Substitutions

When a teacher is away for a few days you do not need to change them: with a substitution another person teaches their lessons on those days only and, if you want, also grades their exams. Then everything goes back on its own. This page explains how it works, step by step.

Who is responsible for what

Every lesson, meeting and submission to grade has responsible people, always worked out on the spot with one rule (details in Who is responsible for what):

1. the teachers of the subject's level, if the item belongs to a level and that level has at least one teacher;
2. otherwise the teachers of the subject;
3. otherwise the course Teachers;
4. for an event outside a course, the event manager.

An example. The subject Italiano has Rossi as teacher. The level 1° anno has no teachers of its own; the level 2° anno has Bianchi as teacher.

During a substitution the substitute answers instead of the usual teacher: always for lessons, and for submissions to grade only if the substitution also hands over grading.

Replace teacher: permanent or temporary

From Subjects, in the subject's Teachers tab (Replace teacher button) or on the level (Replace button), a centred dialog opens. Under For how long choose:

• Permanent: the new teacher takes the leaving teacher's place for good (submissions, future meetings, calendars, place in the courses). It is the teacher change described in Who is responsible for what.
• Temporary: a substitution on the days you choose. The usual teacher stays teacher of everything; the substitute replaces them on those days only and does not join the area.

The button is for people who can edit the area's subjects (workspace Owner and Admin, area Manager and Editor). On a phone the dialog takes the screen width and works by touch.

Choosing the days

With Temporary the days picker appears, in "future only" mode:

• Today, Tomorrow, This week (from today to Sunday), Next week;
• Custom: a calendar where you tap the first and the last day (two taps on the same day = that day only), then Apply.

Past days cannot be picked. The period runs from the start of the first day to the end of the last one and can go beyond 31 days, up to the end of the course. On a phone the picker opens in a bottom panel.

What passes to the substitute: the substitution follows the person

The substitution follows the person. In the dialog you pick who is leaving (the usual teacher) and the substitute; everything the usual teacher is responsible for on those days passes to the substitute, with the rule above:

• from the subject page: every lesson of the subject the usual teacher is responsible for, including those of a level where they are the level teacher, and those of a level without teachers (which inherits from the subject). Lessons of a level with another teacher stay with that teacher. In the example, a substitution of Rossi from the Italiano page covers the lessons without a level and those of 1° anno, not Bianchi's 2° anno lessons;
• from the level page: only that level's lessons.

It applies in all courses. If several courses (classes) share the same subject and level, with lessons at the same time and the same teacher (converging lessons), the substitution covers them in every course, also when the lesson is a single one shared by several courses.

The summary before confirming is exact: for example 6 lessons in 3 courses · Oct 5–8, with the course names. A lesson already covered by another substitution of the same teacher is not counted twice (the summary says so). Lessons already over never pass.

Also hand over exam grading

In the dialog, under the summary, there is the Also hand over exam grading checkbox, off by default. When you turn it on, the summary adds one line, for example 7 submissions to grade · 3 exams due.

What passes: the exam submissions the usual teacher would be responsible for, with the same rule as lessons (from the subject also the levels where they are the teacher, from the level only that level), in all courses. A document without a subject of its own takes the one of the lesson it is attached to.

When it passes: only while the substitution is running. A substitution starting tomorrow moves no submission today: from the first day the substitute finds both the submissions already waiting and those arriving during the substitution.

Nothing is copied: who grades is decided at the moment. So:

• at the end of the period, or if the substitution is cancelled, submissions not yet graded go back to the usual teacher on their own;
• those already graded by the substitute stay theirs: they remain the grader, also afterwards.

What the substitute can and cannot do

For the covered lessons, and only those, the substitute:

• hosts the room of the lesson;
• takes attendance for those sessions;
• opens the lesson materials.

With Also hand over exam grading, on the days of the substitution:

• they find the submissions in To grade (Home and Exams) with the Substitute badge;
• Grade opens that submission's copy to grade it: only that submission, with no access to the rest of the course.

They cannot: join the course or the area, manage the course, grade submissions outside the substitution (other subjects, a level with another teacher) or, without the checkbox, grade anything. When the substitution ends they lose all of this on their own.

Who gets what

• Notify students is on by default for a substitution.
• Students are never told about grading: neither in their notifications nor in the course channel message.
• The reason is optional and private: only people managing the subject see it, never students, chat or badges.
• The substitution is recorded in the activity log, with + correzioni when grading is handed over.

Where you see it

Covered lessons have a small Substitute badge (on hover: Substitute: Sara Greco instead of Elena Ferrari). The usual teacher reads it as Covered by Sara.

• on Home, in Today's meetings: the substitute is shown as the teacher;
• in the calendar: an icon in the lesson box and a line in the details;
• on the course page: in the lesson row and in the room card;
• in the calendar in the top bar;
• in the attendance register: who held the session;
• in the meetings report CSV file, substitute column;
• in To grade, on the submissions handed over to the substitute (only with the grading checkbox).

Editing, cancelling, end of the period

In the subject's Teachers tab (and on the level) you find Current and scheduled substitutions: substitute, usual teacher, days, lessons still to teach, reason, and + grading when grading is handed over too.

• Edit (pencil): change the days, the substitute, the reason or Also hand over exam grading. Turning grading on or off alone does not change the lessons and only notifies the two teachers. Lessons already taught do not change.
• Cancel (×): lessons not yet taught go back to the usual teacher, and so do submissions not yet graded. Those already taught (and grading already done) stay with the substitute, as history. If the students were notified, they are told.

At the end of the period there is nothing to do: the usual teacher is responsible for everything again. Their memberships (subject, level, course) are never touched.

What students see

• With Notify students: one notification and the message in the course channel; nothing else about the substitution, never the reason, never grading.
• The Substitute badge on the covered lessons (Home, calendar, course page).
• Their assessments stay where they are, submissions included, during and after the substitution.
• In Assignments, an assessment graded by hand shows graded … by … with the name of who graded it: if the substitute graded it, their name, also after the substitution has ended.

Questions and limits

• Does a substitution starting tomorrow already hand over grading? No: grading passes only while the substitution is running.
• Lessons created after the substitution (a series extended, a course added to sharing) are not covered: change the substitution's days or substitute so that it recalculates them.
• Calendars of later cycles: when a new cycle is published its calendars are rebuilt without substitutions; schedule the substitution after publishing.
• Substitutions created before 4 October 2026 on a lesson shared by several courses only covered the first course: cancel and recreate them.
• Several teachers on the same level: the substitute only takes the chosen teacher's place; the other teachers stay responsible as before.