The modern parent portal, finally.
Schools are doing more than ever, with less time than ever. We build a parent and student portal that's faster than calling the front office — one that takes the pressure off reception, keeps families informed and gives leaders their time back — without ever compromising on safeguarding.
Why we built Ask.School
Schools are under enormous pressure. Staff shortages, rising workloads, more communication than ever from parents — and the same number of hours in the day. Office phones ring all morning with the same handful of questions: term dates, uniform, lunch menu, today's lessons, “is school open?” Senior leaders spend evenings replying to emails that didn't need a senior leader.
Old parent portals were built for a different era. Information is buried, the timetable lives in an MIS app no-one remembers the password for, and parents end up phoning the office anyway. The systems don't understand how schools actually run — terms, sites, year groups, classes, the office — and they put the maintenance work back on the school.
Ask.School is different. It's the modern parent portal: a chatbot that knows your school inside out, answers in seconds on any phone, and keeps itself in sync with your MIS. Built around the safeguarding rules schools already follow, and entirely in the school's control. The phones ring less. Parents get answers faster. Everyone wins.
A small UK team, with school experience in the room
Ask.School was founded in 2024 by a school IT director who'd spent years watching reception phones ring with the same questions, parent emails pile up in headteachers' inboxes, and senior leaders lose their evenings to replies that didn't need a senior leader.
We're a small UK-based team. We build, we ship, and we talk to schools every week — most of our roadmap comes from those conversations. We're a UK-registered company, our data is UK-hosted, and our support comes from people who've actually worked in schools.
No outside investors, no growth-at-all-costs incentives. We'd rather build something schools genuinely rely on than chase the next hype cycle.
Our principles
Safety first, every time
Every feature is built around the safeguarding rules schools already follow — KCSIE, the Department for Education's AI guidance, and the children's safety standards. The safe option is always the default.
The school is in charge
You decide what your tools know about, who can use them, and how they sound. Nothing happens without your school choosing to make it happen.
Built for schools, not adapted
Ask.School is made for schools, not borrowed from another industry and bent to fit. The way schools actually work — terms, sites, year groups, parents, the office — is built in from the start.
Your data stays yours
Hosted in the UK. Encrypted at every step. Never used to train anyone else's products. Full UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 — and every document your DPO needs is on the website.
How it works
Get your school's AI chatbot up and running in minutes, not months.
Add your school's content
Upload your policies, handbooks and term-dates. Add the answers you find yourself giving over and over. Link to the pages on your school website.
Make it yours
Add your logo and colour. Decide who in your community can see what. Pick the tone of voice. Have a chat with it before you go live.
Share with your community
Parents, staff and students can ask the questions they'd otherwise call or email about — and get an instant, accurate answer in your school's voice.
Ready to see it in action?
Join the schools already using Ask.School to save time, support parents and keep children safe.