Head-to-head,

Edval wins hands down.

The Magna Carta School

The Magna Carta School took the Edval challenge and compared its performance to that of their existing timetabling software, SIMS Nova T6, with impressive and conclusive results.

James Thorpe, Assistant Head of the school, is an experienced user of Nova T6. Upon hearing there was an alternative product that may be substantially better, he agreed to trial Edval and directly compare his findings.

Time to Learn

Within just 3 days, James felt comfortable using the Edval software, whereas more training time and a greater understanding of timetabling was required when learning SIMS Nova T6. Edval is more graphical, easier to understand and show the impact of changes. It was also found to be more user-friendly and intuitive which is a big advantage.

Timetable Construction

Using SIMS, it was estimated to take up to 5 weeks to fully construct, staff and room a timetable. James was able to do the same process with Edval in just 3 days. This was an incredible achievement considering he was learning the new system as he constructed the timetable.

Generating Option Blocks

Having students submit their option choices online with Edval saved time and admin effort while alleviating any risk of missing forms. Compared to the option blocks generated by Nova T6, Edval was not only able to satisfy more students with their requests, but provided a result that saw far less classes running as well. The school was now in a position where they could save on staffing, reduce teacher loads, spend less on over time expenses or not replace teachers who leave.

100% Student Satisfaction

By building a timetable around the students’ choices, as opposed to the students fitting into the constraints of a timetable program, Court Moor School has achieved 100% success in granting course requests – a first in the school’s history.

Quality of Option Blocks

On Yr8 into Yr9 blocks, there were 45 classes running. Nova T6 produced a solution where 3 students missed out on a subject choice. Edval however, was able to do it with no missed requests at all. Edval also showed alternatives of 2 missed choices but 6 less classes running, or only 4 missed for 8 less classes running.

For Yr9 into Yr10, Edval managed to halve the 16 missed course requests by Nova T6 while running 5 less classes. The differences in quality and savings Edval achieved when compared to Nova T6 was undeniable.

Uploading a Completed Timetable

Once an Edval timetable has been saved, it is automatically accessible across the network. There’s no need for uploading, importing, or publishing. Edval can read and write data with Nova T6 as well as integrate with SIMS directly, without Nova T6.

It was quickly apparent to James that the capabilities of Edval’s software far exceeded his expectations as it continually offered better solutions to those of SIMS/Nova T6 at every stage. No surprises, Edval had passed the test with flying colours.