Education
PDF tools for schools, colleges and universities
Merge handouts, make scanned worksheets searchable, get trip and consent forms signed by parents and redact pupil details before you share a document. Server jobs run in London and files are deleted within 2 hours.
Try Business free for 30 daysSee how signing works
£6.99 per user a month, billed yearly · from 2 users
What schools use it for
Built for a term’s worth of paperwork
Handouts and coursework packs
Merge worksheets, slides and reading into one pack for each lesson, then fit it under the upload limit of your learning platform.
Searchable worksheets and resources
Scan printed resources with your phone and run text recognition, so pupils can search them and use a screen reader with them.
Trip and consent forms
Send trip, photo and medical consent forms to parents for signature. Reminders chase them by email, and you can see at a glance who has signed.
Redact pupil details
Black out names and other details before you share a piece of work for moderation or a document for a request, with the text underneath removed.
Marking and printing
Add comments and highlights to submitted work, and print several pages on one sheet to save paper.
Slides and documents to PDF
Turn PowerPoint and Word files into PDFs that open the same on every device, ready to share with pupils and parents.
Where Macaaw fits in a school
Teachers, office staff and business managers all handle PDFs, often on shared computers. Most of Macaaw’s tools run in the browser, so a worksheet or a pupil’s work never leaves the computer while it is merged, annotated or redacted, and nothing needs installing on school machines.
Text recognition and Office conversions run on our servers in London and the files are deleted within 2 hours. Schools, colleges, universities and registered charities get 40% off Business after a quick check, with required two-step sign-in and an audit log for every member.
Paper slips for trips and photo consent tend to get lost in school bags. Sending the form by email lets parents sign on their phone in a minute, and the office can see who has signed and remind the rest without printing another letter. For coursework and revision packs, merging and compressing in the browser means large files stay on the school computer until you choose to upload them to your learning platform.
Playbook
A trip consent form in four steps
Send it once to every family and see who has signed without chasing paper slips.
Prepare the form
Start from your PDF form, or convert the Word letter to PDF.
Add the parents
Add each parent or carer’s email and place the signature and date fields.
Send and remind
Send the forms. Automatic email reminders go out until each one is signed.
Collect the signed copies
Download each signed PDF with its certificate and file it with the trip paperwork.
Business plan
One plan for the whole team
One plan for the whole school, with 40% off for education after a quick check.
£6.99per user a month, billed yearly · or £9.99 monthly
- 200 signature requests per user a month, pooled
- Up to 20 signers on each document
- 1,000 pages of text recognition per user a month, pooled
- 500 Office conversions per user a month, pooled
- Files up to 500 MB and 200 files in one task
- Members, roles, shared workflows and central billing
- UK serversServer tools run in London.
- Deleted within 2 hoursFiles from our tools, or the moment you press Delete.
- UK GDPRA data processing agreement on Business.
- Audit trailEvery signed PDF carries its signing certificate.
Questions
Schools ask
Can parents sign trip and consent forms electronically?
In England and Wales an electronic signature is valid for most forms and agreements, including trip and photo consent forms. Deeds and documents that must be signed in front of a witness need extra formalities. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, so check your local authority’s or trust’s policy.
How does the education discount work?
Schools, colleges, universities and registered charities get 40% off Business. Tell us about your organisation and we apply the discount after a quick check.
Do pupils need accounts?
No. Anyone can use the browser tools without an account, and parents sign forms from a link in their email. Staff accounts are only needed to send forms and share workflows.
Is it safe for pupil data?
Browser tools never upload the file. Server tools run in London and delete files within 2 hours, and staff can never open your files. Business includes a data processing agreement under UK GDPR.
Does it work on school computers and tablets?
Yes. Macaaw runs in any modern browser on Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, iPad and Android, with nothing to install.
Can staff share the same workflows?
Yes. On Business, saved workflows are shared across the workspace, so a department can build a revision-pack workflow once and every teacher can run it on their own files. Members, roles and allowances are managed in one place by the school office.
Legal information on this page is general guidance for England and Wales, not legal advice. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, and deeds or documents that must be witnessed need extra formalities.
Less paper on every school trip.
Try Business free for 30 days with your whole staff.