Thanks for the advice/attachment Lucas.

At the moment my workbbok is set-up to enter data from left to right. The first column contains employee names and I have data validated this cell so that the correct name is always inserted and to enable the vlookup to work.

In your example you have provivded three boxes and the option to insert text. Is it possible to have a mixture e.g. text boxes and drop-down boxes or combo boxes. At the moment my data sheet (no2) has a mixture.

In order for me to populate the correct cells entering data from left to right seemed the only available option. Is it possible for the data to be populated per column rather than row.

I have a copy of the workbook if it helps explain any, many thanks again for your time.