Key takeaways
- A kickout is a lesson with no usable period because staff, students, or both are not free.
- Read why each period is unusable before changing the timetable.
- Use FIT swaps to make room for the stuck lesson.
- Other tactics include staffing pins, teacher swaps, moving lessons out of a block, and splitting classes.
How should planners read a kickout?
Start by reading why each period is unusable. The reason may be a teacher clash, a student clash, or both. A kickout is a specific placement failure, not a general complaint about the timetable.
Which tactics can make room?
Use the smallest tactic that addresses the reason for the kickout.
- FIT swaps, from a two-step interchange to a longer chain
- Staffing pins to limit which assignments may change
- Teacher swaps where the school allows them
- Moving sixth-form lessons out of a block where that structure exists
- Splitting classes when the structure supports it
- Reviewing part-time teacher availability when it drives repeated clashes
How does FIT work in practice?
FIT is ordered swap work, not brute force.
- Pick the stuck lesson and read why each period is blocked.
- Find one activity that can move to free a usable period.
- If that activity is also blocked, continue the interchange chain.
- Check that each move keeps staff and students free.
- Apply the chain only when the final placement is valid.
- Validate the changed timetable so the kickout has not moved elsewhere.
Why does ordering matter?
Timetabling is NP-complete, so conflict resolution needs ordered work. A sourced practitioner example describes ordering items by how many others they clash with and packing the most-conflicting items first. Use this as a planning lesson, not as a universal statistic.
When should planners stop swapping?
FIT should not hide a structural problem.
- The same part-time availability clash keeps returning
- A lesson needs staff or students who are never free together
- A block prevents a valid placement and cannot be moved
- Teacher swaps are not allowed or do not create a valid period
- Class splitting is required but not supported by the current structure
- The planner cannot explain why the final chain is valid
Questions planners ask when lessons will not fit
What is a kickout?
A kickout is a lesson that cannot be placed in any period because the required staff and students are not free at the same time.
What does FIT mean?
FIT is a swap-based method. The planner moves one or more activities in a chain to make room for the stuck lesson.
When is a conflict structural?
If ordered swaps and allowed changes still cannot make room, review staffing, blocks, class splits, or lessons that may need to move out of a block.