Year 12 Options Guide

The Options function helps you place your Year 12 classes into your timetable blocks to make sure that your applicants' choices are accommodated where possible. This guide shows you how to use this feature.

From your Admissions+ dashboard, click on the Options tab at the top.

You then have the option to either build a completely new model from scratch or reload one that you had previously worked on for the same group of applicants.

Choosing the latter prompts you to choose from a list of previously-saved models.

If you decide to create a new one, you will need to give it a name. If you decide to create different versions, you might want to name them based on the reason you are creating them. For example, if you want to see what happens if you can't run your Art & Design class, you could name it, "Year 12 Options without Art & Design".

Next, you will put in the blocks that your school uses. Click on "Confirm & Continue".

The system will pull the information of your subjects from the Subjects area. Meaning, all your imported subjects will be shown in this step. You will need to add your class codes

This is also where you can set the threshold for the minimum & maximum number of students a class can support, and the number of blocks a class takes up. Once done, click on "Confirm & Continue".

In this next step, you will then specify which students you want the system to consider when calculating the best-fit model. You could select all your applicants or just the internal ones, or you may select those who are most likely to attend. It's really up to you.

Once you confirm you have the right list, click on "Select all" and click on "Confirm & Continue".

In the Choices Options step, choose the subjects the system needs to take into account when calculating the best-fit model. Choose from Interested and Reserve subjects, Interested subjects, Offered subjects, and click on "Confirm & Continue".

 

Depending on the number of students you have selected, the system will now let you set the number of classes you plan to run for each subject, and will give you an estimate of the average number of students you might then see in each class based on this number of groups.

Here is where the threshold you set in step 3 becomes apparent - any classes where the average class size is higher than the threshold you set back then will be coloured in red, and those below the lower threshold will be shown in blue.

Here, you can discount certain subjects by setting Teaching Groups to '0'. This gives you the option to exclude certain subjects from the modelling to easily modify the model without having to delete subjects from the entire system. This may be useful to you if there are any subjects which you are considering being unable to offer, so you can see the impact this will have. 

If you set the teaching groups column for any subject to zero, you will receive a notice upon attempting to proceed to the next step. The notice will list all subjects that are not going to be included in the modelling.

At the top right of the table, you may also set an ‘Attrition Rate’ or ‘Drop-out’ rate for your intake. If, for example, you know that only 90% of your applicants end up studying with you in September, you could set this value to ‘90%’ instead of ‘100%’ and the system will automatically reduce your projected numbers to take this into account. You can also set different enrolment follow-through rates for your internal and external applicants.

 

The 'Download summary' button will allow you to quickly download a csv file of the subjects and how many students have chosen each subject.

 

In the Place Classes step, click Allocate to generate your model. 

You are now presented with the best-fit model for your option blocks based on the subject choices of your students. There is a lot of information here, and we're going to show you how it works.

At the top right of the screen are eight buttons:

1. The 'Freeze' button lets you pin all classes and lock all allocations. 
2. The 'Unfreeze' button unpins all classes and unlocks all allocations.
3. The "Allocate" button lets you recalculate students' class allocation using three different options.

You can generate a model with some classes removed without the need to delete that subject out of the entire platform by clicking on the 'X' to the right of each class. 

Click on the Allocate button and select one of the following options:

• Recalculate class allocations for selected students only.
• Recalculate class allocations for all students, except those with frozen allocations.
• Recalculate class allocations for all students, including those manually assigned to classes.

4.  The 'Make a Copy' button allows you to create different versions of this file, to see what might happen should you decide to remove a class, move a class, or add one.

Before you try different scenarios, hit this button and give your current version a name, so you can revert to it by clicking on the "Load" button on the top right of the screen. You may then create another version and name it, so you have a version you can play around with.

 

5. The '+ Add students' button allows you to select students you wish to add to this option model. 

 

6. The 'Update offers' button lets you automatically publish the subjects modelled by the options module directly into a student's 'Offered Courses' list.

Instead of manually transferring the subjects to the Offer List for each student, simply click this button , type 'YES' in the pop up window, then click 'Confirm' to push the subjects to that list to be offered to students.  This allows you to make offers to applicants and include these subjects in their offer email.

 

7. The 'Allocation report' button lets you export a list of students' allocations, including the subjects and classes they have been assigned to in your model.

At the left of the screen, you will see a line of ‘emojis’, showing you a quick breakdown of how happy your students would be with this particular class arrangement.

• The first box (the broadest smile) indicates how many students were placed into all of their main choices without needing to use any reserve options. Ideally, all your students would fall into this category, but realistically, this may not always be achievable.

• The next emoji indicates the number of students who had to be assigned to their reserve choices to receive a full timetable. The emoji to its right shows how many students had to be assigned subjects that were not part of their original choices.

• Some students might not be placeable at all. This means that even if all their reserve choices are used, they have selected subjects that cannot be accommodated. To identify these students, simply click on the last emoji. A grid will appear, allowing you to assign them to other classes.

• At the top right of this section, you will see a box labelled "Score." This provides a rough calculation of the percentage of students who received all of their choices. If all students are perfectly satisfied, the score will display as 100%. You can use this score to benchmark whether changes you make to the timetable improve or worsen the outcomes.

• Underneath the emojis, you’ll find a graphic representation of your blocks, along with a list of classes that the system suggests should be placed in each block. You’ll notice that the system has generated tentative names for the classes using the traditional naming convention (e.g., 12A/Bi for the Year 12 Biology class that runs in Block A). Clicking on a class name allows you to view a list of students the system has tentatively assigned to that class.

If you hover over a particular subject, you’ll notice that other classes of the same subject, located in different blocks, will also change colour. This feature is designed to help you easily see where the other classes for each subject are located within different blocks.

When you hover over a class, you will also notice a few extra icons:

The "push-pin" icon allows you to lock a class in place. This serves as a reminder for yourself to ensure that you don’t move a class from its current location. 

 

Another icon (as shown below) allows you to duplicate a class. For example, if you have a class with 50 students and have found another teacher to take half of the students in their own separate class, clicking the duplicate button allows the system to make a copy of the class and divide the students evenly between the two classes.

 

The "magic wand" icon allows you to test if another block might better suit a particular class. While the system has already placed the class in the BEST location, there are times when you may need to move the class (often due to a staffing clash). Clicking this button will quickly calculate which other blocks would be most suitable and show you the result. You can then move the class to another block by specifying which one the system should transfer it to.

 

If you wish to delete a class from the model, click the "X" to the right of the class. The system will then remove the students from this class, and the number of unhappy students at the top will likely increase slightly.

At the bottom of each block’s column is the "Add new class" button, which you can press to add a new class to a block.

Note that you will likely spend several days working on this model. Before enrolment day, however, you will want to publish your finalised model to the timetables section of Admissions+ so that your Y12 students can sign up for the classes they want.

Keep in mind that, until now, this has been a projection, but on Enrolment Day, it becomes reality.

 

8. When you are ready, click on the 'Publish' button (after making sure you have selected the correct model) to transfer the model to your Enrolment Day timetable in Admissions+.

Once published it will time-stamp the date and time you have finished it.