How to make a seating chart
- Paste your class list, one name per line.
- Choose the room: rows of desks (rows and desks per row), groups of desks, or round tables (number of tables and seats at each).
- Add rules: pairs to keep apart and names that need the front row.
- Shuffle seats (or sort alphabetically), swap any two seats by clicking them, and print the plan in landscape.
How the shuffle works
The list is shuffled with the browser’s cryptographic random generator, front-row names take seats in the front row, and everyone else fills the remaining seats from the front, so empty desks end up at the back. If a keep-apart pair ends up side by side, in front of or behind each other, or at the same table, the tool throws that seating away and shuffles again, up to 2,000 times. Because every valid seating is equally likely to come out first, nobody is always placed in the same spot.
What we tested
On October 14, 2026 we ran the page’s own functions 1,000 times for each layout with 24 names, two front-row names and four keep-apart pairs:
| Layout | Class | Keep-apart pairs seated together | Front-row names not in front | Most shuffles needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rows | 24 names | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Groups | 24 names | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Round | 24 names | 0 | 0 | 18 |
Every name was seated exactly once in all 3,000 runs. Diagonal neighbors in rows are not counted as next to each other. Three people who must all be kept apart in a single row of three is impossible, and the tool reported it after 2,000 tries; a class larger than the room is refused with the seat count. In Chromium the plan printed on 1 landscape page with no settings, clicking two seats swapped them, Teacher’s view put the front of the room at the bottom, and the page fitted a 390 px phone screen with no errors.
Tips
Keep the rules few: each one you add rules out more seatings. Re-shuffle every few weeks so students sit with different classmates, and keep the printed plan with your register for substitute teachers. For a quick random split into groups without a room plan, the Random Team Generator takes the same list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Built by Derek Giordano · Part of Ultimate Design Tools