How it works
From absence to covered in minutes
Cover usually lives in three places: an absence email, a timetable and a duty spreadsheet. Nobody can see all three at once, so the same willing people get asked every time. Cover Manager puts them together. It knows who is absent, what they teach, who is free, who has already done cover this week and who has a club after school.
Lesson cover
Lesson cover that is fair, and explained
Allocate cover with or without cover work, and know every suggestion stands up.
- Never suggests someone who is absent, teaching, or part-time and not in that day.
- Balances cover across the week and since September, so the willing few are not overused.
- Shows why each person is suggested, for example “1 cover this week · same department”.
- Optional school rules for staff groups, teaching phases and fallback order.
- Mark lessons as No Cover Needed, change or remove an allocation, and see past, today and upcoming at a glance.
Duty management
Duty rotas that cover themselves
Gates, breaks, lunch and lockers, in the same system as lesson cover. When a member of staff is off, their duties are released and the people who need to know are told.
Lesson and duty cover together
One fair picture of who has done what
This is the part no spreadsheet can do. Cover Manager counts lesson cover and duty cover together, across the week and since September.
- Someone covering Period 5 drops to the bottom of the list for Lunch 1.
- Someone who has covered two lessons this week sits below a colleague who has done none when a Friday duty comes up.
- Staff running an after-school club go lower that day when everything else is level.
- Lesson cover suggestions do the same in reverse, so nobody is handed a lesson and a duty on the same day where it can be avoided.
The Duty load report shows each person’s lesson covers, duties and club time for the week, the month or the year, so fairness is something you can show staff, not just promise.
Lesson cover and duties, connected
One absence. Everything updates.
Approve an absence once and Cover Manager follows it through everywhere it matters, so nothing falls between the lesson cover list and the duty rota.
- The lessons that need cover appear. Cover Manager reads the timetable, so a teacher away all day with two lessons creates two lessons to cover, ready in Morning Cover.
- Their duties are released. Any duty that clashes with the absence opens up for cover, and duty managers get one email listing what needs filling. If the timing is uncertain, the duty is flagged for a manager to check rather than guessed.
- Their own cover is handed back. If they were already down to cover a colleague’s lesson, that cover is released too, so a class is never left with nobody.
- They stop being suggested. They no longer appear as free for lesson cover or duties while they are away, and a pending request already counts.
- Everyone is told the right thing. The daily cover sheet lists lesson and duty cover together. Staff get their cover the day before, and anyone taken off a lesson they were told about hears that they are no longer needed.
Absence reasons stay private throughout: duty managers and colleagues see that cover is needed, never why.
Morning Cover
Built for the 7:45 rush
One screen for the start of the day: who is off, which lessons still need cover and who is free to take them. Record a sickness call in seconds, for one person or several, and print or email the daily cover sheet with lesson and duty cover together. The weekly calendar shows every absence and cover, and each person sees their own cover first.
- Record absence in seconds
- Daily cover sheet, printed or emailed
- Each person sees their own cover
Absence requests
Approvals that match your school
Staff request leave in a few clicks and see who will decide before they submit. Requests waiting for a decision and those already decided sit in two clear tabs. Staff can change a request and it goes back for approval; managers can record, change or cancel an absence for anyone. Absence reasons are only ever shown to managers.
Sign-in, MIS and roles
Works with your MIS and Microsoft
- MIS timetable through Wonde: SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom, iSAMS and others, showing subject, class, room and period on every cover.
- Microsoft Entra sign-in: staff use their school Microsoft account, with no extra passwords.
- Role-based access: staff, line managers, cover managers, duty managers, heads and administrators each see what they need.
- Working patterns: record part-time days and hours so nobody is offered cover when they are not in school.
Configurable
Set up the way your school works
Every school runs cover differently, so almost everything is a setting rather than a fixed rule. Your own team changes it from the Settings screen, with no support ticket needed, and every suggestion explains which settings it followed.
You can also switch cover work on or off, choose whether staff see who is absent on the calendar, add your school’s colours and logo, and decide whether staff use the iPhone app.
Who it is for
Made for everyone in school
Each person sees the tools that fit their role, on the web or on iPhone.
iPhone and iPad app
Cover Manager in your pocket
Cover Manager for Education is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Staff sign in with the same school Microsoft account, and each school chooses whether its staff use it.
- Teachers and support staff request cover in three quick steps, see who will approve it, and follow it through to a decision.
- Line managers and heads approve with one tap, or decline with a reason that goes straight back.
- Cover managers see what still needs cover, read a plain “Why?” for every suggestion, and approve everything that is ready in one go.
No adverts, no tracking, and built for accessibility with Dynamic Type, VoiceOver and Reduce Motion.
Pricing
Priced for your school
Every school is set up with its own hosted installation, Microsoft sign-in and MIS connection, so pricing is confirmed as part of a short demo and scoping conversation. Cloud hosting on your own school subdomain, backups and support are included.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what schools ask us most.
