3 options..
enter the names on a clean unshaded sheet
do the sort
copy the names and
go to a sheet with the shaded lines
and edit... paste special... values
or
have a list of pupils on a shaded lines sheet in alphabetical order
just mark cells next to the names
or
use a macro to do the sort and re- shade the lines after the sort
Sub ShadeEveryOtherRow()
Dim Counter As Integer
Sheets("sheet4").Select
Range("A1:M40").Select
Selection.Sort Key1:=Range("A1"), Order1:=xlAscending, Header:=xlNo, _
OrderCustom:=1, MatchCase:=False, Orientation:=xlTopToBottom, _
DataOption1:=xlSortNormal
Range("A1").Select
For Counter = 1 To 40
'If the row is an odd number (within the selection)...
If Counter Mod 2 = 1 Then
'Set the pattern to xlGray16.
Rows(Counter).Interior.Pattern = xlGray16
Else
Rows(Counter).Interior.Pattern = nil
End If
Next
End Sub
You will have to adjust the ranges to suit.