ParentPay

About ParentPay

ParentPay is a London company that runs online payments for UK schools. Parents use it to pay for school meals, trips, clubs, uniform and donations by card, bank transfer or cash at PayPoint. More than 10,000 schools use it, and 3 million parents pay through it each year, according to ParentPay. Parents log in at parentpay.com with an activation letter from their school, and the parent terms set no account fee. ParentPay Limited belongs to ParentPay Group, which also owns SIMS, Schoolcomms, Cypad and GDPRiS.

ParentPay collects money that parents owe a school. A school lists payment items such as dinner money, a trip, a club or a uniform order. Parents see these items in their ParentPay account and pay by card, One-click payment, bank transfer or Auto top-up. Families who pay cash use a PayPoint card or a barcoded letter at a PayPoint shop. ParentPay passes the money to the school and gives the school office reports on who has paid and who owes money.

ParentPay Limited was registered in England on 16 August 2002. In a 2021 press release the company said it started cashless payments in schools in 2004 and that the idea came from a former teacher. Schoolcomms and Cypad joined in 2017, WIS from the Netherlands in 2018, and three German companies formed ParentPay Deutschland in 2020. In August 2021 ParentPay completed the purchase of Education Software Solutions, the maker of the SIMS school MIS, from Montagu Private Equity. Montagu took a significant minority stake in the group in the same deal.

ParentPay Limited has its registered office in London and is owned by ParentPay Group Limited. The group sells payments, catering, parent messaging, MIS, finance, library and data protection software to schools, trusts, colleges, councils and caterers. It says more than 20,000 schools and 9 million users work with its products. Lewis Alcraft is Group CEO and Andrew Neubauer is chairman. In 2026 the group bought Schulmenueplaner in Germany and SchoolHire in the UK.

History

1. 2002 ParentPay Limited is registered in England on 16 August.
2. 2004 ParentPay starts online cashless payments for schools, according to the company.
3. 2017 Schoolcomms, with the School Gateway parent app, and the catering software Cypad join the group.
4. 2018 WIS, a Dutch provider of school payments and parent messages, joins the group.
5. 2020 ParentPay Deutschland forms through the purchase of PAIR Solutions, EDV Schaupp and MensaMax.
6. 2020 Capita agrees in December to sell Education Software Solutions to a Montagu company for about £400 million. Montagu also agrees to invest in ParentPay.
7. 2021 ParentPay completes the purchase of Education Software Solutions in August, with SIMS, Reading Cloud, UNIT-e and Library Management Cloud. ParentCom from the Netherlands joins the same year.
8. 2022 BlueRunner, a catering and meal ordering system, joins. Lewis Alcraft joins the ParentPay Limited board in October.
9. 2023 CEDAR, a student engagement platform for colleges, joins the group.
10. 2024 GDPRiS, data protection software for schools, joins the group.
11. 2026 ParentPay Deutschland buys Schulmenueplaner, a catering software company, in January.
12. 2026 ParentPay Group buys SchoolHire, a booking system for school sports halls and pitches, in April.

ParentPay funding and investors

1. August 2021
   Private equity, significant minority stake Amount not disclosed

   Lead: Montagu Private Equity Montagu Private Equity

   Source: FE News, ParentPay press release

ParentPay has no public venture rounds. Montagu took a significant minority stake in 2021 when ParentPay bought Education Software Solutions. The amount Montagu put into ParentPay was not disclosed. Companies House lists Tiger Topco Limited, controlled through Montagu VI Nominees Limited, as a holder of 25% to 50% of ParentPay (Holdings) Ltd.

Leadership

• LA Lewis Alcraft Group CEO
• AN Andrew Neubauer Chairman
• CW Clint Wilson Corporate Development Director
• IT Ian Tufts Chief Technology Officer
• PR Phil Roberts Chief Commercial Officer
• MS Marco Schulten Managing Director, ParentPay Germany
• RT Ronald Timmerman Managing Director, WIS and ParentCom

Roles from the ParentPay Group about page on 13 October 2026. Companies House lists Clint Wilson as a director of ParentPay Limited since 2005, Andrew Neubauer since 2007 and Lewis Alcraft since 2022. Mark Brant was Group CEO at the time of the 2021 SIMS deal.

Group brands

Brands listed on the ParentPay Group company information and about pages on 13 October 2026.

Video, blogs and resources

• ParentPay GroupThe YouTube channel ↗

• Parent help centreActivation, payments, meals and refunds↗
• Login pageLinks to ParentPay, School Gateway, SIMS Parent and SIMS Student↗
• ParentPay roadmapPlanned features for schools and parents↗
• Company informationUK companies and brands of the group↗

Products

• Active payment items

  Year 6 trip

  CardOne-clickBasket

  Any time
  Parent account Parents open Active Payment Items, choose a trip, club or uniform order and pay by card or One-click payment. Parent Account credit is used first. Making a payment ↗
• Auto top-up

  When the balance is low

  MonthlyWeeklyLow balance

  Any time
  School meals and Auto top-up Parents can pre-order meals and check the meal balance. Auto top-up adds money monthly, weekly or when the balance runs low, if the school offers it. Auto top-up help ↗
• Cash top-ups at PayPoint shops
  Cash at PayPoint Schools order a PayPoint card for each child, so parents can pay meal money in cash at a PayPoint shop. Parents pay a small handling charge for the card. PayPoint cards ↗

• Trip to the museum on Friday

  Consent given, £12 paid

  Thank you, place confirmed

  Schoolcomms and School Gateway Schools send texts, emails and in-app messages through Schoolcomms. Parents read them in the School Gateway app on iPhone and Android. Parental engagement ↗
• Team progress

  Sales

  Support

  Product
  Payments for schools Schools get weekly settlements, refunds, debt tracking and reconciliation reports. ParentPay acts as merchant of record and works with most MIS systems. Request a demo ↗

How much is ParentPay?

