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
Navigate to Activity Selection > Setup on the left hand panel of your Clipboard environment
Click Create in the top right corner or edit an existing group
In the Details section, locate the Selection Mode setting
Select Preferential (the default is "1st-come, 1st-served")
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:
Click Add Requirement in the Requirements card
Select Minimum Preferences from the dropdown
Enter the minimum number (e.g., 3)
OPTIONAL: If the Selection Group will re-open in first come first serve mode after Preferences have been committed, set a requirement for Minimum and Maximum number of Activities that can be selected when in first come first serve mode.
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.
If you are wanting to show prices for Activities and require a currency other than AUD, Go to Settings > School > Payment Options to add new currency.
If your currency is not listed there, Please consult Clipboard Support. Accurate currency needs to be configured BEFORE setting prices for Activity Selection.
Step 3: Add Activities for Selection
Click Add an Activity
Fill out the Basic Details of this Activity such as Description, Image, Features, Payment and Waitlist
Enable Clash detection if you want to help families avoid scheduling conflicts
In Selection Details, ensure Number of places is set appropriately
Configure any Options if the activity has multiple choices (e.g., different instruments for Music)
To learn more about Singular vs Multiple Options in Activity Selection, read Adding Activities to a Selection Group
Set Requirements for your Activity Group.
You do not need to do this if you are using the Multiple Options feature
A maximum capacity must be set for Preferential Activity Selection. Without it, Clipboard assumes unlimited capacity and may allocate selections on a first-come, first-served basis.
Add any Custom Fields necessary
Click Save
Managing the Preference Collection Process
During the Collection Window
Monitor preference submissions through the new Preferences section:
Navigate to Activity Selection > Preferences
On the Preferences Summary tab, click View Draft Allocations to see collection progress
Use Pending Responses to identify students who haven't submitted preferences
Send reminder emails to families who haven't participated
Select students using the checkboxes
Click Send Email
Use the pre-populated filters or adjust as needed
Compose your reminder message
Click Send
Allocating Students to Activities
Step 1: Generate Draft Allocations
Once your collection window closes:
Navigate to Activity Selection > Preferences
Select View Draft Allocations next to your Selection Group
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: Adjust Activity Capacities (Optional)
If you see high demand for certain activities:
Return to the Activity Selection Group Setup on your left side panel
Click into the group you want to edit
Click the pencil icon next to the activity you want to increase
Increase the Number of places
Return to the report and click Regenerate to create new allocations
Review the updated fairness percentages
Step 4: Make Manual Adjustments (Optional)
You can manually adjust allocations to:
Accommodate special circumstances
Balance activity numbers
Address specific parent requests
To adjust an allocation:
Find the student in the Draft Allocations list
Click the dropdown next to their current allocation
Select a new activity (only their preferences will show)
All manual adjustments made will be lost if you choose to Regenerate Report.
Manual Adjustments should be the last step before you Commit Report.
Step 5: Commit Allocations
When satisfied with the allocations:
Click Commit Report
Review the confirmation pop up message
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
Email Notifications after Committing Allocations
Whoever made the preference will receive an email notification after the selection group has been committed informing them the preference that they have been allocated to.
If the Selection Group is reopened, it will re open in first come first come served. It will allow users to make changes based on what Activities have remaining capacity The email notification will inform the user that they can make a change to their selection if they have changed their mind.
If the Selection Group is closed and will not be accepting any changes, the email notification will inform the user of the preference that they have been allocated to.
Unallocated preferences
Students/parents who do not receive one of their Selections will not be sent an email. Our recommendation is that the school reopen the Selection group (it will automatically switch from ‘Preferential mode’ to ‘1st-come, 1st-served mode’) and communicate that students/parents will need to choose from the remaining activities.
Invoice Notifications after Committing Preferences
If you have enabled Payment for an Activity involved in Preferential Activity Selection, then an invoice will be generated in the Student and Guardian's Account on their Clipboard Portal. The invoice will be generated once the School Admin has Committed the Report, turning the preferences into allocations.
If the Guardian made the Preference:
The Guardian will be notified by email of the preference allocated to their child with a 'Click Here to Pay' button notifying them of the cost of the Activity.
If the Student made the Preference:
The Student will receive an email with the allocated activity details, but no payment link. The Guardian must log into the Clipboard Portal and navigate to Account where they can view and pay the invoice.
In this example email notification above, a parent made a preferential activity selection on behalf of their child, Carmina. The parent is informed that they have been allocated with a link to pay the invoice.
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
Preferential Algorithm
When you click Generate Report, the preferential algorithm will randomly assign students to their available preferences. You can regenerate the report as many times as needed.
Example of possible preferential allocations: In this example, there is a maximum capacity of 2 places available for the Activity, Art Club.
Generation 1 | Generation 2 |
Student 1
| Student 2
|
Student 2
| Student 3
|
Student 3
| Student 3
|
Why Students May Not Be Allocated a Preference
If students are not being allocated a preference, it may be due to one of the following reasons:
Activity capacity: The algorithm cannot place the student into the Activity because there are no remaining spots available.
Activity full during allocation: When the algorithm was run, the Activity was already full, due to other students' allocations. In this case, you can regenerate the allocation to try again.
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
"In the Fairness Summary, what does 'No Preference' mean?"
'No Preference' in the Fairness Summary refers to students who have put in preferences, but due to the system not finding space, will not get one of their preferences and won't be placed into an activity. If you want to ensure that certain students get one of their preferences, you can manually adjust this on the Draft Allocations page.
If you don't manually adjust these students, they will be able to choose from the activities still available if the selection group is reopened. A reopened preferential selection group will reopen in first-come, first-served mode, and the students will be able to select from Activities that are not full.
These Students will also appear in the export for 'Yet to Select', so you know who to contact and inform to complete their Activity Selection.
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