Academic Sessions in Academic Scheduler give each school year its own workspace. Copy last year's setup in minutes and keep past timetables safe and read-only.
Academic Sessions: Keep Every School Year's Timetable Separate
Every school year starts the same way: new classes, a few new teachers, changed subjects, and a timetable that has to be rebuilt. With Academic Sessions, each school year in Academic Scheduler now has its own separate workspace. You can start a new year in minutes by copying what you need from last year, and every previous year stays exactly as it was: safe, viewable, and protected from accidental edits.
Why does a new school year break most timetables?
When we onboard schools, one habit comes up again and again. At the start of a new year, the timetable coordinator opens last year's timetable and edits it in place. They change a few teachers, add a section, swap some subjects, and the job looks done.
It works until someone asks a question about the past. Which teacher took Grade 8 Science last year? How many periods of Maths did Grade 10 have? What did the exam timetable look like? Once last year's timetable has been overwritten, those answers are gone. Some schools keep exported copies or spreadsheets as backups, but those drift out of date and are hard to find when you need them.
⚠ The hidden cost of editing in place
Overwriting last year's timetable doesn't only lose history. It also means every half-finished change for next year is live in your current data. A teacher reassigned for August can show up in the timetable your school is still using in March.
What is an academic session?
An academic session is one school year, for example 2026-27, with its own start date and end date. In Academic Scheduler, everything you build now belongs to a session. Each year is stored separately, so changing next year's setup can never break this year's, and you can always go back and see what a past year looked like.
| Data | Belongs to a session? | Can be copied into a new session? |
|---|---|---|
| Subjects | Yes | Yes |
| Periods | Yes | Yes |
| Teachers (with subjects & availability) | Yes | Yes |
| Classes & sections (with assigned teachers, subjects & weekly lesson limits) | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly timetable | Yes | Yes |
| Exam types & exam timetables | Yes | No, set up fresh each year |
| Shared timetable links | Yes | No, a new link is created per session |
How do you start a new school year in Academic Scheduler?
Most schools change only part of their setup from one year to the next. That's why a new session doesn't have to start empty. When you create it, you can copy data from any earlier session and choose exactly what to bring over. The year-start workflow looks like this:
Give it a name (for example 2027-28) and the start and end dates that match your school calendar.
Usually that's last year, but you can copy from any earlier session.
Select any combination of subjects, periods, teachers, classes and the full weekly timetable.
Add new teachers, adjust classes and rebuild or fine-tune the timetable. None of it touches last year.
Click Set as current and the new year becomes your working session.
How much to copy depends on how much your school is changing. Here are some illustrative scenarios:
| Your situation | What to copy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Same structure, a few staff changes | Everything, including the timetable | Edit only the affected lessons instead of starting over |
| New sections or a changed bell schedule | Subjects, teachers, classes (skip the timetable) | The old grid won't fit, so it's cleaner to build a fresh one |
| Major restructure (new curriculum, new periods) | Teachers and subjects only | Keep staff data and rebuild classes and periods to the new design |
🔍 Copies are fully independent
Copied records are not linked to the originals. You can rename a teacher, move a class or rebuild the whole timetable in the new session, and the old session stays untouched. The Sessions page also records which session each year was copied from and what was included, so you can always trace where a year's setup came from.
What happens to last year when you switch?
One session is always marked as current. That's the year you work in, and it's the only one that can be edited. When you click Set as current on a new session, the previous year becomes read-only. You can still open it and view its timetables, but nobody can change it by mistake.
| Current session | Older sessions | |
|---|---|---|
| View timetables & data | Yes | Yes |
| Edit | Yes | No (read-only) |
| Use as a copy source | Yes | Yes |
| On-screen indicator | Shown in the Session menu | Read-only banner on every page |
💡 Pro tip: fixing a mistake in a past year
Read-only doesn't mean locked forever. If you find an error in an old year, set that session as current again, make the correction, and then set your real working year back as current. Do it when nobody else is actively editing, so colleagues don't make changes in the wrong year.
How do you switch between school years?
A Session menu at the top of every page shows which year you are viewing. Pick another session from that menu and the whole app switches to that year: classes, teachers, timetables, exams and the dashboard. There's no separate archive to search and no export files to dig up.
When you view an older year, a clear banner reminds you that it's read-only. That small detail matters in practice. When two or three people share the admin work, it removes the "wait, which year am I editing?" moment.
What happens to timetable links you've already shared?
Timetable links you've already shared with teachers or parents keep showing the timetable they were created for. When you share a timetable in a new session, Academic Scheduler creates a new link for that year, so old and new links never mix.
🔍 What this means for your communication plan
Old links won't silently change to show next year's schedule halfway through a term. The other side of that is that once the new year begins, you need to send the new links to staff and parents. Plan that message into your year-start checklist.
Already using Academic Scheduler? Here's what changed
You don't need to do anything. We've created your current session, 2026-27 (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027), and moved all your existing data into it. Nothing was lost.
If your school year runs differently, for example August to June, you can rename the session or change its dates at any time:
New schools choose their session name and dates during setup, right after picking their working days. If you're setting up for the first time, our step-by-step timetable setup guide walks through the full sequence.
Why do academic sessions matter for school administrators?
A faster year start. Instead of entering every subject, teacher and class again, you copy last year's setup and change only what's different. For most schools, that turns the year-start rebuild from re-entry work into editing work.
Accurate records. Every past timetable stays available for reference and reporting. That helps when a parent, inspector or new coordinator asks how things were arranged in an earlier year.
No accidental changes. Only the current year can be edited, so a planning change for next year can't leak into the timetable your school is running today.
A foundation for what's next. Sessions are the base for our upcoming student and fee management features, where each year's records will belong to the right session. These features are not available yet. You can follow what's live today on our features page.
⚠ What academic sessions don't do
Copying a timetable copies it as it was. It won't automatically adjust lessons for a teacher who has left or a section you've added, so you still need to review and rework the copied timetable. Exam timetables and shared links are not carried forward either; you create them fresh in each session.
Common mistakes when rolling over to a new school year
1. Copying the timetable when the structure has changed
If your periods, sections or bell schedule are different this year, a copied timetable gives you a grid that doesn't fit. Copy the building blocks instead and create a fresh timetable.
2. Setting the new year as current too early
Once the new session is current, last year becomes read-only. If the old year is still running and might need small edits, finish those first or plan the switch for the actual changeover date.
3. Leaving session dates that don't match your calendar
Existing accounts start with an April–March session. If your school runs August–June or January–December, update the name and dates in Manage sessions so records line up with your real academic year.
4. Forgetting to send new timetable links
Old shared links keep showing the old year's timetable. Teachers and parents will see last year's schedule until you share the new session's links with them.
Frequently asked questions
The bottom line
A new school year shouldn't cost you last year's records. Academic Sessions give each year its own workspace: copy what still applies, change what doesn't, and keep every past timetable safe and viewable with one click. If you're already on Academic Scheduler, your 2026-27 session is ready now. Check that its dates match your calendar, and you're set for your next rollover. Curious about plans for your school size? See our pricing or request a demo and we'll walk you through it.
Start your next school year the easy way
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