Cover marketplace open shifts filled in minutes
When a teacher calls in sick, the shift is opened to the school's cover pool. Cover staff see it on their phone and accept with one tap — no login required. Podolsky et al. (2016) and Ingersoll & Strong (2011) show that fast, qualified cover is decisive for both pupil outcomes and new-teacher retention — the marketplace closes the classic empty-morning bottleneck.
Push notification
Cover staff get a notification on their phone instantly — first come, first served.
Accept without login
Secure one-click link lets cover staff accept without creating an account.
Time-limited offers
Offers expire automatically if no one accepts — so the coordinator can call manually.
Auto-assignment
Once accepted, the timetable is updated, pupils are notified and pay starts ticking.
Approved cover only
Only people in the school's pre-approved pool receive offers — with safeguarding checks.
Pool management
Add or remove cover staff from the pool in the same system — no HR detour.
Subject & class ranking
Suggest_substitutes_v2 ranks candidates 0-5 by subject, class history and standby status.
External cover agencies
Invite an external agency's pool into the marketplace — with separate rate cards and audit.
In the classroom
Sickness at 6:30am
The coordinator opens the shift — typically filled before 7:30am.
Casual cover
Students or retired teachers can pick up the occasional hour without heavy admin.
The absent teacher
Doesn't have to find their own cover — the coordinator takes over from the first minute.
For school leadership and for the cover coordinator
The marketplace delivers the documentation the local authority asks for: which shifts were offered, who picked them up, what it cost, and how many expired unaccepted. Weekly trends reveal whether the pool is too small — or whether specific slots (Monday 8am) are always hard to fill.
- Audit per offer — who got it, who accepted
- Weekly trends — where are the bottlenecks
- Safeguarding/DBS check per cover staff
Instead of calling round from 6:30am, you send the offer with one click. The marketplace ranks candidates 0-5 by subject and history — so you know the top accept is the most qualified, not just the fastest.
- Push notification to the whole pool at once
- Time-limited offer — manual call-round on expiry
- External agency can be included as backup
Research base
The marketplace is grounded in research on teacher absence, cover quality and substitute-pool recruitment.
- Podolsky, A., Kini, T., Bishop, J. & Darling-Hammond, L. (2016). Solving the teacher shortage: How to attract and retain excellent educators. Learning Policy Institute source
- Ingersoll, R. M. & Strong, M. (2011). The impact of induction and mentoring programs for beginning teachers: A critical review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 201–233 source
- Miller, R. T., Murnane, R. J. & Willett, J. B. (2008). Do teacher absences impact student achievement? Longitudinal evidence from one urban school district. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 181–200 source
- Herrmann, M. A. & Rockoff, J. E. (2012). Worker absence and productivity: Evidence from teaching. Journal of Labor Economics, 30(4), 749–782 source
- Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (EVA) (2018). Vikardækning i folkeskolen — omfang, kvalitet og konsekvenser. EVA source
- KL & Lærernes Centralorganisation (2020). Arbejdstidsaftale 2020 (A20) for undervisningsområdet. KL & LC source
Frequently asked questions
Ready to try it?
Get a free demo for your school — we'll show you the whole platform in 30 minutes.