Staff absence management software
for schools
Leavely gives primary and secondary schools one place to record staff sickness, book leave for support staff, plan INSET and closure days, and see who is out by department. Teaching staff who take holiday during closures are handled properly, so nobody is chasing a balance that should not exist.
Free 14-day trial. No credit card required. GBP 8/user/month.
Schools leave dashboard
Live approvals, absence, and cover
Sept
leave year built in
14d
free trial
GBP 8
per user monthly
Built around the leave problems schools actually face
Replace side spreadsheets, calendar guesswork, and manager inbox approvals with a single self-service leave system.
Morning sickness calls
A teacher ringing in at 7.30am means finding cover fast. Paper logs and inbox threads make it hard to see who is already out and which classes are affected.
Two kinds of holiday
Teaching staff take paid holiday during closures; office, site, and catering staff book theirs. A generic holiday tracker forces both into one model and gets one of them wrong.
Records for governors and inspectors
Return-to-work notes, fit notes, absence patterns, and trigger points need to be in one place when the headteacher, business manager, or HR adviser asks for them.
Feature highlights for schools
The complete core toolkit is included on Standard, so you do not need a larger HR suite just to manage leave properly.
Built for how schools actually work
Choose the school profile at setup and Leavely suggests a September leave year, standard departments, and the leave types schools use, such as appointments, compassionate leave, and jury service.
Closure-only staff done right
Mark teachers as taking paid holiday during closures. They keep sickness, appointment, and other leave types, but never see an annual-leave balance they cannot use.
Departments and faculties
Staff can belong to more than one department, so a teacher covering Maths and Computing appears in both. Heads of department see their people without extra permissions.
Sickness, fit notes, and Bradford Factor
Log sickness in seconds, track return-to-work interviews, store fit notes securely, and spot patterns with automatic Bradford Factor scores.
INSET days and school closures
Add INSET days, term dates, and closure periods once. They show on every calendar and never deduct from anyone who should not be charged.
Reports for leadership and trusts
Export absence summaries by department, term, or school for SLT meetings, governor packs, and multi-academy trust reporting without rebuilding spreadsheets.
Ready for UK compliance and busy manager workflows
Leavely keeps holiday entitlement, sickness records, TOIL, audit history, and approval visibility in one place for owner-led and operations-led teams.
School setup preset with a September leave year
Separate handling for teaching and support staff holiday
Departments people can belong to more than one of
Sickness logging, return-to-work, and fit note storage
INSET days and closures shared across every calendar
Education pricing available for schools and trusts
Trial-ready in one sitting
See whether Leavely fits your schools team before you pay
Start with the workflows that drive conversion: manager approvals, employee self-service, visible cover checks, and clean absence records.
What to validate in the trial
Import your team and invite managers in minutes
Approve leave with cover, balance, and audit history visible
Track holiday, sickness, TOIL, and Bradford Factor in one place
School setup preset with a September leave year
Separate handling for teaching and support staff holiday
Frequently asked questions
Do teachers need an annual leave balance in Leavely?
No. Mark teaching staff as taking paid holiday during closures and Leavely will not create an annual-leave balance for them. They can still record sickness, appointments, compassionate leave, and any other leave type the school uses.
Can support staff book holiday normally?
Yes. Office, site, catering, and other support staff keep a bookable annual-leave balance, request leave from their phone, and managers approve it with cover and balance visible.
Does Leavely support a September to August leave year?
Yes. Picking the school profile during setup suggests a September leave year, and you can set a different start month if your trust runs to a different calendar.
Can we record staff sickness and return-to-work interviews?
Yes. Sickness is logged against the person in seconds, return-to-work follow-ups are tracked, fit notes are stored securely, and Bradford Factor scores highlight patterns for the headteacher or business manager.
Is there education pricing?
Yes. Schools, colleges, and universities can apply for education pricing. See the education discount page for the current offer and how to claim it.