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 class intake using the 4-question setup dialog?
How do I link tasks to any lesson on its own row?
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 school 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 Materials → Programs (/platform/materials?tab=programs) in the sidebar.

Click "Create Template"

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

Assemble Lessons and Activities into Mandatory Units

Click "Add Materials" to select lessons, exercises, and homework from any course published in your school library:

Mandatory Units: Every template organizes its curriculum into structured collapsible units (starting with Unit 1). Every lesson must belong to a unit.
Flexible Task Linking: Program templates can link a task (such as an exercise, quiz, or homework) to any lesson on its own row, not only to a live class lesson. This allows self-paced modules, asynchronous checkpoints, or standalone practice tasks to have their own dedicated rows and release schedules.
Unit Actions: School managers can duplicate entire units (click the ⋯ actions menu on any unit header and select Duplicate Unit to copy all lessons and relative timing rules), reorder units, and delete units (automatically moving lessons into the preceding unit with instant undo).
Unit Art & School Image Library: Customize unit headers with custom artwork, school image library assets, or AI-generated covers using school style presets.
When teachers launch a class from this template, the entire unit structure transfers directly.

Set Relative Release Rules & Calendar Drivers

Configure when materials become accessible relative to class meetings:

Set preparation materials to open 24 hours before class.
Set live classes to unlock automatically at class time (At class time).
Set homework to release immediately after the live class ends (After previous item).
Set prerequisites where advanced exercises require passing earlier tasks.

Save and Publish Template

Click "Save Template". Templates autosave in real time as you edit. The published template is immediately available for any teacher or staff member to use when launching a new class intake.

Template builder showing mandatory units, lessons arranged in order, and relative release rules

Launching a New Class Intake

When a new group of students enrolls, you can launch a fresh class using the unified 4-question Class Setup dialog:

Open Materials → Programs (/platform/materials?tab=programs) and select the desired template.
Click "Create Class from Template".
Answer the four setup questions:
- What the class learns: Automatically pre-selected with the chosen Program Template, combining its collapsible units, lessons, and relative sequence.
- How students go through lessons: Choose the progression rhythm (Together in scheduled live meetings, On their own with teacher review, or Self-paced).
- Meetings with the class: Set recurring weekly meeting times and timezone (e.g., Tuesdays and Thursdays at 18:00), the assigned teacher, and the student seat limit. The class Start Day defaults automatically to the first weekly meeting slot.
- How lessons open: Apply the automated opening rules (e.g., live classes open at class time, homework opens after class, or lessons unlock step by step as previous items are passed).
Click "Create Class".

Locuto instantly generates the full schedule of live lessons, links each homework and practice task to its designated row, applies the calendar's automated opening rules, 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 managers 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.

Concluding a Cohort (Terminal Class Closure)

When a cohort finishes their study program, teachers or school staff can conclude the class by selecting Close class from the ⋯ overflow menu in the class header:

Releasing Active Seat Quota: Closing a class permanently unenrolls all participating students from the cohort, immediately freeing up their active seat quota for future student intakes.
Closure Guards: Closing a class is blocked if a live session is currently in progress or if students hold sole open course access that must be ended first. The confirmation dialog provides direct links to open the active live meeting or navigate to the student's profile on the roster to resolve access before confirming closure.
Permanent Archive: Closing a class is a terminal action. The class cannot be reopened, preventing accidental schedule conflicts or unexpected automated notifications.
Preserved History: All completed lesson records, attendance logs, homework submissions, and teacher observations remain permanently accessible in your school archives and reports.

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