Highly Profitable Edtech Platform | 28% YoY Growth | Special Educational Schools | Retiring Owner

Every school in England has children who need extra help to learn. By law, the school has to prove what support it gave, and what difference it made. If it cannot prove it, the school fails its inspection. The Government recently announced a £3.7 billion allocation of capital to further support schools to invest in infrastructure that helps teachers cope with the surge in the number of students needing close support. This provides a very significant growth opportunity for an acquirer. This is partially why our client has received significant inbound interest from acquirers and recently had a formal offer. 

This edtech business is the mission critical software that does the proving. Teachers open it every day, capture what work a child did, and the system turns that into the evidence the school is legally required to hold. It has been doing that since 2012, it makes money, and the people who built it have decided to retire.

The company name and full financial information are released to qualified buyers under a non-disclosure agreement. The sale is managed by DealFlowAgent (DFA), a corporate finance firm advising owner-led businesses on their sale.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Year ended 30 November 2025, unless stated.

• Turnover of approximately £692,981 an increase of 28% on the prior year
• Revenue of £757,470 for the twelve months to 30 June 2026, so growth has continued into the current year
• Profit before tax of £133,164, and profitable in each of the last two financial years
• Gross margin of 89%
• Around 75% of turnover is subscription income, invoiced annually in advance, so customers pay before the service is delivered
• Of the revenue billed to customers a year earlier, 93.4% was billed again
• No single customer accounted for more than 6% of turnover
• The debtor book at 30 June 2026 carried no provision for bad debt

Adjusted earnings, the full add-back schedule and the monthly management accounts are provided under a non-disclosure agreement.

WHY CUSTOMERS DO NOT LEAVE

The records this software holds are legally required, and they build up against each individual child over years. A school that moved to a different system would have to move that history with it, and would have to satisfy itself that nothing was lost. Losing it means failing an inspection. Very few schools are willing to take that risk, which is why 93.4% of revenue renewed last year and why the business has never had to write off a customer debt in the period reviewed.

WHY A COMPETITOR CANNOT SIMPLY COPY IT

Schools buy this kind of software slowly, on the recommendation of other schools, and the cost of choosing wrongly is measured in inspection results rather than in money. The company holds several hundred structured assessment methods built directly with schools over more than a decade. A competitor would need to build the library and earn the reputation, and neither happens quickly.

THE GOVERNMENT IS PUTTING £4 BILLION INTO THIS EXACT PROBLEM

In February 2026 the government committed £4 billion over three years to special educational needs in England.

£1.6 billion of it goes directly to schools and colleges through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund. £400 million of that reaches mainstream schools in the financial year running from April 2026 to March 2027. Schools have already used the Department for Education's published method to set those budgets, so the money is in school hands now.

Schools receiving that funding have to publish an inclusion strategy on their website by 31 December 2026, and inspectors assess whether it is happening in practice. Recording what happens in practice is what this software does.

£3.7 billion of capital funding is committed to creating 60,000 new specialist places. Specialist settings are this platform's core customer type, so the government is funding the creation of more of the buyer's own market.

A further £1.8 billion funds specialist staff in every local area, and £200 million funds special educational needs training for every teacher. Both increase the volume of evidence a school produces for each child.

AND THE MARKET MAY BE ABOUT TO GET FAR LARGER

The Schools White Paper of 23 February 2026 proposes that every child with identified special educational needs receives an Individual Support Plan written by their school, covering an estimated 1.4 million children who hold no formal plan today. The White Paper states that these plans are to be digital.

Today this software sells mainly to specialist settings. If the proposal becomes law as drafted, the same requirement reaches mainstream schools across England.

These are proposals rather than law. The consultation closed on 18 May 2026, the government has stated its intention to legislate through the Education for All Bill, and the indicated start is September 2029. A buyer should form their own view on the timetable.

HOW THE BUSINESS MAKES MONEY

Annual subscriptions on tiered plans, with contracts running one to three years and renewing automatically unless the school gives 60 days' notice. School groups contract for a minimum of three years. Management assess that between half and two thirds of new customers arrive by recommendation, which keeps the cost of winning a customer low.

THE OPPORTUNITY

A profitable business, in a market the government is funding heavily, with software schools are reluctant to stop using, being sold because the people who built it want to retire rather than because anything is wrong with it.

THE TRANSACTION

A sale of 100% of the shares. The chief executive will stay for one to two years to hand the business over properly. The existing team continues to run it day to day.

To receive the information memorandum, reply with your acquisition experience, why this business interests you, and your funding position. Enquiries are answered the same day.