Introduction to effective timetabling

This is an intensive, 3-day secondary school timetabling course for those becoming involved in constructing the school timetable for the first time or those who need an overview of the basics of the theory and practice of timetabling.

The needs of the learner should be at the centre of curriculum design and development. The school timetable is the vehicle which supports the delivery of an effective curriculum. Secondary schools, in meeting the needs of a wide variety of learners, will turn to their timetabler to help provider effective ways of delivery for learners. The skills of the timetabler are key to bringing any curriculum design to fruition.

Programme summary

The course will:

develop timetablers' basic skills from first principles and the techniques required to produce a secondary school timetable
provide a series of in-depth practical exercises based around a real school timetable and real curriculum designs
promote efficiency within timetabling
provide an opportunity to share curriculum structures and development ideas with fellow timetablers
introduce techniques and help schools deliver in areas of the curriculum in times of staff shortages in particular curriculum areas
demonstrate software that supports the timetabling process

Who the course is for

headteachers
senior school managers
principal teachers
business managers
staff with a keen interest in learning how to timetable

Course information

We run three courses each year, in November, December and January. Each course lasts for 3 days (Wed - Fri).

The courses in November and December are delivered in-person in Edinburgh and the course in January is delivered online. There will be 20 places available for the online course and 25 places for each of the in-person courses.

The dates for the courses in 2025/26 will be as follows:

Wednesday 5th, Thursday 6th and Friday 7th November 2025 (in-person)
Wednesday 3rd, Thursday 4th and Friday 5th December 2025 (in-person)
Wednesday 14th, Thursday 15th and Friday 16th January 2026 (online)

Fee

The course fee is £595.

Course fees are non-refundable. The Professional Learning Office operates a cancellation policy to ensure that delegates are not disadvantaged by the last-minute cancellation of courses due to withdrawals making the course unviable.

We will use your personal data to allow us to process your registration, communicate with you and obtain your feedback about this course. We are processing the information about you for these purposes because by registering for the course you give your consent for us to do so.

We will not share information about you with third parties.

We will hold the personal data you provided us for 12 months after course completion. If you have agreed to be contacted about future events, we will hold your personal data for as long as you subscribe to these updates. Financial data such as a payment record will be held for 7 years. We do not use profiling or automated decision-making processes.

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Paying the course fee

By invoice

If your employer or local authority is providing payment of your course fee, please ensure that the following information is included in the booking form: