Timetabling Solutions

Web Preferences Service Registration Form

This form must be completed for each student group (eg, year level) that select from the same set of options. Email the completed form/s (excluding the pages containing the Explanation of Terms and Additional Features) along with relevant Student Options and any other relevant files, to .

School Name
Name of School Logo file
Student Group Name
Opening Date
Closing Date
Name of Student Options file
Sub-grid Name
Minimum Number of Units/Subjects
Maximum Number of Units/Subjects
Maximum Number of Submissions
Display Unit Values / Yes / No
Initial Instructions
Selection Instructions
Receipt Instructions
PREFERENCE GROUPS
Number of Preference Groups / Display Preference Group Names / Yes / No
Group 1
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 2
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 3
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 4
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 5
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 6
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 7
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 8
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 9
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
Group 10
Name
Subjects
Minimum Preferences Required
Number of Preference Boxes
Number of Reserve Boxes
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Prerequisite & Restricted Subjects
Prerequisite Subjects / Yes / No
Name of file containing Prerequisite Subjects
Restricted Subjects / Yes / No
Name of file containing Restricted Subjects
Completed Subjects / Yes / No
Name of Student Options file containing Completed Subjects
Display Subject Restrictions / Yes / No
Subject Descriptions
Subject Description / Yes / No
Name of Excel file containing Subject Descriptions
Further comments
Other additional information

Explanation of Terms and Additional Features

The following pages contain information to assist you with your registration. Please do not email these back with your registration.

Explanation of Terms

Student Group Name / Name given to the group of students and options. In most cases this will be the year level (eg, Year 10)
Name of School Logo file / The school’s logo can be displayed in the top right hand corner of the student portal. The file must be in jpeg or bitmap format – the recommended size is 150 (width) x 84 (height) pixels. Logos not supplied in this size could appear stretched.
Opening Date / Date students to commence using web preferences. Opening dates must be Monday to Friday – access will be opened in the morning, we cannot guarantee a specific opening time. Access can remain open from the date of setup if requested.
Closing Date / Date students to finish using web preferences. Closing dates must be Monday to Friday – access will be closed in the morning, we cannot guarantee a specific closing time.
Name of Student Options file / Name of Student Options file containing the student and subject data.
The file must contain all students and the options they need to select from. Core compulsory subjects that students must study and do not have any choice in should not be included in the Student Options file. Note, Student and Option codes are mandatory and must be unique.
Sub-grid Name / The name that appears in the student portal next to subjects that are on more than 1 sub-grid. In most cases, schools will not use sub-grids in their selection process and this will be left blank. Those using sub-grids will commonly use terms such as “Semester” or “Sem” for short.
If subjects are offered over more than 1 sub-grid but students do not select which sub-grid they study a subject in (ie, they just select a subject and the school works out the sub-grid the class and student is assigned to) sub-grids should not be used and your Student Options file should reflect this.
If a student does select what sub-grid they study a subject in, they may for example select from Religion Semester 1 or Religion Semester 2.
Minimum Number of Units/Subjects / The minimum number of units/subjects that a student MUST submit.
Maximum Number of Units/Subjects / The maximum number of units/subjects that a student CAN submit (not including reserves). In most cases, this will be the same as the minimum number of units/subjects but in some cases may vary. For example a student may be allowed to study either 6 or 7 subjects – in this case the minimum number of subjects would be 6 but the maximum number of subjects would be 7.
Maximum Number of Submissions / The maximum number of times a student can login to web preferences and submit their preferences.
Display Unit Value / Displays the unit value of a subject in the student portal. Used when students need to choose from subjects of different weightings.
Initial Instructions / Instructions that appear on the screen prior to subject selection. This is used where additional instructions are required. Note, this screen will not appear if this field is left blank.
Selection Instructions / Instructions that appear at the top of the Submission screen where students submit their preferences.
Receipt Instructions / Instructions that appear at the bottom of the receipt that students can print out.
PREFERENCE GROUPS
Preference Group / A group of subjects that a student can select from.
Number of Preference Groups / The number of preference groups required will depend on the course requirements for the student group.
Following are a couple of examples:
1) A student may be required to select 6 electives with no restrictions on what can be studied
In this case 1 preference group would be required.
2) A student may be required to select:
- 1 Science subject (from Chemistry, Biology, Physics)
- 2 Humanities/1 LOTE subject (from History, Geography, LOTE)
- 4 other elective subjects (from a number of elective options)
In this case 3 preference groups would be required.
Display Preference Group Name / Displays the preference group name as a heading for each preference group in the student portal.
Group 1, 2, 3 ….. / The order of the groups is important as this is how they will appear for student selection. The following details need to be completed for each of the preference groups.
Name / The name given to the preference group.
Subjects / A list of all subjects to be included in the preference group.
Number of Preference Boxes / The number of subjects the student CAN select as a preference (not including reserves) from the preference group.
Minimum Preferences Required / The minimum number of subjects a student MUST select from the preference group. In most cases this will be the same as Number of Preference Boxes. However in some cases, a student may for example be allowed to study 2 or 3 subjects from a group – thus the number of preference boxes would be 3 but the minimum preferences required would be 2.
Number of Reserve Boxes / The number of reserve subjects (backup subjects if a student does not get their preferences) the student may select from the preference group.

Additional Features

ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Prerequisite & Restricted Subjects
Prerequisite Subjects / A prerequisite subject is a subject that a student must have completed or must also select in order to study a particular subject. This can be used in conjunction with completed subjects and restricts what subjects are available for a student to select from.
For example, a prerequisite might be that in order to study Advanced Science, a student must have completed or plan to study General Science. Adding this prerequisite in combination to importing students completed subject into Web Preferences would mean that:
- If a student has completed General Science, Advanced Science will appear as one of the subjects that the student can select from.
- If a student has not completed General Science and it is not available for selection, Advanced Science will not appear as one of the subjects that the student can select from.
- If a student has not completed General Science but it is available for selection, Advanced Science will appear as one of the subjects that the student can select from. If the student then selects Advanced Science, General Science will be automatically added as one of their preferences when the student submits even if they didn’t select it.
Please note, prerequisites cannot be applied to only 1 sub-grid of a 2 sub-grid subject. To apply prerequisites to these subjects, subjects will need to be split into two subjects on 1 sub-grid each. For example, LOTE Italian over 2 sub-grids, would need to appear in the Student Options file under Information |Options as LOTE Italian Sem 1 and LOTE Italian Sem 2.
Prerequisite subjects should be provided in a Microsoft Excel file. It is strongly recommended that subjects are exported to Microsoft Excel directly from the Student Options file used to import students/subjects into Web Preferences and a column is manually added to the right from which subject names/codes of the prerequisite subjects can be manually entered. This will ensure that the subject names/codes in the first columns of the Excel file are the same as in the Student Options file used to import the selection information. Please take care in ensuring the subject codes/names of the prerequisite subjects that are manually entered are accurate and contained in either the original Student Options file or the Student Options file containing the student’s completed subjects.
Note, to use prerequisites in conjunction with completed subjects additional information must be provided. See Completed Subjects below.
Restricted Subjects / A restricted subject is a subject that a student must not have completed or must not also select in order to study a particular subject. This can be used in conjunction with completed subjects and restricts what subjects are available for a student to select from.
For example, a restriction might exist that a student cannot study Yr11 Beginners French if they have already completed Yr10 Beginners French or if they are studying Yr11 Intermediate French. Adding this restriction in combination to importing students completed subject into Web Preferences would mean that:
- If a student has completed Yr10 Beginners French, Yr11 Beginners French will not appear as one of the subjects that the student can select from.
- If a student has not completed Yr10 Beginners French, Yr 11 Beginners French will appear as one of the subjects that the student can select from. If the student then selects both Yr11 Beginners French and Yr11 Intermediate French. The lower priority preference will be removed when the student submits. In other words if Yr11 Beginners is selected as their first preference and Yr11 Intermediate French is selected as their second preference – the second preference is removed.
Please note, restrictions cannot be applied to only 1 sub-grid of a 2 sub-grid subject. To apply restrictions to these subjects, subjects will need to be split into two subjects on 1 sub-grid each. For example, LOTE Italian over 2 sub-grids, would need to appear in the Student Options file under Information |Options as LOTE Italian Sem 1 and LOTE Italian Sem 2.
Restricted subjects should be provided in a Microsoft Excel file. It is strongly recommended that subjects are exported to Microsoft Excel directly from the Student Options file used to import students/subjects into Web Preferences and a column is manually added to the right from which subject names/codes of the restricted subjects can be manually entered. This will ensure that the subject names/codes in the first columns of the Excel file are the same as in the Student Options file used to import the selection information. Please take care in ensuring the subject codes/names of the restricted subjects that are manually entered are accurate and contained in either the original Student Options file or Student Options file containing completed subjects.
Note, to use restrictions in conjunction with completed subjects additional information must be provided. See Completed Subjects below.
Completed Subjects / Subjects that a student has completed can be imported into Web Preferences and used in conjunction with prerequisites or restrictions to restrict the subjects a student can choose from.
For examples see Prerequisite Subjects and Restricted Subjects above.
Completed subjects can be imported from a Student Options file. The file must contain student information, the subjects they have completed and the students must be assigned to classes on the grid. Students that have subjects entered as preferences that they have not been assigned to on the grid will not be imported as completed subjects. Note, Student and Option codes are mandatory and must be unique. If more than one file is to be used to import information, student codes must match in all files.
Note, completed subjects must be contained in a separate Student Options file to subjects that will be available for current selection.
Display Subject Restrictions / Displays any subject restrictions relating to a student’s completed subjects and prerequisite/restricted subjects in the Student Portal.
For example, if in order to study Chemistry Yr11 you need to have completed Chemistry Yr10 and you have not studied this prerequisite subject, the following would appear on the Subject Details page under Selection Restrictions:
Chemistry Yr11 - You are not eligible to select this subject due to the following prerequisite requirement(s).
> Chemistry Yr10 - Is a required subject and you have not completed this subject and this subject is unavailable for selection
Subject Descriptions
Display Subject Descriptions / Subject descriptions can be displayed in the Student Portal by links on the Subject Details and Preferences Receipt screens. By clicking on a link or printing subject details, students are able to view a description about the selected subject(/s).
Subject descriptions must be provided in a Microsoft Excel file. It is strongly recommended that subjects are exported to Microsoft Excel directly from the Student Options file set up for student selections. This will ensure that the subject names/codes in the first columns of the Excel file match those used in the Student Options file. A column can then be added to the right of the subject information to manually enter subject descriptions.
Other Comments
Other Additional Information / Any other additional information.

Web Preferences Service Registration Form Page 1