SIMS Parent vs Flexischools
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SIMS Parent
This app allows parents to actively engage with their children's education by providing access to homework, calendars, timetables, and assessment results. Parents can also track progress, view behavior reports, and communicate with schools via secure messaging. It consolidates information for children attending different schools, enhancing safeguarding and parental involvement.
- View homework and assignments
- Access student calendars and timetables
- Track assessment results and reports
- Monitor attendance and behavior
- Secure messaging with schools
- Manage multiple children across schools
- Update safeguarding information
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Please note: For security, this app requires an invitation code from your child's school. Be proactive Engaging with your children's education is key to their success. Help them stay on track with due dates by seeing their: - Homework - Calendar - Timetable - Extra-curricular activities Track progress See the information needed to understand your children's education and their overall performance better. Securely view your children's records: - Assessment results - Truancy - Behaviour: good and bad - School reports Stay connected Get alerts. Send and receive messages. Schools can send you alerts and messages straight to your phone. All your children in one place across schools With SIMS Parent, you can see all your children's data even if they attend different schools. (Requires schools to set up access for SIMS Parent) Safeguarding Help keep your children safe. In an emergency, up-to-date information helps schools meet their safeguarding obligations. Manage what information the school holds right from your phone. About SIMS SIMS: the School Information Management System at the heart of 21,000 UK schools.
Flexischools
Streamline school payments and ordering for parents, eliminating the need for cash and simplifying canteen, uniform, and event purchases. Enjoy fast, secure, and convenient transactions with Australian-based support.
- Cashless ordering and payments
- School canteen, uniform, and event purchases
- Simplified payment management
- Australian-based customer support
- Secure and reliable transactions
- Processed over 150 million orders
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Flexischools is on a mission to simplify school life. Established in 2008, Flexischools brings cashless ordering and payments to school canteens, uniform shops, events and fundraisers. We’ve processed more than 150 million orders for Australian families since we started! Say goodbye to morning chaos with Flexischools! With our app, parents get an easier way to manage school payments without the hassle of looking for loose change or order forms scrunched up at the bottom of school bags! Why do parents love Flexischools? • School lunches, sorted fast • Cashless convenience • Australian-based customer support • Secure, safe and reliable The Flexischools service is provided by InLoop Pty Ltd (ABN 27 114 508 771) (trading as Flexischools) which holds Australian Financial Services Number 471558. Any information provided is general only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please read and consider the Combined Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement, and Target Market Determination at www.flexischools.com.au/legal before acquiring or using the service. Flexischools’ information security management system is ISO27001 certified.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Flexischools at 5.0 against SIMS Parent's 2.2. Flexischools also leads on review sentiment (25% vs 2%). SIMS Parent's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Flexischools holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SIMS Parent has 19 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 2% of SIMS Parent's written reviews are positive against 25% of Flexischools's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SIMS Parent | Flexischools |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.2 (19 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 2.0% of reviews | 25.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 19 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 58 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Education Software Solutions Ltd | InLoop Pty Ltd |
Customer experience
SIMS Parent
Flexischools
Bugs and requests
SIMS Parent
Reported bugs
61 issues- App crashes frequently
- App logs users out unexpectedly
- Login details are not recognized
- Password reset functionality is broken
- App is very slow to load
Show 56 moreShow fewer
- App freezes or becomes unresponsive
- Notifications are not delivered or displayed correctly
- Unable to access certain features like dashboard or messages
- App does not work on iPhone
- Account gets locked without reason
- Password reset requires unprovided security questions
- App gets stuck in a login loop
- App does not load school pages
- App does not refresh data
- App is not updated for a long time
- Unable to reply to teacher messages on iPhone
- Login details are declined
- Cannot log in with new password after reset
- App requires re-registration every time
- App signs out or bugs out frequently
- App kicks users out randomly
- App does not accept activation codes
- Login details keeps getting declined
- App is unusable at best of times
- App is missing features after installation
- App is not sending password reset emails
- App is stuck on a specific date
- App is not user friendly
- App gets stuck in an endless loop
- Two-step authentication causes immediate lockout
- Password reset button doesn't work
- Black box covers typing area on iPhone
- App is buggy and in development stage
- Login page remains blank
- App is stalking and annoying
- App constantly asks to change password, then invalidates it
- App disables accounts and won't reset passwords
- App stalls loading on different sections
- App says account already exists after deletion
- App keeps loading and then logging off
- App shows error when trying to access messages
- App has issues with multiple children at the same school
- Tiles don't load
- Homework section has disappeared
- School dinner money account tab fails to load
- App acts as a hopeless gatekeeper to website
- App logs out and takes ages to log back in
- Recognition points take ages to load
- Session expired errors
- App asks for invitation repeatedly
- App does not allow marking homework as submitted
- Cannot open links for homework or attachments
- Random notifications with nothing to view
- App is not updated for weeks
- App is not fit for purpose
- App is a complete wind up
- App is utter garbage
- App is a joke
- App is dysfunctional
- App is a waste of time
- App is a horrible, wretched app
Requested features
13 requests- Fix login issues
- Improve app stability
- Update app regularly
- Better password reset functionality
- Improve communication features
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Make app more intuitive
- Allow easier access to support
- Improve server capacity
- Allow linking multiple schools easily
- Fix message sending/receiving
- Make app work on all devices
- Provide clear error messages
- Allow easier login with fewer steps
Flexischools
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SIMS Parent
No in-app purchases
Flexischools
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SIMS Parent free?
Is Flexischools free?
Which has better reviews, SIMS Parent or Flexischools?
Do SIMS Parent or Flexischools have ads?
Which is updated more often, SIMS Parent or Flexischools?
Other comparisons
