Tes Timetable

Tes Timetable is a school scheduling system for building complex timetables, balancing constraints, and assigning student subjects. It suits schools whose schedules change frequently or span multiple campuses, particularly those that need both automated optimisation and manual control. Its strongest case is a configurable, school-wide workflow; the main cautions are custom pricing and the Windows-only E10 desktop requirement.

Overview

Tes Timetable combines automatic schedule generation with manual allocations, letting staff fine-tune results to local requirements. It can identify and help resolve teacher and room clashes, account for teacher constraints, schedule student groups, and adapt when staffing changes. Tes says its algorithm can examine up to 30,000 alternative timetables per second, which is useful when a school has many competing requirements rather than a simple weekly grid.

The system also supports supplementary timetables for student subsets whose activities fall outside regular lessons, and multi-campus scheduling. Schools can manage flexible-working requests through customised schedules. Integration with more than 70 systems, including Compass, Sentral, Arbor and iSams, can reduce duplicate administration where a school already relies on those platforms.

Key features

Core scheduling

Automated scheduling is the headline strength, but manual allocation remains available for cases where staff judgment matters. Conflict detection across teachers and rooms gives timetable managers a way to find practical collisions before publishing, while room and staffing data can feed more complex elective arrangements.

Daily absence cover

Daily is included with Premium and Premium Plus. It provides temporary timetabling for staff absences, automated communications, and SMS and email notifications. That makes the higher packages more relevant to schools that need to manage day-to-day disruption, not just create a term timetable.

Choice and electives

Choice, also included in Premium and Premium Plus, gives students an online class-selection portal connected to Timetable. It accommodates sport, clubs and other options, while complex prerequisites, multiple streams and balanced line generation use room and staffing data. Schools with substantial elective programmes have a clearer reason to choose these packages than schools needing only core scheduling.

Additional help

A Timetabler in Residence can be added to any package for a dedicated Tes timetabler for a year. This is a significant service option for schools that need specialist capacity during implementation or a particularly demanding scheduling cycle.

Pricing

Tes Timetable uses paid, custom pricing, so schools must request a quote. The Australian product page offers a free demo and identifies Premium and Premium Plus packages, but does not publish package prices, seat counts, quotas, trial duration, renewal terms or free-plan limits.

Premium and Premium Plus are the packages that include Daily and Choice. A lower or differently configured package may suit a school focused on timetable construction alone, but it gives up those named absence-management and student-selection tools. Because pricing is on request, budget comparisons require a direct conversation with Tes.

Platforms

Tes lists web and Windows support. Daily, Interviews and Choice run in systems that support web browsers, with Google Chrome and Safari recommended. The E10 desktop application requires a native 64-bit Windows 10 or later PC; macOS is not supported. Tes does not test E10 in virtual environments and does not support attempts to run it that way.

E10 and Edval Staff downloads or updates are handled through Tes's updates website or within the software and require a Tes username and password. Tes recommends storing Timetable software and files on the school's local network. Product support is ticket-based, with published hours Monday to Friday, 8am–5pm AEST.

Who it's for

Tes Timetable is aimed at schools and was created with school staff and students in mind. It is a strong fit for complex secondary or multi-campus operations, schools coordinating electives and prerequisites, and teams that need to react to absences or changing staffing. Schools standardised on macOS, or those planning to run E10 in a virtual environment, should look elsewhere for a supported desktop workflow.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Automated and manual scheduling support handles both optimisation and local exceptions.
• Pros: Teacher, room and student-group constraints, conflict detection, and multi-campus support address complex school operations.
• Pros: Premium packages add absence cover, notifications and a connected student choice portal.
• Pros: More than 70 integrations can connect timetable data with existing school systems.
• Cons: Custom pricing makes it difficult to compare costs without contacting Tes.
• Cons: E10 requires native 64-bit Windows 10 or later and is unsupported on macOS and virtual environments.
• Cons: Choice and Daily are reserved for Premium and Premium Plus, so basic scheduling needs may not justify the higher tiers.

Alternatives

For a broader shortlist, see School Scheduling Software.

• Peñalara GHC is the better starting point if you want freemium access, a free plan and free trial across Android, iOS, web and Windows.
• Prime Timetable suits evaluation across more operating systems, with a free plan, free trial and a 30-day evaluation period.
• FET is the straightforward choice for free, open scheduling software on Linux, macOS or Windows with no stated usage limits.
• UniTime fits organisations seeking free open-source software with self-hosting and optional commercial support.
• GC Education Analytics K–12 Master Scheduler offers a free web-based beta for elementary, middle and high school use.
• SchoolGrid is worth considering for a web-based freemium service with a free annual plan and a 30-day scheduling and publishing evaluation.
• Ad Astra is a paid alternative available through web and API platforms.
• Cardonex Schedule is another paid, web-based option.

Verdict

Choose Tes Timetable if your school needs constraint-heavy scheduling, conflict resolution, elective selection and optional absence-management tools in one ecosystem. Its integrations and dedicated timetabler service strengthen the case for larger or more complex schools. Look elsewhere if you need transparent pricing, a free tier, macOS support for the desktop application, or a supported virtualised E10 deployment.