How to Use Arrange Cover

In this guide we’ll look at how to perform the following tasks in the Arrange Cover panel.

Configuring the Page Views
Staff Who Have Already Been Recorded as Absent
Recording Staff Absence
Adding a Room Closure
Add Cover
Auto Cover
Making Staff/ Rooms Available
Save and Publish Cover
Further Options
Swap Staff and Rooms

Access: The minimum permissions required to access the Arrange Cover page is found in the Cover Module of Config>Setup>Roles & Permissions.

Further Guidance;

For guidance on Closing Rooms for Examinations to be visible in Arrange Cover see How to Configure Exam Rooms in Cover
How to View and Edit a Teaching Class
How to Add Staff to Teaching Classes and/or Groups

Navigate to Modules>Cover> Arrange Cover.

When the panel opens the top-left Date by default shows for the current date. A past or future date can be selected using the calendar icon to the right of the Date.

Note: If a past or future date is selected and the page is then refreshed, the panel will revert to the current date.

Configuring the Page Views

There are 2 places on the Arrange Cover page where you can customise the view.

The first option is in the Staff panel on the left hand side of the page.

Click the Filter icon

In the pop up click the + button to create a new view. Make changes to a view using the Pencil icon, or delete a view using the Bin icon.

After click + to create a new view the Add/Edit Display Configuration panel includes several display options that can be added to the view.

Type in the Column Display Name to name the view.

Name, Subject and Initials are added by default for Staff and cannot be removed
Cover Status : This can either be C to show assigned to Cover or A for Absent.
Left in Cycle : if a timetable for a week was 25 sessions (5 Periods per day, for a week), and a teacher was teaching 10 sessions per week – then their left in cycle would be 15 sessions, i.e. they have 15 sessions free to take cover
YTD – Year to Date (amount of cover allocated for the Year to Date)
TTD – Term to Date (amount of cover allocated for the Term to Date)
CTD – Cycle to Date.(amount of cover allocated throughout the current timetable cycle.
- For schools operating a two-week timetable cycle, the CTD value will show cover usage across the full two-week period. Likewise, schools using a three-week timetable cycle would see cover totals for the current three-week cycle. This makes CTD the most appropriate option for monitoring cover arrangements across your timetable cycle rather than on a week-to-date basis.

Once complete click Save.

The 2nd place to configure the view is by clicking the Filter Cup in the top right of the Cover Grid

Important: If Exam Rooms Cover has been configured, Exams must be selected in the Display section.
Use the tick boxes to select the items to display, then choose the display order using the Sort By drop-down.
Optionally, select Show Only Cover Required Events or Show Only Incomplete Events.
Use the tick boxes to choose which Cover Event information is displayed in the Arrange Cover panel.
Select OK to apply the changes. The Arrange Cover panel will update accordingly.

Staff who have already been recorded as Absent

Members of staff who have been made absent will be displayed in the Arrange Cover panel automatically.

Recording Staff Absence

Staff can also be recorded as absent from this page. Right-click the relevant staff member in the left hand Staff panel and select Add Staff As Absent. This action also updates the staff absence record in the Administration module, so the absence does not need to be entered again.

Note: Multiple staff members can be selected simultaneously, provided they have the same absence reason and absence duration.

A new window will display where the Absence Details are added, complete this and click Save.

This staff member will now display on the Cover page.

Adding a Room Closure

To add a Room Closure, first switch the top-left radio button from Staff to Room.

Right click on the Room and select Add Room Closure.

In the pop-up enter the details of the Room Closure and click Create.

Add Cover

Select whether to arrange cover for Staff or Rooms. You then have the option to filter by Staff or Room Type using the drop downs.

Once you’ve defined the Staff Type, you will be able to view a list containing every residing member. This can then be Filtered again to narrow down the list.

To add Cover click on a Period to be covered. Once selected it will display a red border and the Staff available for that period will be displayed.

Click on the member of Staff who will be covering that period in the list on the left hand side and drag them onto the period to be covered.

