By automating the allocation of teaching bookings to teaching spaces, highlighting and offering the ability to resolve scheduling conflicts, and providing insights into room usage patterns, the tool can be used to significantly reduce administrative load. It directly addresses common timetabling challenges, such as balancing space efficiency with consistency of teaching locations.
The tool runs locally within Excel, requires no specialist knowledge beyond basic Excel skills, and has been tailored to accommodate Oxford’s term dates (Michaelmas, Hilary, Trinity), teaching week (Monday–Friday), and room characteristics such as de-partitionable rooms. Departments retain complete control over their timetables, with flexible options to adjust allocations, resolve conflicts interactively, and export customised timetables directly into Outlook calendars or to Word as lecture lists for wider distribution.
Comprehensive guidance on getting started, using advanced analysis tools, and troubleshooting common issues can be found in the detailed User Guide provided.
Who is this tool for?
- Timetabling Staff
- Departmental Administrators
- Teaching Coordinators
- Building Managers
What does the tool do?
- Map thousands of bookings to rooms in minutes.
- Highlights unplaced bookings and helps Departments explore the closest available alternative timeslots.
- Provides Room & Bookings and Teaching Activity Viewers, plus a Utilisation dashboard
- Exports to Outlook (ICS) and Word (Lecture Lists).
Known limitations
- Teaching week is Monday to Friday only; weekend bookings aren’t supported.
- Week numbers 0–10; term names must be exactly Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity; day names must be exact.
- Bookings must start and end at 15-minute intervals, between the hours of 08:00 - 20:00.
Key Benefits
Time Saving: Streamline the process of determining the most space-efficient room for each booking. The tool can map thousands of bookings within minutes.
Reduce Conflicts: Minimise scheduling conflicts while respecting room capacities and availability.
Optimise Space Usage: Two scheduling modes allow Departments to prioritise either maximum space efficiency or teaching consistency based on local needs.
Gain Insights: In-built analytics reveal utilisation patterns, peak demand periods, and space efficiency metrics.
Export and Distribute: Export timetable data directly to Outlook calendars or generate formatted Word documents for distribution.
