Is Bell Path an Edval alternative for primary schools?

For Australian primary schools, yes. Bell Path is built for the primary problem: planning time, job-shares, specialist rotations, yard duty and daily cover in one place. Secondary schools should stay with a secondary product. Bell Path does not do secondary timetabling.

Is Edval Primary the same product as Tes Timetable?

In substance, yes. The Edval website now redirects to the Tes Timetable page, which calls the product “Tes Timetable, previously Edval”. We treat Tes Timetable as Edval under the Tes brand.

Does Tes Timetable handle daily cover and duty rosters?

Its public pages say yes. The primary page describes duty rosters, and a Daily module for staff absences and texting relief teachers is included in the Premium and Premium Plus packages. The pages do not say what your school’s package includes, so ask Tes. Bell Path includes cover and duty for every school.

Where do Bell Path and Tes Timetable store school data?

Both online services store data in Australia. Tes’s help pages say online Tes Timetable data sits in an Amazon Web Services data centre in Sydney. Bell Path is an Australian business run from Victoria, and its servers are in Australia, in Melbourne and Sydney.

Is Bell Path only competing on simplicity?

No. Bell Path handles the real constraints of a primary school, including planning time, job-shares and specialist rotations. It is simpler to run, but it does not drop the hard rules to get there.

What would make us regret choosing Bell Path?

Needing secondary timetabling later, wanting someone else to design and run the timetable for you all year, or needing it to connect deeply with other school systems. Bell Path will load the timetable you already have, but it is a primary-school product you run yourself.

Comparison

Bell Path vs Tes Timetable, powered by Edval

Choose Bell Path when a school leader wants to build and run the primary timetable themselves, with daily cover and yard duty included. Choose Tes Timetable for an established suite that also does secondary, with a Tes timetabler available to run it for you.

Edval is a long-established Australian timetabling suite that now sits under the Tes brand as Tes Timetable, powered by Edval. This page is for a primary school weighing it against Bell Path.

Send us your timetable See a sample school's week

Already run one? Send the file and it is in Bell Path within 48 hours, with Daily Cover free for two weeks.

This comparison is based on the public pages and help articles of Tes, which now owns Edval. The old Edval website now redirects to the Tes Timetable page. Packages change, so confirm with Tes what is included for your school.

Sources checked · 3 October 2026

Which product fits which school.

Choose Bell Path if

You want guided setup in a web browser, built for an assistant principal doing this alongside a full workload
You want every teacher’s planning time checked to the minute before the timetable goes out
You want daily cover, yard duty and wet day plans included for every school, not chosen by package
You want a published price and to start without a demo or a quote

Choose Tes Timetable if

You need secondary timetabling as well, or already know an established suite and its processes
You want a Tes timetabler to run your timetable for the year, which Tes sells as Timetabler in Residence
You want class lists built in the same product
Edval, now Tes Timetable, is already on your procurement shortlist

What the decision usually comes down to.

Who it is built for

Australian primary schools only

Primary and secondary schools, in a suite that now sits under Tes

Who drives it

Guided setup a school leader runs themselves

The school’s own timetabler, or a Tes timetabler through the Timetabler in Residence add-on

Planning time

Every teacher’s planning time (APT, RFF, DOTT, NIT or NCT) is delivered to the minute and checked before the timetable goes out

The primary page says it timetables staff meetings, release time and support teachers. It does not describe a check of each teacher’s entitlement

Beyond the timetable

Daily cover, yard duty and wet day plans, included for every school

Duty rosters and class lists are on the primary page. A Daily module for absences and texting relief teachers comes in the Premium and Premium Plus packages, so ask Tes what yours covers

Evaluation and pricing

Send the timetable you already run and it is in Bell Path within 48 hours, with Daily Cover free for two weeks. Or set up and build a free preview of your real timetable. Prices are published, $679 a year for up to 100 students and $1,349 for 101 to 300, rising with school size, with no GST added

By demo. No prices or trial are published

Where data is stored

Bell Path is an Australian business run from Victoria, and its servers are in Australia, in Melbourne and Sydney

Online data is stored in an Amazon Web Services data centre in Sydney. The desktop version keeps the file on the school’s own computers

Human support

Bell Path loads your current timetable from your file within 48 hours, replies to email within one working day, and offers a walkthrough on request

Specialist timetabling support from Tes, with the timetable run for you as an add-on

FAQ

Questions schools ask when comparing Bell Path and Tes Timetable.

Is Bell Path an Edval alternative for primary schools?
For Australian primary schools, yes. Bell Path is built for the primary problem: planning time, job-shares, specialist rotations, yard duty and daily cover in one place. Secondary schools should stay with a secondary product. Bell Path does not do secondary timetabling.
Is Edval Primary the same product as Tes Timetable?
In substance, yes. The Edval website now redirects to the Tes Timetable page, which calls the product “Tes Timetable, previously Edval”. We treat Tes Timetable as Edval under the Tes brand.
Does Tes Timetable handle daily cover and duty rosters?
Its public pages say yes. The primary page describes duty rosters, and a Daily module for staff absences and texting relief teachers is included in the Premium and Premium Plus packages. The pages do not say what your school’s package includes, so ask Tes. Bell Path includes cover and duty for every school.
Where do Bell Path and Tes Timetable store school data?
Both online services store data in Australia. Tes’s help pages say online Tes Timetable data sits in an Amazon Web Services data centre in Sydney. Bell Path is an Australian business run from Victoria, and its servers are in Australia, in Melbourne and Sydney.
Is Bell Path only competing on simplicity?
No. Bell Path handles the real constraints of a primary school, including planning time, job-shares and specialist rotations. It is simpler to run, but it does not drop the hard rules to get there.
What would make us regret choosing Bell Path?
Needing secondary timetabling later, wanting someone else to design and run the timetable for you all year, or needing it to connect deeply with other school systems. Bell Path will load the timetable you already have, but it is a primary-school product you run yourself.

Other comparisons.

See all 12 comparisons

See the timetable before you decide.

Send us the timetable you already run and it is in Bell Path within 48 hours, or see a week Bell Path built for a sample school first.

Send us your timetable See a sample school's week

Two teachers reviewing the school week together in the staffroom.

Bell Path publishes its prices: $679 a year for up to 100 students and $1,349 for 101 to 300, rising with school size, with no per-user add-ons. See the full price list.