Teachers Spend Too Much Time Arranging Appointments
Managing parent meetings and office hours through email takes time, and important booking requests can get missed.
Staff · No admin hour · BookedAppointment Scheduling Software for Schools Beyond the Class Timetable for everything the timetable does not cover
Your school timetable manages regular classes. Picktime’s scheduling software for schools helps you organize everything around them, from tutorials and office hours to parent meetings, admissions interviews, open days, and room bookings.
What a department publishes
TutorialDr Vance · Tue and ThuBookable
EveningYear 9 parents · 6 minBookable
RoomStudio 2 · held with staffTogether
Parents book
No account
Nothing to sign up for first
Each teacher
Own hours
A set of bookable hours each
Rooms and kit
Held with them
Booked alongside the person
Is this you
Where School Scheduling Gets Complicated
Picktime’s scheduling app for schools works alongside your timetable. Staff can set their available appointment times, while students, parents, and applicants can choose a suitable slot through your Booking Page.
Parents and students book outside office hours
Give parents and students a booking page where they can choose available appointment times whenever it suits them.
Books · Parents at 22:00 · ConfirmedDifferent Departments Have Different Booking Needs
Set up appointment types and staff availability for departments such as admissions, counseling, and teaching.
Dept · Its own hours · Its ownRooms and equipment can fill up too
Link rooms or equipment to relevant services so their availability is considered alongside staff appointments.
Rooms · Held together · CountedThe structural cost
Take the Rest of Scheduling Off Email
Schools usually have a formal timetable for classes, but everything outside it can get messy. Office hours are shared in lectures, parent meetings run through spreadsheets, and open days often turn into long email chains. Scheduling software for schools gives these bookings a place of their own.
That saves time for both teachers and administrators. Teachers do not have to keep answering messages about when they are free, while administrators do not have to collect replies and build schedules by hand. Everyone can see the available times and book without the back-and-forth.
Picktime helps schools manage appointments alongside their existing timetable. Staff set their availability, students and parents choose available times through the Booking Page, and rooms or equipment can be linked to services that need them. Your regular class timetable stays unchanged while other bookings become easier to organize.
Hours
Office Hours Nobody BooksAnnounced once, in a lecture.
The hour is held, and it sits empty.
Grid
Parents’ Evening SpreadsheetCirculated, amended, circulated again.
An evening of somebody’s week, twice.
Clash
One Studio, Two BookingsBoth held it in different places.
One of them has nowhere to go.
Tutorial
BookableDr Vance · Tue and Thu
Evening
BookableYear 9 parents · 6 min
Room
TogetherStudio 2 · held with staff
None of this is teaching, but it all takes time away from teaching.
What an institution books with it
How a Scheduling App for Schools Handles Everyday Bookings
No back-and-forth. No guessing which times are still free. These four examples show what happens when people book from real availability.
TutorialBooked by themConfirmed
Tutorials and office hours
Staff publish available hours. Students choose an open slot and book without the email back-and-forth.
Parent meetings
Parents choose from the available appointment times instead of waiting for a spreadsheet or email reply.
Open days and admissions interviews
Share a booking page where applicants and visitors can choose available times for school tours, admissions interviews, and information sessions.
Rooms and equipment
Link rooms, labs, or equipment to appointments that need them, so both staff and resource availability are considered.
Who runs it
Set Up Appointments and Manage Staff Availability
Scheduling software for schools should make appointment management easier for busy teachers and administrators. An administrator can set up appointment types, durations, assigned team members, and booking rules. Staff can then manage their availability according to their permissions, so students and parents see the times available for booking.
You can control staff access to schedules and settings through Team Management. Use Intake Forms to collect details before appointments, such as the reason for a parent meeting or admissions interview. Keep questions relevant and easy to answer. Before collecting student information, make sure your setup meets your school’s privacy and data-handling requirements.
From one department outwards
Start with one department and add more as you grow
Start with one department using Picktime’s free scheduling software for schools, then expand your setup as you need more team members, rooms, and locations.
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Add the department’s services, team members, and available times, then share your school’s Booking Page with students and parents.
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Add rooms, studios, labs, or equipment as resources and manage their availability alongside bookings.
