Teacher unavailable periods

You can mark specific time slots during which a teacher cannot or prefers not to teach. The scheduler uses these constraints when generating the timetable.

Go to Teachers and click the edit icon next to a teacher. The unavailability table is shown at the bottom of the page.

Two types of markers

Block (Strict) — shown in red. The scheduler will never place a lesson in this slot. Use this when the teacher is genuinely unavailable — for example, a teacher who cannot work on Monday mornings.

Avoid (Flexible) — shown in yellow. The scheduler will try to avoid this slot but may use it if there is no other option. Use this for preferences — for example, a teacher who prefers not to teach on Friday afternoons.

How to mark slots

1. Select a marker tool: Block (Strict) or Avoid (Flexible).
2. Click on individual cells in the table, or click and drag to mark multiple slots at once.
3. Click on a day label (row header) to mark the entire day.
4. Click on a time slot label (column header) to mark that time across all days.
5. Click Save to apply the changes.

To remove a marker, select the same tool and click the marked cell again, or use Reset all to clear the entire table.

Recommendation

Use Avoid (Flexible) wherever possible. Too many strict blocks can make the timetable impossible to generate. A warning appears if more than 50% of time slots are marked as unavailable.

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