Free online Administration courses

Going without school administration software could be costing your school hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even if your school has had years of running without software, even under a tight budget, leaving so much of your school administration vulnerable to human error is risky and expensive.

Luckily, there is a litany of school administration software available free of charge. Below, I’ve selected the all-stars based on administrative, financial, and educational features along with the number of allowed users, storage space, and ease of use.

6. TS School

TS School, or Time Software School, is a classic powerful tool that offers the basics for schools of all sizes.

Pros: TS School is great for managing your workforce—it has a powerful human resources module to help manage your school’s staff. TS School also offers a robust student management system, reports, a powerful organizational calendar (with plenty of space to detail sports team timetables or organize classes by subject matter), and an exam module for teachers.

Cons: There are some notable features lacking in TS School that can be found in the paid version, including customizable reports, development, inventory, safety, and admissions. TS School may also present a challenge to teachers who have never worked with school administration software before, as some claim it is not immediately intuitive to use.

Fedena is an open-source school administration software that largely focuses on handling records.

Pros: Fedena offers unlimited administration and student logins to use their system, along with unlimited courses and batches. The system was developed using Ruby on Rails, so schools can easily customize the code to their school’s needs. The system includes human resources, a calendar, financial management, examination management, and student/parent logins.

Cons: Fedena is the free version of another school administration software of the same name. When comparing the free version to the paid version, it becomes clear that the open-source version is lacking in a number of features, including inventory, custom reports, registration, and discipline.

Ascend SMS is an entirely free full-program school administration software made for Catholic and Independent schools. Ascend SMS proudly notes, “AscendSMS does not believe schools should have to pay exorbitant prices for something they fundamentally need to make their school work.”