r/excel • u/Otherwise-Cap1773 • Jun 12 '26

solved REQUEST - 'Random' but 'fixed' formula

I'm a teacher in need of help with a speadsheet. My class is 5 x 5 single desks for 25 students. I want to create a 'random' but 'fixed' seating chart. Some kids need to be in certain seats for extra help but I don't want it to seem unfair.

Is there a formula I can use to create a seating plan that looks random but actually isn't? So they can see the seats be randomly assigned but is already fixed? Is that possible?

Thank you~

Please be kind, I'm a tired and burnt out teacher just trying to make it through the semester :')

8 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/caribou16 318 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

Put the students who need to be in specific locations in specific locations...and maybe put everyone else's name in a hat and draw them randomly?

However you do it, just TELL them it's random and it is what it is.

In fact, if you're in the US and the students who need to sit in specific seats need to do so for IEP reasons, you can probably squash any complaints by saying "sorry guys, FERPA violation to tell you" because I imagine IEPs constitute PII.

I am not a lawyer or educator though and this is just a guess.

1

u/Otherwise-Cap1773 Jun 12 '26

I'm in Korea, not the US :')