Every timetable starts life as a set of educated guesses. You decide that Tuesday at 4:30pm suits the under 7s, that Saturday morning is the right home for your advanced group, and that a new adult class will fill if you give it a Thursday evening slot.
Some of those guesses land. Some don't. The problem is that most studios only find out which is which at the end of the season, when it's time to plan the next timetable and the data is already a few months old.
Good class scheduling software does more than put your classes on a calendar. It quietly records how every class is performing: who's booking, who's turning up, who's waiting for a place, and how much each class brings in. If you know where to look, your schedule will tell you exactly what to change.
Why a mid-season check matters
Whether you run a dance studio, gymnastics club, swim school or martial arts academy, your timetable is the single biggest factor in how full your classes are. A great class in the wrong slot will struggle. A popular class with no room to grow will turn new families away.
Waiting until the end of the season to review it means:
Families on a waiting list give up and sign up somewhere else
Half-empty classes keep costing you teacher time and studio hire for months
You plan next season from memory and gut feel instead of real numbers
A short check halfway through each term gives you time to act while it still makes a difference.
Five signs your timetable needs a rethink
1. A waiting list that never gets shorter
A waiting list feels like good news, and it is. But a waiting list that sits at the same length week after week is lost revenue. Those families have already told you they want to book. If you can't make space for them, someone else will.
2. Classes running well below capacity
If a class regularly runs at less than half its size limit, it's worth asking why. Is it the time? The day? The age range? Or is it a newer class that needs a little longer to build? The answer decides whether you move it, merge it, or give it more time.
3. Attendance that drops off as the term goes on
Enrolment numbers only tell half the story. A class can be fully booked on paper and still have a handful of empty spots every week. Falling attendance is often an early warning that a slot doesn't suit families, perhaps because it clashes with school pickup, another activity or a sibling's class.
4. A full class that doesn't pay its way
Some classes look busy but earn less than you'd expect, especially if they need two teachers, a bigger space or lots of discounted places. Knowing what each class actually brings in helps you make decisions based on more than how lively the room feels.
5. Trials that don't turn into enrolments
If lots of families book a trial in one slot but very few go on to enrol, the class itself might not be the issue. The timing could be fine for a one-off visit but tricky to commit to every week.
How to run a timetable check in Class Manager
Class Manager keeps your schedule, bookings, attendance and payments in one place, so everything you need for this check is already there. To check how your schedule is working, go through these steps inside your dance studio software.
Step 1: Pull your attendance report by class
Open your Reports and look at Attendance Tracking, filtered by the current term. You'll see overall attendance percentages, which you can view by class. Sort out your strongest and weakest classes and make a note of any with a noticeable dip.
If your teachers take attendance in the app each week, this report builds itself. No registers to collect, no spreadsheets to update.
Step 2: Check revenue by class
Next, open Revenue by Class for the same term. This shows which classes earn the most and which are losing money. Put it side by side with your attendance list. The classes that are both poorly attended and low-earning are your first candidates for a change.
Step 3: Look at your waiting lists
When a class is full, families who try to book through the Parent Portal are added to the waiting list automatically. From the Classes menu, you can see every waiting list in one view, including each student's name, the class they want, and the date they joined.
The date matters. A family that joined last week might be happy to wait. A family that joined three months ago is probably close to giving up. Any class with a long-standing waiting list is a strong signal that you need another session.
Step 4: Review new students and non-enrolments
The Student Overview report shows enrolments, non-enrolments and new students. This helps you spot whether certain classes are attracting new families or relying on returning ones, which is useful when deciding where to put a new beginner class.
Every report can be filtered by week, month, custom date, or term and downloaded as a CSV, so you can compare this term with last term or share the numbers with your team.
Step 5: Decide on your changes
With those four views in front of you, most classes fall into one of four groups:
What the data shows | What to consider |
Full, with a long waiting list | Add a second session or raise the size limit if your space allows |
Well attended and earning well | Leave it alone |
Low attendance, but a newer class | Give it more time and promote it to the right families |
Low attendance and low revenue | Move it to a new slot, merge it with a similar class, or rest it next season |
Making changes without upsetting families
The biggest worry for most studio owners is that changing the timetable mid-season will annoy the families who are already happy. Handled well, it doesn't have to. Here's how Class Manager helps.
Add a new session in minutes. You can copy an existing class with one click, then change the day, time or teacher. There's no need to rebuild class details, pricing or descriptions from scratch.
Test before you publish. Use Hidden Classes to set up a new session without showing it on your public timetable. That way you can offer places to the families on your waiting list first, before opening it up to everyone.
Use trials to fill a new slot. Add free or paid trial classes that families can book straight from your schedule. Automated Trial Emails then follow up with families after their visit, so a new class has a steady flow of potential students.
Tell families before it happens. Schedule an email to go out ahead of any change, then send a broadcast message through Chats nearer the time as a reminder. You can also post an update on Spotlight, the in-app feed families already check for studio news.
Update everyone at once. Changes to your schedule update instantly across the Parent Portal and your booking page, so families and teachers always see the current timetable. No reprinting, no out-of-date PDFs on the noticeboard.
Why studios choose Class Manager for scheduling
Class Manager is class management software built for activity-based businesses, from dance and gymnastics to swim and martial arts. Alongside scheduling, it covers online enrolment, automated billing, attendance, skill tracking, and parent communication.
There's no monthly subscription. That means you get the full set of scheduling tools and reports from day one, whatever the size of your studio.
Want to see how it works for your studio? Book a free demo with our team, or open your free account and start building your schedule today.