Tip: the green arrows on the Staff name define which periods they are available either side of the selected period. This can be used if covering for a double period.

In this example the green arrow to the right of the staff initials indicates this member of Staff is available for cover for the sessions after the selected period.

In this example the green arrows either side of the staff initials indicate this member of Staff is available to cover for sessions before and after the selected period

The pale blue colour in the Staff list on the left indicates the Staff who are Available to cover the selected session, if you scroll down to the bottom of the pale blue list you may see other Staff with different colours.

These different colours in the left hand Available Staff column relate to the colours assigned to Staff Non Contact and Duty Codes which you can access from Config>Cover>Configuration>Duty Code – Colour Details.

Once you have dragged the member into the period box, the page will refresh and the period will now be covered. The covered period will now display in a teal colour with a red outline and the initials of the Cover Teacher will show in the bottom right.

Dragging the Cover Teacher onto the left hand box containing the Absent Teacher’s name, will cover the periods for the whole day (this will not include AM or PM registration).

Auto Cover

You have the option to arrange cover automatically based on the rules you have set up in Config > Cover > Configurations. To do this click on Auto Cover.

You will see the following message, click Proceed to confirm.

The system will then automatically assign Cover where possible. If there are any sessions that the system cannot automatically Cover following the rules you have put in place, you will receive the following notification.

Any unassigned sessions you will need to manage manually following the steps discussed earlier in this guide.

Making Staff/Rooms Available

If a Staff Member has been marked as unavailable for Cover you can change this by right clicking on the staff member from the list in the Staff panel and clicking Make Available for Cover.

If a Room has been marked as unavailable for Cover, right click on the Room and select Display Room Details.

Then untick This Room must not be used for cover and click Save.

Save and Publish Cover

You have the option between Save and Save and Publish. Use Save Only option if you wish to Save the work you have done without making the changes available to Staff yet. To make the changes visible to Staff click Save & Publish.

Further Options

Right- click on a period that has had Cover Arranged to see the following.

Publish Session Cover Data – This option allows you to instantly publish the selected periods cover details. This is useful for when amendments need to be made quickly.
Remove Teacher – This option will allow you to remove the currently assigned covering teacher.
Remove Room – This allows you to remove the covering room from the selected periods cover.
Swap Teacher – This option allows you to replace the covering teacher, with an alternative, available teacher.
Swap Room – This option allows you to replace the covering room, with an alternative room.
Display this Teacher’s Timetable – This option will display the covering teachers current timetable.
Display this Room’s Timetable –This option will display the selected rooms current timetable.
Display Student Group List – This option will give a list containing the name of each student that is a current member of the selected class.

Add Extra Cover Staff – This option displays another menu, which in turn displays a list of staff associated with it.

Split to half-periods – This will split the selected period into two separate ‘half’ periods.
Set to cover not required – This option is used for periods in which cover is no longer required.

Swap Staff and Rooms

September 2025 New Feature: A new Swap page has been introduced, allowing users to swap staff and rooms. This feature is located within the Arrange Cover page, as it shares much of the same functionality. Keeping it alongside Cover ensures visibility of any existing cover when planning staff or room swaps.

New Toggle

A top left toggle has been added to the Cover page, allowing users to switch between Cover (default) and Swap.
In Swap, Cover entries remain visible for users with Cover permissions.

Managing Staff and Rooms in the Swap Grid

Hover indicators in the side panels display staff absences and room closures, with this information carried over from the Cover page.

Add/remove items to/from the grid one at a time using the green (add) or red (remove) icons.
Use checkboxes to add/remove multiple selections or all rows at once.

When items are added to the Swap grid:
- Staff and Rooms already assigned to cover appear in green.
- Staff and Rooms swapped due to cover arrangements appear in purple.
- Staff and Rooms available for swapping appear in yellow.

Swap Options

To perform a swap, select two sessions in the grid (left-click), then right-click to choose:
- Swap Teacher
- Swap Room
- Swap Teacher & Room