What is Cover Manager?
Cover Manager is school software for staff absence, lesson cover and duty rotas. It is designed and developed by Education Host for UK schools and colleges, and brings requests, approvals, cover allocation, duty management and reporting into one place.
Can it manage duty rotas as well as lesson cover?
Yes. Duty management covers gates, breaks, lunch and other supervision by period and location. It releases duties when someone is absent, lets you set who can cover each duty, and balances duty cover with lesson cover so the same staff are not asked for both on the same day.
What happens when someone with a duty is absent?
When their absence is approved, any duty that clashes with it is released and opens up for cover, and duty managers get one email listing what needs filling. If they were down to cover a colleague’s lesson, that is released too. If the timing is unclear, for example a session with no fixed time, the duty stays with them and is flagged for a manager to check. The reason for the absence is never shared.
How does Cover Manager decide who to suggest for cover?
It only suggests staff who are free: not absent, not teaching and in school that day. It then ranks them by how much lesson and duty cover they have done this week and since September, alongside any school rules, and shows the reason next to every name. A manager always confirms.
Can we change how cover is shared out?
Yes. You decide how much weight goes on cover done this week, cover over a longer period, same-department cover and duties already picked up, and you can set daily and weekly limits. You can also group staff, set teaching phases and a fallback order, and nudge individuals up or down. Every suggestion shows the reason, so you can see your settings at work.
Can we stop people being asked when they are not free?
Yes. Record part-time days and hours, protected planning periods, and clubs or other regular commitments. Cover Manager will not offer someone cover or a duty outside their hours, and a club can block a clashing duty or simply move that person lower on the list that day.
Can we choose who approves each type of absence?
Yes. For each absence reason, choose whether the head, the cover manager or either of them approves, or keep your line-manager approvals. Staff see who will decide before they submit, nobody approves their own request, and you can write the statements staff must confirm when requesting.
Can staff see why a colleague is absent?
No. Absence reasons are only ever shown to managers. You choose whether staff can see who is absent on the calendar at all, and duty managers see only that a duty needs cover.
Does it work with our MIS?
Yes. Cover Manager connects to your MIS timetable through Wonde, including SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom, iSAMS and IRIS. That is how it knows which lessons an absence affects and shows subject, class, room and period on every cover. Availability depends on your MIS permissions.
Can we use it before our MIS is connected?
Yes. Absence requests, approvals, cover allocation, duty rotas and reporting all work without an MIS connection. Staff choose the sessions they are away for, and a whole-day absence uses your school’s own session list. Connecting your MIS then adds the class, room and subject to each lesson and works out which lessons an absence affects.
Does it replace our MIS?
No. Cover Manager reads your timetable and staff details through Wonde to plan cover, but your MIS stays the record of who teaches what.
How do staff sign in?
Staff sign in with their school Microsoft account through Microsoft Entra ID, so there are no extra passwords. Each person sees only the tools that fit their role.
Do staff get told about their cover?
Yes. By default each person gets one email the school day before listing all of their cover, at a time you choose, and anything added later is emailed straight away. You can switch to emailing each allocation as it happens instead. Staff can also see their cover on the dashboard and in the iPhone app.
Can managers choose which emails they get?
Yes. Each manager chooses their own alerts: absence requests they can decide, decisions and allocations made by someone else, and duties that need cover. Nobody is copied on something they did themselves, and staff always hear about their own cover and the decision on their own requests.
Is there a mobile app?
Yes. Cover Manager for Education is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Staff request cover and follow their requests, managers approve with one tap, and cover managers review and approve suggestions with the reason for each. Each school chooses whether staff can use it, and whether they can request absence from it.
Where is our data hosted?
Each school has its own hosted installation and database, cloud-hosted by Education Host on a school subdomain such as school.covermanager.co.uk, with backups and support included.
How do we get started?
Book a demo and we will scope your setup. Education Host then creates your school’s own installation, connects Microsoft sign-in after a one-off approval by your IT team, links your staff through your MIS, and helps you set up absence reasons, cover rules and duties before your first day. Your IT team does not need to create a Microsoft app registration.
How much does Cover Manager cost?
Pricing depends on your school and setup and is confirmed as part of a demo and scoping conversation. Book a demo to see the platform and talk through what is right for your school.
See it with your own week
Cover sorted before the bell
Book a 30-minute demo and we will walk through a real week of absences, lesson cover and duties, then talk through Microsoft sign-in and your MIS connection.
Questions first? Send us a message. We are happy to help.
Who we are
Built and supported by Education Host
Cover Manager is designed and developed in the UK by Education Host Ltd, a privately owned provider of hosting and software for schools, colleges and universities since 2011. Every school gets its own hosted installation, supported onboarding and direct access to the people who build the platform.
