Can I put a group class student on hold?

Applies to: Owner, Manager, Staff
PLUS Feature: No
Plan: All
Last updated: November 5, 2026

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Which group class plans can be held
3. How to put a group class student on hold
4. What happens to the class dates
5. What happens to the class invoice
6. Hold dates and the class end date
7. A student with private lessons and a group class
8. When the hold ends
9. FAQ
10. Related Articles

Overview

Families take breaks from group classes for the same reasons they take breaks from private lessons: a summer away, a sports season, a long trip. Without a hold, your front desk has two poor choices. Keep billing a family who is not coming, or end their enrollment and hope they re-enroll in the same class when they get back.

A subscription hold in Opus1.io keeps the student enrolled in their class and pauses them for the dates you choose. The class still meets for everyone else, the student's seat opens for those dates so another student can use it, and the monthly bill goes down for the time they are away.

Why: A paused family is far more likely to come back than one who had to quit, and a seat that would sit empty for the summer can be filled with a drop-in or a trial student.

Owners, managers, and staff place holds from the student's profile. Limited Staff do not see the Hold button, and families cannot pause a class from their own Opus1.io account.

Which group class plans can be held

Whether a hold is possible depends on the payment plan the student enrolled with, not on the class itself. Check the plan name on the student's subscription before you promise a family a pause.

New monthly class plans start with holds turned on. If a student enrolled before holds were turned on for their plan, their subscription keeps the old setting, and What does "Plan doesn't allow hold" mean? shows how to update it.

Why it matters: If your summer policy promises pauses, the plan you sell in the fall decides whether you can keep that promise. A family on Full Class Payment cannot be paused later.

How to put a group class student on hold

1. Open the student's profile in Opus1.io and scroll to Subscriptions.
2. Find the group class subscription you want to pause. A student in two classes has two subscriptions, so check the class name.
3. Click Hold. If the button reads Hold Scheduled or On Hold, a hold is already saved on this subscription and a second one cannot be added yet.
4. Choose Hold starts now, or pick a Start Date after today. Then pick an End Date after the start.
5. Leave Mark client as cancelled during hold on unless you want the student to keep their seat. See What happens to the class dates.
6. Turn on Do not notify the client if you would rather tell the family yourself.
7. Check the dates once more, then click Place On Hold.

The subscription then shows On hold from the start date through the end date. Dates use the subscription's timezone, and the window warns you when yours is different.

What happens to the class dates

With Mark client as cancelled during hold on, which is the default, Opus1.io does the following for every class date inside the hold:

• The class stays on the calendar and meets as usual. It is not cancelled, even when the held student is the only one enrolled.
• The student is marked On Hold on the roster and in attendance for that date.
• If the class has a maximum class size, the student's seat opens for that date, so another student can enroll in it. A class with no size limit has no seat to open.
• If the class meets more than once a week, every meeting inside the hold is marked, including a hold that starts midweek.
• The student cannot be cancelled from those dates again. Opus1.io shows Participant already marked as canceled due to subscription hold.
• A class date you add later that falls inside the hold is marked On Hold for that student too.

With Mark client as cancelled during hold off, the student stays on the roster for those dates and keeps their seat. Billing is still reduced for the hold dates. Tell the teacher which dates are paused, so nobody marks the student absent while they are away.

Why: Opening the seat lets a popular class stay full over the summer. Keeping it is the safer choice for a short trip, when you would rather the seat sit empty than risk giving it away. What happens to a student's lesson slot during a hold? covers how schools decide.

What happens to the class invoice

Opus1.io reduces every monthly invoice whose billing period overlaps the hold:

• Flat monthly price. The invoice is reduced by the share of its billing period the hold covers. Both the start date and the end date count as time off. The invoice gets a Proration hold line with the dates and the percent off, and a period fully inside the hold drops to $0.
• Variable rate per visit. The invoice is reduced for the class dates inside the hold, and the Proration hold line says how many visits were skipped.
• Already paid. The card payment is not refunded. If the family paid more than the reduced amount, the difference becomes monetary credit on the payer's account.
• Tax is figured again on the reduced amount.

If the hold window shows Invoices will not be prorated for this subscription payment type, Opus1.io leaves that subscription's invoices as they are.

While a hold is saved, the plan price and recurring discount on that subscription are locked until the hold ends. Make any rate change before you click Place On Hold, or use a one-time invoice discount instead. What happens to the invoice when a student is on hold? walks through the math with examples.

Hold dates and the class end date

Group class holds follow the same date rules as private lesson holds, plus one more: the hold cannot run past the class's last date. Ending the hold on the class's final day is allowed. If a date breaks a rule, Opus1.io saves nothing and shows one of these messages:

Why it matters: For a class that runs September to June, a student leaving for the last month of the term does not need a hold at all. End the hold on the class's last date, or end the subscription, whichever matches your policy.

A student with private lessons and a group class

A hold pauses one subscription, so a family away for the summer needs one hold on each subscription they want paused. For a student with weekly piano lessons and a Saturday theory class, place a hold on the lesson subscription and a separate hold on the class subscription, usually with the same dates.

Each hold follows its own plan's rules. One subscription can be held while the other cannot, for example when the class was paid in full. The option in the hold window also reads differently: Cancel appointments during hold on private lessons, and Mark client as cancelled during hold on group classes.

To pause many students at once, such as every student leaving for summer, open the Subscriptions report and use Batch Hold. It works when every location uses the business timezone, or when the report is filtered to one location, and Opus1.io emails you when the batch finishes.

When the hold ends

After the end date, Opus1.io clears the hold by itself. There is nothing to click. The student stays enrolled for the remaining class dates, invoicing goes back to normal, and the Hold button is available again for a later break.

Class dates inside the hold stay marked On Hold. If another student took the seat on one of those dates, that booking stays in place. If the family should attend a date that was held, enroll the student on it by hand. Opus1.io does not send the family an email when the hold ends, so remind them of their return date.

FAQ

Does the teacher get paid for class dates marked On Hold? Not by default. Whether held dates count toward a teacher's pay is set on their pay rate with Count appointments/classes on hold?, the same setting that covers private lessons. See Staff Payroll.

The family paid the whole term up front. Can I still pause them? Not with a hold, because Full Class Payment plans cannot be held. You can cancel the student from the class dates they will miss, or move them to a later class with How do I transfer a student to another group class?. Neither one pauses billing, so agree with the family on any credit or make-up before you start.

Can I change the hold dates after I place it? No. Opus1.io treats hold dates as final. To end a hold early, fix the dates, or give the student more time, follow Can I change, extend, or cancel a subscription hold?.

Is a subscription hold the same as holding a spot for a new family? No. A subscription hold pauses a student who is already enrolled. Saving a time for a family who has not enrolled yet is an appointment hold. Subscription hold vs. appointment hold: which do I need? compares them.

Related Articles

• How do I use subscription holds? — the full walkthrough, mostly for private lessons
• What happens to a student's lesson slot during a hold? — opening or keeping a class seat
• What happens to the invoice when a student is on hold? — the billing math, with examples
• What does "Plan doesn't allow hold" mean? — turning holds on for students already enrolled
• Can I change, extend, or cancel a subscription hold? — what to do when the dates change
• How do I create a group class? — choosing a monthly plan that can be held
• How do I transfer a student to another group class? — moving a student instead of pausing them
• How do I end a subscription? — for a student who is not coming back