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Expand your setup with additional team members, rooms & equipment, locations, and class bookings as your school’s scheduling needs grow.
What it costs
Free to run for a term, and priced by staff, rooms and campuses
The free plan has no end date and needs no card, which is usually what makes it possible to try something in an institution at all.
Free, and it stays free
Free
What one department gets without paying
- A booking page needing no account from students or parents
- A set of bookable hours for each member of staff
- Rooms and equipment held alongside the person
- Email notifications on every booking
- Reminders before the appointment
As it spreads
Paid plans
What the paid plans add
- Reminders by email and text, which is what cuts the missed tutorial
- Extra questions on the booking form for admissions
- Bookings that arrive as a request to be accepted
- More staff, more rooms and more campuses
Works with what you already run
Works With the Tools Your Institution Already Uses
Keep Using the Calendars Your Staff Already Know
Your school can continue using familiar calendars alongside Picktime. Connect Google Calendar, Outlook, Microsoft 365, iCloud, or Exchange to keep Picktime appointments visible on connected calendars. When two-way Calendar Sync is enabled, busy times from connected calendars can also affect booking availability. For virtual tutorials and meetings, integrations such as Zoom and Google Meet can generate meeting links when configured.
Exchange
Outlook
Google Calendar
Microsoft Teams
Jitsi Meet
Check bookings between sessions
Staff can access Picktime from a computer or mobile browser to check upcoming bookings. Picktime also offers iOS and Android apps, giving your team another way to stay connected to their schedules.
Questions
Scheduling for schools and colleges: common questions
Can schools use Picktime for parent-teacher meetings?
Yes. Schools can use Picktime to schedule one-on-one parent-teacher meetings, either in person or virtually. Teachers can set their available appointment times, and parents can book through the school's Booking Page. This reduces the need to coordinate meeting times through emails or spreadsheets.
Can Picktime build our school's master timetable?
No. Picktime's scheduling software for schools is designed to manage appointments outside the regular class timetable. It does not generate academic timetables, assign subjects to class periods, or create teaching rosters. Schools can continue using their existing timetabling system while Picktime manages parent meetings, tutorials, admissions interviews, and other appointments.
Do students and parents need a Picktime account to book?
Students and parents do not need a Picktime business account to book school appointments. They can visit your school's booking page, choose an available time, and provide their details. However, if your school enables customer login requirements, they will need to sign in to a customer account before completing a booking.
Can each staff member have different bookable hours?
Yes. Picktime lets each teacher, counselor, or administrator set their own working hours and appointment availability. Through team management, schools can assign staff members to relevant services and manage their schedules separately. Students and parents can then book appointments based on each staff member's available times.
Can we reserve a room at the same time as the staff member?
Yes. Picktime's Rooms & Equipment feature lets schools link resources, such as meeting rooms, classrooms, or equipment, to relevant services. When an appointment is booked, Picktime considers both staff and resource availability. This helps prevent scheduling conflicts when multiple departments need the same space.
Can teachers manage their appointments without administrator access?
Yes. Teachers can have separate Picktime logins to access and manage their appointments without full administrator permissions. Schools can use team management and role-based access controls to determine what each staff member can view or change. This allows teachers to manage their schedules while administrators retain control over school-wide settings.
Can Picktime send reminders before school appointments?
Yes. Picktime can send automated email and SMS reminders before parent meetings, tutorials, and other school appointments. Schools can configure when reminders are sent to help students and parents remember their bookings. The free plan includes email notifications, while email and SMS reminders are available on Starter and Pro. For the latest plan features and limits, see Picktime pricing.
Can we collect information from students or parents when they book?
Yes. Picktime's intake forms let schools collect relevant information during booking, such as the reason for a parent meeting or admissions interview. This feature is available on Starter and Pro. Responses are saved with the appointment details so staff can prepare beforehand. Schools should only request information necessary for the appointment and follow their privacy requirements.
Not a School? You Can Still Schedule It
Make School Appointments Easier to Book
Bring tutorials, parent meetings, admissions interviews, open days, and room bookings into one place. Give students, parents, and staff a simpler way to schedule appointments.