Advice on creating timetables and managing substitutions

About Gibbon
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Hello,
I’m new here and I need some advice on software for creating a timetable for teachers and which can arrange substitutions for absent teachers (manual input is fine too).

Is Gibbon able to do both? Regarding the first point, I’ve found FET and unitime amongst the open source options. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each solution? For the second point, I’m not entirely sure whether they’re capable of doing this (there is a new FET Substitutions Manager).

Thank you

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Hi Alfredo, welcome to the community!

Gibbon: it covers substitutions well and timetabling only partly.

  • Timetabling: Gibbon has no automatic timetable generator. You build the timetable in Timetable Admin (days, columns, periods, classes, teachers, rooms), either by hand or by import. Once it’s in, teachers and students see their timetables, and Gibbon handles room bookings and facility changes.

  • Substitutions: Recent versions have staff absence and coverage tools in the Staff module. Staff record absences, coverage can go to internal staff or external substitutes, and substitute availability is tracked. Covered lessons show on the substitute’s timetable. Manual input is fine here, as you said.

FET vs UniTime

  • FET: A desktop app that generates timetables automatically from your constraints (teacher availability, max gaps, room types, etc.). It is very flexible and well suited to K-12 schools. The downsides are a learning curve for the constraint setup, and it’s a standalone tool with no live data or multi-user access.

  • UniTime: A web-based system aimed mainly at universities (course and exam timetabling, student sectioning). It’s powerful, but it needs a server stack to install and maintain, which is usually overkill for a school. It also isn’t built around day-to-day substitutions.

I haven’t used the FET Substitutions Manager, so check its documentation to see whether it fits your workflow.

A practical setup: generate the timetable in FET, load it into Gibbon, and let Gibbon handle daily operations like absences and substitutes. Gibbon has import tools that make the loading step manageable, and I’m happy to go into how that works if you’re interested.

If you tell us your school size and number of teachers, people here can give more specific advice.

@alfredo

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ALFREDO

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