• Core payments Online Payments £240/year + £1.20 per pupil, per school, per pupil on roll
• Clubs module £120/year + £1.20 per pupil, breakfast and after-school clubs
• Core Messaging £240/year up to £1,440, by pupil numbers, text and email
• School shop £600/year £600 a year, per school, uniform and items
• PayPoint cards £3.50/year per pupil, optional
• Set-up £650/year one-off, per site, with online training

Is ParentPay free?

The parent terms (version 5.2, October 2025) set no account or subscription fee for parents. ParentPay may charge an administration fee for disputed payments and chargebacks under its Fair Use Policy. Schools that order a PayPoint card for a parent pass on a small handling charge.

School prices from ParentPay’s G-Cloud 14 pricing document of 2 May 2024, in pounds, per year unless stated, checked on 13 October 2026. The document does not state VAT. Parents do not pay these prices. Schools get a quote through ParentPay sales.

• ParentPay parent account ↗
  1. Ask your child’s school to refund any balance
  2. Withdraw the money left in your Parent Account
  3. Email parent-support@parentpay.com from your registered address and ask to close the account

• Only the school can refund a payment. ParentPay cannot cancel a payment once it is authorised.
• After closing, you cannot see your money or your payment history.
• If a child moves to another ParentPay school, add the child to the same account.
• Only the school can remove a child from an account.

Refund rules

Balance

A Parent Account balance stays yours for 6 years from the last login, payment or top-up. After that, ParentPay does not return it.

Money held

ParentPay keeps balances in a ring-fenced holding account at a UK bank, in pounds.

Disputes

ParentPay may charge an administration fee for disputed payments and chargebacks.

Law

English law and the courts of England and Wales.

From the ParentPay parent help centre and the parent terms version 5.2 of October 2025, checked on 13 October 2026.

Ratings of group apps

• WebParents log in at parentpay.com in the browser
• PayPointCash payments with a PayPoint card or barcoded letter
• School Gateway appMessages and payments for Schoolcomms schools
• MISWorks with most MIS systems, including SIMS
• Cashless tillsMeal balances sync with school canteen tills

Apps

ParentPay app

None. The help centre advises a home-screen bookmark

School Gateway

Schoolcomms app, iPhone and Android

SIMS Parent

SIMS app, needs a code from the school

Is ParentPay worth it?

What parents write in reviews, not our rating. Most 5-star reviews date from earlier years. 19 of the 20 newest reviews give 1 or 2 stars. ParentPay has not invited reviews recently, according to Trustpilot.

ParentPay reviews

• Login problem solved

  “when I emailed them to tell them the problem they helped me sort it”

  Sarah Morris · 27 March 2025 · App Store
• Card rejected

  “Getting fed up with ParentPay continuously rejecting my credit card.”

  Linda Kelly · 24 September 2026 · App Store
• Complex and clunky

  “It’s easy enough to pay by one click but really complex if school chooses to use parent pay and you’re paying by tax free childcare care.”

  Victoria Thornber · 8 September 2026 · App Store

Latest news

1. 14 April 2026ParentPay Group acquires SchoolHire ↗
2. 22 January 2026ParentPay Deutschland acquires Schulmenueplaner ↗
3. 11 August 2021ParentPay Group completes the acquisition of ESS, FE News ↗
4. 14 December 2020Capita sells ESS to Montagu for about £400 million, The Register ↗

Contacts and company data

• Parent supportparent-support@parentpay.com
• Help centreparenthelp.parentpaygroup.com
• Public sector bidsbidteam@parentpay.com
• Pressparentpay_uk@berkeleypr.com
• SchoolsRequest a quote

Legal entity

ParentPay Limited, 11 Kingsley Lodge, 13 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 9UG, United Kingdom

Company number

04513692, England and Wales

Registered

16 August 2002

Status

Active on 13 October 2026

Parent company

ParentPay Group Limited, 13477997

Activity

SIC 62090, other IT service activities

Last accounts

Year to 30 November 2025

VAT number

524 6553 87

Alternatives to ParentPay

• Arbor🇬🇧 United Kingdom A school MIS from London whose Arbor Parent App takes payments for meals and trips. →
• W WisePayUnited States Online school payments, bookings and dinner hall management, set up in Hampshire in 2007. ↗

How we built this profile

1. Sources. Facts come from the company’s own website, press room, imprint and careers page, from Wikipedia, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Every source is listed on the page.
2. Checks. Kinescope checked every number on 13 October 2026. Prices, ratings and job counts change, and we refresh them with each update.
3. Our words. Descriptions are written by the Kinescope team. Quotes from reviews are marked with the author and source, and we do not rate the company ourselves.
4. Corrections. The company can send new facts or corrections, and we update the profile.

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