to historic non-contacts (e.g. a duty), lesson covers weren't a problem though. You do also need to be aware that the import only takes the systematic class name from NT6, so if you are in a habit of renaming a class in NT6 or Bromcom, the import syncs with the old class and you'll end up with empty classes and terminated memberships. You'd have to manually amend the class names in the XML export from NT6 to match Bromcom if that is the case.

 

Trying to do both approaches in a year  could lead you to problems - e.g. if you made a number of small changes in Bromcom, then made a bigger change via NT6 but didn't include those changes, so wherever possible I'd suggest sticking to a single approach.

[Keith-Johnson]

Atlantis : was developed in Australia for Australian schools ...so it may not be able to cope with typical UK secondary curricula.
You'll need to check carefully.

[Keith-Johnson]

3 hours ago, davie887 said:

 

Our timetabler couldn't get round the fact he can't see the two week cycle on one page in wTimetable... I don't really understand the problem but then I know nothing about timetabling.

 

Are you able to make minor adjustments in Bromcom when the timetable is from NT6?  

Can't he spread it across 2 (or more) screens?

[davie887]

6 minutes ago, Keith-Johnson said:

Can't he spread it across 2 (or more) screens?

 

Even 3 x 1920 pixel wide screens doesn't show it all in an acceptable manner. I don't really know how NT6 works but I've seen the timetables on it, it's neat and tidy. My timetabler wants to have a look at the demo version of your software too

[Keith-Johnson]

I'm not connected to TimeTabler, Options or StaffCover any more, since Arbor (The Key) bought October ReSolutions Ltd in 2024 ...but I'm still interested in Timetabling !

[colly72]

19 hours ago, Keith-Johnson said:

Atlantis : was developed in Australia for Australian schools ...so it may not be able to cope with typical UK secondary curricula.
You'll need to check carefully.

Thanks.  It was one recommended by Veracross, who we're actively considering as a replacement for SIMS

[Keith-Johnson]

4 hours ago, colly72 said:

Thanks.  It was one recommended by Veracross, who we're actively considering as a replacement for SIMS

Veracross is North American in origin so you'll need to be assured that it will cope with your demands ...eg. I'm not aware of any UK state secondary school that uses Veracross.

[colly72]

48 minutes ago, Keith-Johnson said:

Veracross is North American in origin so you'll need to be assured that it will cope with your demands ...eg. I'm not aware of any UK state secondary school that uses Veracross.

They’re very active in the uk independent sector now and we’ve carried out a lot of work to establish whether they are a good fit for us. 

[TechMonkey]

Looks interesting, but no mention on your site about integration with MISs, just a vague describe your SIS in pilot stage to see if we can integrate.

[JuhoIsola]

6 minutes ago, TechMonkey said:

Looks interesting, but no mention on your site about integration with MISs, just a vague describe your SIS in pilot stage to see if we can integrate.

Yes, that is correct. We're new and building the system integrations as we go and when we onboard new schools as customers, so we'd rather not list connectors we can't stand behind yet.
 

Our product principle is an open API connector: so basically it can integrate with anything the other system actually lets us into, which in the UK most likely varies a lot between SIMS, Bromcom and Arbor. The pilot stage is meant for the customer to evaluate if they can do everything they need to do with the product and be absolutely sure it works with their setup before committing.
 

Which MIS/SIS are you on?

[FN-GM]

Surely timetabling would be a great AI use case. It would cut the time investment by a lot!

[TechMonkey]

21 hours ago, JuhoIsola said:

Which MIS/SIS are you on?

iSAMS.  They accept a standard timetable file but also have select systems they have a special import.  API import would be great though.

[JuhoIsola]

4 minutes ago, FN-GM said:

Surely timetabling would be a great AI use case. It would cut the time investment by a lot!

In our view the actual timetable solving (the maths part) should not be done with AI (especially in the meaning of LLMs) but with constraint optimization algorithms instead. LLMs are not that good at math and the timetabling problem is especially what contraint-optimization like CP-SAT is good at. So, in this part of the process AI does not help much but that is OK as it is not needed here.

But, AI and LLMs are extremely useful in couple of other use cases:
Most of the existing timetabling software tools are very settings-heavy and it takes a lot of time for the users and experts to click around different menus and settings to pre-design everything so the timetable that gets produces matches they requirements and preferences. A lot of this work can be simplified with AI. Instead of doing a lot of this work clicking in the user interface, we could feed school/planner preferences via natural language or via just dumping previous year approved timetables so the tool can extract those preferences and make settings adjustments based on those. For example by extracting certain time preferences for certain lessons and selecting those constraint weights that the school seems to prefer.

And instead of having the user to click around in a cluttered user interface, they could just tell the AI planner agent inside the tool to "move term 2 plan from this year into next year and adjust it taking into account national holidays" or something like that and the AI agent would then go and carry the task end-to-end which could take potentially even hours of users time if they would try do it manually.

[JuhoIsola]

The moderators removed my initial post in thread this. Seems like it was reported by the forum readers as a commercial promotion.

I am sorry about that and all the best for everyone.