Sell out the summer fair. Keep every penny for the kids.

Why PTAs switch to TicketOtter

Most ticketing platforms were built for festivals and arena tours — and they charge accordingly. We built one for the school hall with the wonky stage curtain and the urn that takes 40 minutes to boil.

• Flat monthly fee, not a slice of every ticket — A £5 disco ticket should bring in £5, not £3.80 after the platform takes its cut. We charge a flat subscription — every penny over that goes to the school.
• Money lands in your Stripe within 24 hours — Direct Stripe payouts mean you can pay the bouncy castle hire, restock the tuck shop, or settle the caterer's invoice without waiting two weeks for a payout.
• A door list that works in chaos — Scan QR codes from a phone or search the guest list by name. Holds up when there's a queue of pushchairs out to the gate and the school Wi-Fi has, predictably, given up.
• Comp tickets and helpers, sorted — Free tickets for staff, governors, the headteacher's family and your volunteer rota don't count against your monthly allowance — they're just tickets.

Everything a school event needs

Designed for termly discos, the summer fair, Christmas markets, quiz nights, school plays, and the occasional gala dinner.

• Adult, child, family & concession tickets — Set up multiple ticket types with their own price, quantity and on-sale window. Bump the price on the door once advance sales close — or run a "family of four" pass that saves parents the maths.
• Discount codes for staff and siblings — Reward early bookers, give staff a freebie, run sibling discounts, comp the visiting Year 6 leavers — all from one screen, with a usage cap if you want one.
• Door scanning that works — Scan QR codes or search the guest list by name from any phone. Walk-ups and last-minute additions handled in the same screen, even when the only signal is at the far end of the playground.
• A dashboard the treasurer can actually read — See ticket revenue, refunds, attendance and check-in rate per event. Drop the numbers straight into your termly PTA report without translating anything from spreadsheet to English.

Built by people who've stuffed envelopes for the PTA, for people who do it now

We started TicketOtter because we got tired of watching PTAs and school fundraising committees lose 15–20% of every £4 ticket to platforms designed for festivals and arena tours. A flat monthly fee makes the maths simple: every extra ticket sold is more money toward new library books, playground equipment or the Year 6 leavers' trip — not platform shareholders. It also means we don't pretend to know more than you do about your school community. The tools are deliberately simple: make a page, sell a ticket, scan it on the door, look at the numbers on Monday morning. No sales call. No onboarding fee. No quarterly business review with someone who's never run a cake stall.

Learn more

PTA & school event FAQs

Do you really not take a percentage?

Correct. No booking fee, no percentage, no per-ticket charge from us. Stripe takes their standard payment processing fee (around 1.5% + 20p for UK cards) because someone has to actually move the money — but TicketOtter's cut is zero. Every extra pound goes to the school.

Can I pass the Stripe fee on to the customer?

Yes. You can absorb it, add it on top as a small booking fee, or split it.

How quickly do I get paid?

Money goes straight to your PTA's Stripe account, usually within 24 hours of the sale. You're not waiting until after the event and you're not waiting two weeks for a settlement — useful when you need to pay the disco DJ or the face-painter in cash on the night.

Do I need a Stripe account?

Yes. It's free to set up in your PTA's name and takes about 10 minutes. We don't hold your money at any point — it goes from the parent's card to your PTA's Stripe account directly.

What happens if an event is cancelled?

You can issue full or partial refunds from the dashboard in a couple of clicks — handy when half the school's off with a sickness bug and you need to call off the quiz night. Stripe refunds the parents; you don't pay TicketOtter anything extra to do it.

Can I have multiple ticket types for one gig?

Yes — adult, child, family, concession, staff, whatever you need. Each has its own price, quantity and on-sale window. You can also run an early-bird price for the first two weeks and put it up afterwards, or open a separate "door admission" type for walk-ups.

Is it suitable for free events too?

Yes. Use it for free events like school discos or coffee mornings just to manage numbers and have a check-in list — no payment needed, no fees involved.