Program Templates & Class Intakes

Create reusable curriculum blueprints and manage student intakes across your teaching staff.

Who this is for

Academic leads, Operations admins, and School Owners managing curricula, teacher assignments, and cohort schedules.

What this page answers

What is the difference between a Program Template and an active Class Program?
How do I create a reusable curriculum blueprint for my school?
How do I launch a new student intake from a template?
How do I transfer an active class from one teacher to another?
How does student seat capacity work with direct class admissions?

Prerequisites

An account with the Academic lead, Operations admin, or Owner role
Courses and lessons published in your organization's library

Templates vs. Active Class Programs

In Locuto, curriculum planning is separated into two concepts:

Program Template: A reusable, school-wide blueprint. It defines the sequence of lessons, homework assignments, and relative timing (e.g., "Preparation opens 24 hours before class", "Homework due 3 days after class") without any specific students, calendar dates, or teachers attached.
Active Class Program: A live instance of that blueprint assigned to a specific teacher and student cohort with real calendar dates.

Using templates allows your school to run the same high-quality curriculum across multiple teachers and intakes without rebuilding schedules from scratch.

Program Templates list showing reusable school curriculum blueprints

Creating a Program Template

To create a new school-wide curriculum blueprint:

Navigate to Program Templates

Go to Curriculum → Program Templates in the admin sidebar.

Click "Create Template"

Provide a clear title (e.g., "B1 Business English - 12-Week Intensive") and description.

Assemble Lessons and Activities

Click "Add Materials" to select lessons, exercises, and homework from any course published in your school library. You can also organize lessons into Units (headings with a title, description, and cover image) that will carry over when new classes are launched from this template.

Set Relative Release Rules

Configure when materials become accessible relative to class meetings:

Set preparation materials to open 24 hours before class.
Set homework to release immediately when a class finishes.
Set prerequisites where advanced exercises require passing earlier tasks.

Save and Publish Template

Click "Save Template". The template is now available for any teacher or administrator to use when launching a new class.

Template builder showing lessons arranged in order with relative release rules

Launching a New Class Intake

When a new group of students enrolls, you can launch a fresh class in minutes:

Open Program Templates and select the desired template.
Click "Create Class from Template".
Configure the intake settings:
- Class Name: Give the cohort an identifiable name (e.g., "B1 Spanish - Autumn 2026 Cohort").
- Assigned Teacher: Select the teacher who will lead this class.
- Schedule Rules: Set recurring weekly meeting times and timezone (e.g., Tuesdays and Thursdays at 18:00). The class Start Day defaults automatically to the creation date and the time of your first weekly session.
- Seat Limit: Set the maximum number of students allowed in the class.
Click "Create Class".

Locuto instantly generates the full schedule of live lessons, links the homework and preparation tasks, applies the calendar's automated opening rules (live classes open at class time, homework opens after class), and sets up the class checklist—ready for students to join.

Transferring a Class (Teacher Handover)

If a teacher is unavailable or schedules change, school administrators can easily transfer an active class to a new teacher:

Go to Classes in the sidebar and open the class.
Click "Edit Class".
Select the new teacher in the Assigned Teacher dropdown.
Confirm the transfer.

What Happens During a Handover?

Transferred to the new teacher:
- Upcoming scheduled live lessons and calendar slots
- Future assignment batches and class materials checklist
- Authority to manage the class roster and start live sessions
Preserved with original attribution:
- Completed lessons and past attendance records
- Historical student homework submissions and grades
- Original authorship of past teaching observations (the new teacher can read them, but the author's name remains on the note)

Handing over a class ensures an uninterrupted transition for students. Their schedule, materials, and past progress remain completely intact.

Student Seat Metering and Direct Admissions

Students can be admitted directly to a class via invite links or manual addition without needing an upfront course enrollment.

Active Seats: Each student actively enrolled in a class or course counts toward your school's active student seat capacity.
Multi-course efficiency: When a class program draws materials from multiple courses, students in that class still count as a single student seat, keeping your school billing simple and predictable.
Deactivating Completed Students: When a cohort concludes, removing or archiving students frees up those seats for future intakes.

Classes for school-wide class management
Class Programs & Learning Plans for the teacher's view of active programs
Roles & Permissions for staff access levels