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.
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.
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.
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.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what schools ask us most.
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.
Can staff change or cancel a request?
Yes. Staff can change a request from My Requests, and a change to an approved absence goes back for approval while the original stays in place. Managers can also change or cancel an absence for anyone.
Can managers record an absence for someone else?
Yes. Managers record sickness calls and school-arranged absences in seconds, for one person or several at once, and they are approved straight away. The member of staff sees it was added for them.
Can staff attach documents to a request?
Yes. Attachments are stored securely and are only visible to the person who made the request, whoever recorded it, and the people who can decide it.
Are staff told about the decision?
Always. The person who asked hears the decision, with any comment from the approver, and managers choose which other alerts they receive.
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.
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.
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.
