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Preferential Activity Selection

This article guides you through utilising the Preferential Mode when creating Activity Selection groups.

Updated this week

Preferential Activity Selection is a feature in early access. Contact your Customer Success Manager to enable it.

What You Need to Know

Preferential Activity Selection is an alternative to first-come, first-served Activity Selection that allows students and guardians to rank their activity preferences before allocations are made. This feature is particularly valuable for schools with families across multiple time zones, ensuring fairness by eliminating the advantage of being online at selection opening time.

Schools gain visibility into demand across all activities before making allocations, allowing you to:

  • Adjust activity capacities based on actual demand

  • Ensure more students receive their preferred activities

  • Make data-driven decisions about resource allocation

If you don't know much about Activity Selection to begin with, please check out our What is Activity Selection Support Article.

Watch the video below and the steps this article outlines to understand Preferential Activity Selection.

How to Set Up Preferential Activity Selection

Step 1: Configure Your Selection Group

  1. Navigate to Activity Selection > Setup on the left hand panel of your Clipboard environment

  2. Click Create in the top right corner or edit an existing group

  3. In the Details section, locate the Selection Mode setting

  4. Select Preferential (the default is "1st-come, 1st-served")

  5. Configure your standard settings:

    • Selection Status: If the group is open or closed to selections

    • Open Date: When preferences collection begins

    • Close Date: When preferences collection ends

    • Visibility: Whether the group shows in the Portal

Step 2: Set Preference Requirements

Under the Requirements section, you can encourage engagement by setting a Minimum Preferences requirement:

  1. Click Add Requirement in the Requirements card

  2. Select Minimum Preferences from the dropdown

  3. Enter the minimum number (e.g., 3)

  4. Click Save

This encourages families to provide multiple preferences, ensuring better allocation options if their first choice is full.

Please note there is currently no ability to set a maximum amount of preferences a student can make.

Step 3: Add Activities for Selection

  1. Click Add an Activity

  2. Fill out the Basic Details of this Activity such as Description, Image, Features, Payment and Waitlist

  3. Enable Clash detection if you want to help families avoid scheduling conflicts

  4. In Selection Details, ensure Number of places is set appropriately

  5. Configure any Options if the activity has multiple choices (e.g., different instruments for Music)

    1. To learn more about Singular vs Multiple Options in Activity Selection, read Adding Activities to a Selection Group

  6. Set Requirements for your Activity Group.

    1. You do not need to do this if you are using the Multiple Options feature

  7. Add any Custom Fields necessary

  8. Click Save

Managing the Preference Collection Process

During the Collection Window

Monitor preference submissions through the new Preferences section:

  1. Navigate to Activity Selection > Preferences

  2. On the Preferences Summary tab, click View Draft Allocations to see collection progress

  3. Use Pending Responses to identify students who haven't submitted preferences

  4. Send reminder emails to families who haven't participated

    1. Select students using the checkboxes

    2. Click Send Email

    3. Use the pre-populated filters or adjust as needed

    4. Compose your reminder message

    5. Click Send

Allocating Students to Activities

Step 1: Generate Draft Allocations

Once your collection window closes:

  1. Navigate to Activity Selection > Preferences

  2. Select View Draft Allocations next to your Selection Group

  3. The system will automatically assign students based on:

    • Preference rankings

    • Available spaces

    • Random selection when preferences are equal

You can click Regenerate Report as many times as you want. This feature applies a random reallocation of preferences. This is helpful if you want to see an alternate spread of Preferences across Activities.

Step 2: Review the Allocation Report

The Draft Allocations Report shows two key sections:

Report Summary

  • Fairness Summary: Shows what percentage of students received their 1st, 2nd, 3rd preference, etc.

  • Activity Breakdown: Displays capacity usage and overflow for each activity

Draft Allocations

  • Complete list of all student allocations

  • Shows which preference level each student received

  • Allows manual adjustments

Step 3: Make Manual Adjustments (Optional)

You can manually adjust allocations to:

  • Accommodate special circumstances

  • Balance activity numbers

  • Address specific parent requests

To adjust an allocation:

  1. Find the student in the Draft Allocations list

  2. Click the dropdown next to their current allocation

  3. Select a new activity (only their preferences will show)

All manual adjustments made will be lost if you choose to Regenerate Report.

Step 4: Adjust Activity Capacities (Optional)

If you see high demand for certain activities:

  1. Return to the Activity Selection Group Setup on your left side panel

  2. Click into the group you want to edit

  3. Click the pencil icon next to the activity you want to increase

  4. Increase the Number of places

  5. Return to the report and click Regenerate to create new allocations

  6. Review the updated fairness percentages

Step 5: Commit Allocations

When satisfied with the allocations:

  1. Click Commit Report

  2. Review the confirmation pop up message

  3. Click Commit Report when you are ready

This will:

  • Convert all preferences to confirmed selections

  • Send confirmation emails to families

  • Generate invoices (if activities have fees)

  • Automatically switch the Selection Group to first-come, first-served mode for any late additions

Consider exporting the list of Allocations to refer to in the future, should queries arise regarding which allocations students had preferentially selected and which one was converted to an activity selection. It also serves as a history of how many times a student has received their 1st, 2nd or 3rd preference when this Activity Selection Group is offered over multiple seasons.

Portal Experience for Families

How Students and Guardians Submit Preferences

Families can view activities marked as Open for Preferences and click into each one to select their preference rankings, such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice, and so on.

Once selected, preference chips display on the activity cards to show their current rankings, and a warning banner will appear if they haven't met the minimum preference requirements.

Families have the flexibility to adjust their rankings at any time until the preference selection period closes.

In this example above, a student has nominated four preferences for their Wednesday After School Activities.

After Allocations Are Confirmed

  • Families receive confirmation emails showing their allocated activity

  • The Portal displays their confirmed selection

  • Payment invoices are generated if applicable

  • The activity shows as a regular selection going forward

Important Considerations

Selection Mode Switching

  • You can switch from Preferential to First-come, first-served before generating allocations

  • Once allocations are committed, the switch happens automatically

  • You cannot switch back to Preferential after commitments are made

Draft Allocations Are Shared

The Draft Allocations Report is shared across your organisation. If multiple administrators are working simultaneously:

  • Communicate with your team before regenerating

  • The last regeneration overwrites previous drafts

  • Manual adjustments are lost if someone else regenerates

Preference History

All preferences are stored in the Preferences List for historical reporting, even after they're converted to selections.

Frequently Asked Questions ... How do I?...

"Students aren't seeing the preference options"

Check that:

  • The Selection Group is set to "Preferential" mode

  • The Selection Status is "Open"

  • The current date is between the Open and Close dates

  • Students meet any selection requirements

"The Generate Draft Allocations button is disabled"

This usually means:

  • The Selection Group is still open (wait for the close date)

  • No preferences have been submitted yet

  • The group isn't in Preferential mode

"A family missed the preference window"

After committing allocations, the group automatically converts to first-come, first-served. Late families can still select from remaining available spots.

"We need to change an allocation after committing"

Once committed, treat these as regular selections. You can:

  • Remove the selection from the student

  • Have them select a different available activity

  • Manually add them to their preferred activity if space permits

Related Articles

For additional support, contact support@clipboard.app

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