# Course pacing

URL: https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/course-pacing
Tab: Scheduling & Courses
Category: Scheduling
Updated: 2026-10-07

Choose how many lessons happen per week and which days they land on.

Pacing is set when you add a course and can be changed any time from the student's course list. OpenSky places lessons on the teaching days you choose and re-plans the course whenever something changes.

## Setting pacing when you add a course

1. Click **Add** on the student's **Enrollments** tab and describe the course.
2. In the **Schedule** section, pick a **Cadence**: **Daily lessons** puts individual lessons on specific days; **Weekly lessons** gives the course one lesson for the whole week.
3. Set the **Start date** and tick the teaching days under **Which days**.
4. Choose a **Pacing** style:
   - **Fixed pace** — a set number of lessons on every teaching day. Pick **Lessons per day** (1 to 10).
   - **Finish by deadline** — OpenSky spreads the remaining lessons so the course ends by the **Finish by** date. **Distribution** decides where the extra lessons go: **Front-loaded** schedules more early, **Back-loaded** leaves more toward the deadline.
5. Optionally click **Add time** and set a **Start time** and **Duration**.

Weekly lessons have no pacing controls, since the course always moves one lesson per week.

## Changing pacing later

Open the student's **Enrollments** tab and expand the course row. The strip at the top shows **Start**, **Days**, **Time**, **Target**, **Projected**, **Cadence** and **Pacing**. Click any blue value to change it, then click **Save**. Choosing **Deadline** requires a **Target** date.

![The pacing strip at the top of an expanded course](https://opensky-public-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/supportimages/scheduling/course-pacing-1.png)

Start date, days and time belong to the course's block. If other courses share that block, a **Block scheduled course** dialog asks you to confirm, since the change reaches all of them. Days of a block with an A/B rotation are edited in [Block scheduling](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/block-scheduling) instead.

## Is the course on track?

Each course row carries a status next to its title: **On plan**, **Ahead of plan** or **Shifting Rhythm** compare the projected end date with your target (a week either way counts as on plan). Without a target you see **Beautiful** as long as nothing is overdue, and **Overdue lessons** when something is. See [Overdue lessons](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/overdue-lessons).

The expanded row adds two charts: **Lessons per week**, and **Completion trend**, which plots completions against the projected and target lines.

For the whole year at a glance, switch the toolbar from **List** to **Timeline**. Each course is a bar from its first to last scheduled lesson, with a progress ring. Zoom with the magnifier buttons; **Reset View** returns to the default range.

## Need more help?

Reach out any time at [support@openskyplanner.com](mailto:support@openskyplanner.com) and we will be happy to help.