A Genetic Algorithm Based University Timetabling System

The annual construction of an Exam Timetable is a common problem for all institutions of higher education. Quite often it is done by hand or with the limited help of a simple administration system and usually involves taking the previous year’s timetable and modifying it so it will work for the new year. Many British institutions are now introducing the concept of the modular degree. This gives the students much greater flexibility in what courses they take as well as giving a much greater choice. For the timetabler, this, and the recent growth in student numbers, means that the timetable will be more constrained than ever. It is no longer good enough to use the previous year’s timetable. Every year a new timetable must be produced to take account of staff, student and course changes causing a necessarily large amount of administrative work. We present a prototype system for University Timetabling of both exams and courses based on the use of Genetic Algorithms. This will include an interactive windows based iconic user interface so that the user can work with the system and home in on a good solution.