Students Grouped Consistently [Options]

Grouping Students consistently (in Options)

You can add a "Students must be grouped consistently" rule (Rule 3) to your Pattern Rules:This means that the Students must be placed in the groups consistently.
Here are some examples of how the Rule can be used:

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     Example 1: BTEC

If Subjects BTC1 and BTC2 form a double-option, and additionally there is more than one group of each, then the Students must be assigned consistently.
Rule 3 helps with this as it states that:  Students must placed in the groups consistently.

If BTC1 and BTC2 form a double-option, and there is more than one group of each, then the students must be assigned consistently to the groups.

For example:

Block A	Block B	Block C	Block D
BTC1	BTC2	BTC3	BTC4
Smith	Black	Black	Smith
Jones	White	White	Jones
Williams	Brown	Brown	Williams

... so that students Smith, Jones & Williams are kept together for their groups of BTC1 and BTC2, and not mixed up with the other students (Black, White & Brown), who are kept together for their own groups of BTC1 and BTC2.
This means that you can schedule the timetable so that staff consistently get the same group of students.

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     Example 2: Diploma  (Diploma or other courses with several components)

Options can:
- handle courses that span across 2 or more Option Blocks, and
- even if there are 2 or more Teaching Groups  for each component of the course, it will ensure that the students are allocated consistently to the groups.

To see how this is done, see either:
- the interactive help-screens on the Pattern Rules screen, or
- this article on Diplomas.

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