SchoolBase vs parentsportal.scot
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SchoolBase
This app provides a secure platform for schools to communicate with parents and pupils. It offers features like timetabling, event notifications, and a notice board. Staff can also manage registers, pupil information, and send messages.
- Timetabling access
- Event notifications
- Notice board updates
- Register taking
- Pupil and group finder
- Message sending
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Furlong's SchoolBase enables fast, simple and secure access to important school information. Parents and pupils have access to key areas including: - Timetabling - Events - Notice Board SchoolBase helps improve communication between schools, parents and pupils. Staff can: - Take registers - Find pupils and groups - Access timetables - See events - Manage cover requests - Send messages to parents and pupils Even more features are in development and will be available soon!
parentsportal.scot
This app connects parents directly with their child's school online, replacing traditional communication methods. It provides easy access to important school information and services, including absences, attendance records, and report cards, with notifications for updates.
- Report absences online
- Update child's details
- View attendance records
- Access class timetables
- Read school notices
- Respond to permission slips
- Check report cards
- Receive notifications
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Designed by the Improvement Service for Scottish Local Authorities, using mygovscot myaccount as a secure single-sign-on service, parentsportal.scot App replaces letters in the schoolbag and phonecalls to the school by connecting parents directly with their child's school online. Parents of children in Scottish schools that use parentsportal.scot have easy access to services and information, such as: • Absences Tell the school your child will be absent without a phonecall at 9am. • Annual Data Check Update your child's details quickly and easily at any time. • Attendance Check your child's attendance record for the current school year. • Class Timetable See what classes your child has each day. • Notice Board Read school notices at a time that suits you. • Permission Slips View and respond to permission slips easily. • Report Cards Check your child's report cards. • School Calendar and Events See upcoming school events, holidays, in-service days, etc. Now with the app you also benefit from: • Notifications Straight to your phone so you're always up to date. • Face ID or Fingerprint login For easy and secure access to the app. parentsportal.scot is available in: • Aberdeenshire • Dumfries & Galloway • Dundee • East Dunbartonshire • East Lothian • East Renfrewshire • Fife • Glasgow • Inverclyde • Moray • North Lanarkshire • Perth & Kinross • Renfrewshire • South Lanarkshire • West Lothian (Not all features are available in all council areas).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: parentsportal.scot at 4.5 against SchoolBase's 2.8. SchoolBase's advantage is review sentiment (40% vs 18%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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.
parentsportal.scot holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 8 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 40% of SchoolBase's written reviews are positive against 18% of parentsportal.scot's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SchoolBase ships an update every 3 weeks, parentsportal.scot every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SchoolBase | parentsportal.scot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.8 (4 ratings) | 4.5 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews — better | 18.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 8 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Furlong Solutions | Improvement Service Company |
Customer experience
SchoolBase
parentsportal.scot
Bugs and requests
SchoolBase
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
parentsportal.scot
Reported bugs
56 issues- Submit button greyed out
- Submit and save buttons not highlighted
- App doesn't respond to interaction
- Notifications do not disappear
- Notifications don't happen sometimes
Show 51 moreShow fewer
- Constantly told to update information already updated
- App doesn't work half the time
- App crashes and closes
- Face ID/passcode login not working
- Add child not working
- Links shared not clickable
- Lost information when editing
- Adding new contact doesn't work
- Dropdown list of options doesn't appear
- No feedback on save failures
- Edit does not allow changes to be saved
- Two notifications shown and won't go away
- Report cards not available
- Report card text too small to read
- Children's details constantly drop off
- Not getting notifications for new messages
- Duplicate emails for same notification/child
- Emails where unable to act
- Inability to have nominated parents/guardians/carers respond
- Always an issue, bugs required to use
- Logged out all the time
- Notifications don't open/work
- Second child disappeared from app
- Password requirements are absurd
- Too many notifications
- No obvious way to reduce notifications
- Repetition of information on permissions
- Not updated quick enough
- Clunky and always issues
- Never works, black screen on launch
- Validation code not sent to email
- Ages to register due to exact spelling requirements
- Constantly glitches with errors
- App keeps freezing
- Unnecessary repetition of information
- Login process abysmal, doesn't retain password
- Slow system with buffering
- Treatment clauses text not fully shown
- Only 1 parent/carer can access app
- Messages lack formatting, no line breaks
- Blank screen after login page
- Many attempts to get on
- Site is dreadful and doesn't function
- Takes 20+ minutes for published content to show
- Tedious app, repeating same information
- Missing child details, daughter removed by glitch
- Terrible app, never works
- Kids details different from school info
- Access to app difficult, authenticating every time
- Constantly asking to reset password
- Not updating details
Requested features
17 requests- Store/save certain information
- Allow both parents equal access and approval
- Add option for parents happy for all platforms
- Allow custom order for bookmarks
- Add custom services
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Improve search functionality
- Mark all messages as read
- Ability to mark, move, delete, or archive notices
- Nominated parents/guardians/carers to respond
- Allow formatting in messages
- Allow clickable links in messages
- Improve pinch-to-zoom and rotate view on images
- Add notification badges to app icon
- Allow messages to be marked as unread again
- Option to choose notification delivery (app, email, none)
- Allow parents to choose which parent has access
- Allow parents to decide which parent has access
In-app purchases
SchoolBase
No in-app purchases
parentsportal.scot
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SchoolBase free?
Is parentsportal.scot free?
Which has better reviews, SchoolBase or parentsportal.scot?
Do SchoolBase or parentsportal.scot have ads?
Which is updated more often, SchoolBase or parentsportal.scot?
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