The next step after sign-up closes is Allocation, where students are placed into activities based on their preferences.
This article explains how the auto-allocation process works in SchoolsBuddy and how to run it. If you'd like to assign some students manually before running auto-allocation, please refer to the articles linked at the end.
- On your homepage, click the Activities & Clubs Admin tab (this may be labelled differently due to your School's preferences).
- Click the blue Manage button on the correct container.
- Click the Auto Allocate tab.
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Before running the allocation, here’s what the columns on this page mean:
- Details: The group name (The activity)
- Day: The day that this activity takes place
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Status: The allocation progress of the group.
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Not Started – No students have been allocated.
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Partial – Some students have been allocated, but it's not completed yet.
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Complete – Allocation was completed manually.
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Auto Complete – Allocation was completed using auto-allocation.
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- Places (Min): The maximum and minimum places for this group
- P1–P5 (Before slash): Number of students allocated to this activity for each preference level.
P1–P5 (After slash): Number of students who selected this activity at each preference level. - Total (Before slash): The total number of students allocated to this activity
- Total (After slash): The total number of students who selected this activity
- Above the activity table, you'll find an allocation limit field.
If your school policy limits students to a maximum of X activities per week, set the Maximum Allocations Allowed to X to ensure no student exceeds this number.
Alternatively, you can specify a limit for the number of free activities a student can join. -
Finally, run the allocation. There are two options:
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Fast Allocate All: Our recommended option. This allocates all students' selections, regardless of confirmation status, including those whose selections were saved but not confirmed.
⚠️ Note: Students must have saved at least one selection to be allocated. Those who made no selections will not be included in the allocation.
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Fast Allocate (Confirmed Selections): Allocates only students with confirmed selections. Less recommended, as many parents may save but forget to confirm, which means their child won't be allocated.
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- Once Fast Allocation is complete, the numbers in the P1–P5 columns will update. A number highlighted in green indicates that all students who selected that preference have been successfully allocated.
- To view detailed allocations, click ‘Allocate’ on the right-hand side to open the Allocation page.
- Here, you’ll see the allocated students listed in the Allocated table.
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The Requested table shows students who selected this activity but were not allocated to it.
If the table is empty, it means those students have already been allocated to one of their other preferences. Click ‘Hide already allocated’ to view them.You may also notice icons next to student names:
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P1–P5: Indicates the preference level the student gave this activity
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✅ Green check: The student has confirmed their selections
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🟧 Orange bars: The student has other selections on the same day
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🔺 Red triangle: The student has been allocated to another activity
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You can manually adjust the allocation results by:
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Clicking the green add icon to manually allocate a student
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Clicking the black minus icon to remove a student’s allocation
⚠️ Note: Please be aware of the place limit when manually allocating students, as the system allows you to override this limit and allocate additional students if necessary.
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Some groups may show a status of Partial or Not Started. This means they have either not reached the minimum required places, or no students have been allocated to them. You will be prompted to make a decision for these groups before generating the container.
⚠️ Important Note:
- At this stage, parents do not get a notification, you are free to adjust the student's allocation result on the Allocate page.