Outclass

Launching a booking experience

2000+
Weekly students

80+
Partner schools and clubs

Net promoter score

Around 60% of primary schools across England currently offer wraparound care, before and after school. By September 2026 the government expects that all parents can access wraparound care, either through their child’s school or from another local provider. With the number of wraparound childcare places expected to increase, this also comes with additional administrative burdens to manage these provisions.

After interviewing several head teachers and school admin staff, two things stood out. First, managing extended services is admin heavy, requiring detailed safeguarding protocols to meet Ofsted requirements. Second, schools are reluctant to dip into educational funds to facilitate these after-school clubs as it diverts resources away from the core curriculum.

With no clear way for schools to increase their club places without paying for expensive booking systems, I began to seek a solution. Outclass began after thorough quantitative and qualitative research, when I decided to create a platform for schools to streamline their bookings, and easily manage their after-school clubs without putting a strain on educational funds.

The Opportunity

Through empathetic design and following my core playbook, I could reframe the booking experience into something that was quick and easy for time-poor parents to locate key class information and make bookings in as few steps as possible on their mobiles. From the initial concept, we optimised the booking flow through user testing, resulting in a +32% reduction in time to task completion.

For school admin staff and providers, I needed to design complex forms with multiple dependencies without overwhelming our users. Throughout the design process, I kept visual clarity in focus for a simple user experience. I not only wanted to present information clearly, but also automate repetitive tasks, and significantly reduce the workload placed on staff. Ultimately giving staff back their time and creating a happier experience for all involved.

Retrospective

I was determined to launch my own venture to gain firsthand insight into clients' challenges. Launching Outclass gave me a profound understanding of the process of building a product from the ground up. I remained laser focused on the vision statement, and developed and released the first version of a validated MVP within six weeks. I take great pride in the platform's positive impact on schools across the UK.