Substitute lessons let students move from a scheduled lesson they cannot attend to another suitable lesson in a different class. This option is only available when classes share the same subject and level, ensuring students switch to appropriate lessons. This guide explains how to enable the feature and how substitutions work for students, related contacts, and admins.
Activating substitute lessons
Before anyone can substitute lessons, you need to enable the option for each student.
1. Enable the feature for a student
Open Students and select the student.
Click More and choose Edit student.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Tick Allow substitute lessons.
You can also set the maximum number of lessons that can be substituted per calendar month, and the period for which the student can substitute.
Click Save.
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Once enabled, the substitute option appears for all future lessons for that student.
Student or related contact substitutions
1. Open the lesson
Students or related contacts log in to the Student Portal and open the upcoming lesson card.
2. Choose a substitute lesson
If the feature is enabled and the lesson is in the future, they will see a Substitute lesson button.
3. Select a replacement lesson
A pop-up displays available lessons from other classes that share the same class subject and level.
Only lessons with matching categories will appear.
Students can review and select the replacement lesson.
4. Confirm the substitution
When the student confirms:
They are automatically marked as excused for the original lesson, and the lesson's colour changes to grey in their calendar.
The admin and teacher receive a dashboard notification.
A note is added to the student profile showing the details of the original lesson, the new lesson, and who made the change.
The student appears in the new lesson as a Substitute.
Admin substitutions
Admins and staff/ teachers (with the relevant permissions) can also substitute lessons on behalf of a student.
1. Open the student’s lesson
Go to the class and open the original lesson from which the student will be excused.
2. Click the substitute lesson
Click on the ... button on the relevant student.
If the feature is enabled for that student, the Substitute lesson option appears on the lesson card.
3. Select an alternative lesson
Admins can choose from the same list of eligible lessons - those sharing the same subject and level.
4. Confirm the substitution
The system updates attendance and notifications in the same way as student-driven substitutions above.
Tips
Make sure all classes are categorised correctly with accurate class subjects and levels.
Students and related contacts can substitute future lessons.
Substituted lessons show the student with a Substitute status in the lesson.
Summary / next steps
Substitute lessons give your school flexible scheduling while maintaining class structure. This approach also saves admins a lot of time and empowers the student/related contact to manage their schedule. Once enabled for a student, both students and admins can easily switch lessons when needed.