Arbor Education Reviews 

The worst experience ever
I can only assume the rather snotty developers of this app are related to people in high places. This app and website is a disgrace and actually a downgrade on the previous system - SchoolMoney which was woeful.
I cannot even see my balance - have they just taken my money? Or are they happily earning interest on it? Who knows.

Arbor is by far the worst school app I have encountered. It is confusing and consistently makes errors. Messages from the school do not come through properly and it messes up simple things such as timetables and attendance. Overall very unpleasant.

Possibly the worst app I have ever used. Logging in is painful, switching between children at different schools is excruciatingly arduous. I presume the schools using this software are given it free as some sort of Alpha testing. It need a LOT of improvement.

Constant login issues make using the Arbour app an unnecessarily arduous process.

It’s irritating enough being relentlessly harassed by school notifications day and night; apparently, Sundays are fair game too, but alas, I do try to keep up.

Unfortunately, the constant login problems and truly appalling layout turn what should be a simple task into an exercise in endurance. Finding anything feels unnecessarily difficult, and by the time I’ve finally managed to log in and navigate to whatever I was summoned for, I’ve generally lost the will to live.

Frankly, I’d rather spend an hour lying in a bed of nettles. At least the nettles wouldn’t ask me to log in again.

Possibly the worst app I’ve ever been FORCED to use.

Wrap around car through it and doesn’t reduce invoices

Logs you out when it feels like it to fight to reset yoru password to get back in.

Clunky, arduous and stressful on all levels such a shambles of an app!

Today, I logged in on the app, to find a school my children have never had anything to do with listed on there. I subsequently tried to log into the website portal, using the same login credentials I used on the app. It let me log in at the initial stage with these credentials, then when I selected my child's school, the same credentials became invalid. Standard day trying to use the digital turd known as Arbor. I despise this service so much, it is appalling. I can only imagine someone at the Academy chain responsible for the school gets a kickback from them. There's no other reason to inflict this upon parents.

1. I don't know why the previous schools of my kids suddenly appear on my account. The schools were not even using arbor before my kids graduated. Also, the schools have asked arbor to delete them but arbor didn't do it. So, many schools are still on my account.

2. While parentpay allows parents to do auto top up, arbor can't. It is very inconvenient. And parents are forced to put more money in arbor in case we forget to top up.

3. Always have problems when booking time slots.

Terrible website. As a student you may expect my review to be biased but I have not exaggerated how bad the website is. It displays information in a hard to understand and it looks very ugly. It doesn't work half the time and it won't let me even select my school in order to log in. The help website is extremely unhelpful as it often does not have the article I need. Because of this, I often miss homework getting me into trouble at school. there is not a single good thing about this website and if could I would've given it a fat 0. do not recommend (obviously).

This app is honestly very frustrating and disappointing. If I could put a zero star, I would do it. I can't change school, I can't log in normally, and I can't even update my own private details properly. So many basic things that should be simple are either impossible or unnecessarily complicated.
The whole app very inconvenient to use. It should make things easier for parents, but instead it creates more problems and stress. Very disappointing experience - I really hope the developers improve it because at the moment, it feels silly and unnecessarily difficult.

Extremely frustrating, highly confusing, and very poor functioning app. When trying to access the club function of the app none of the dates are in order you have to trawl through the last two years of clubs in order to find the date that you require. Then ready, register the sessions?Add to basket and go back and repeat for every single week that you want to book clubs for its ludicrous. Having used this app for over 2 years. I have not found any better way of doing this app needs some serious updating. Or it needs an archive function. It also needs a better chronological order system and a complete overhaul. ARBOR, Please please look into the functionality of your app and save us parents From going mad with frustration. 😡🤬

A score of 1* isn't nearly low enough for this company.

Not fit for purpose is a flattering review. I don't know a single parent that doesn't struggle to use it.

Schools have to pay for these systems from their extremely tight budgets and this company clearly doesn't care and has no incentive to make it fit for use in the 21st century.

I tried to log in simply to pay for my child's school breakfast, but the app would not let me access my account. When I attempted to reset my password, I was told that I had exceeded the number of allowed attempts, leaving me completely locked out.

This is extremely frustrating, especially when parents need quick and reliable access to make payments for their children. A system that prevents users from logging in and then blocks password resets is not fit for purpose.

What should have taken a couple of minutes turned into a waste of time and unnecessary stress. Based on my experience, the app is unreliable and needs significant improvement.

There is a particular kind of dread that settles into the bones—an icy, creeping tension that makes your stomach twist and your pulse throb in your ears. That is what **Arbor** has come to represent for me. Not an app. Not a tool. A *presence*. A shadow that sits behind me every time I even think about sending money to my child.

Using Arbor feels like stepping into a maze where every turn tightens something inside my chest. The moment I open it, my mind spirals into panic—my hands shake, my breath shortens, and a cold wave of fear washes over me. I’m terrified that one wrong tap will send money to the wrong child, the wrong account, the wrong place entirely. It’s as if the app itself is waiting for me to slip.

There’s a strange, suffocating energy to it—like it was designed without a single thought for the human being on the other side of the screen. Every button feels hostile. Every menu feels like a trap. I find myself double‑checking, triple‑checking, then checking again, because the interface leaves me with zero trust in what I’m seeing. It’s not confusion; it’s **paralysis**.

And the worst part is the emotional toll.
Arbor has carved out a space in my mind where anxiety festers. It has turned something as simple and loving as supporting my child into a ritual of fear. My soul feels like it’s trying to crawl out of my body every time I hit “send,” terrified that the app will twist my intention into something unrecognisable.

I don’t hate many things. But Arbor… Arbor has earned a place in that small, dark category. Not because it is evil, but because of what it *does to me*. The panic. The dread. The sense that I’m wrestling with something cold and uncaring. It feels like a digital void that swallows my confidence whole.

If an app can make a parent feel this unsafe, this unsettled, this mentally and physically drained, then something is deeply wrong—not with the parent, but with the design. Arbor may work for others, but for me, it has become a symbol of frustration, fear, and emotional exhaustion. A tool that should empower instead leaves me feeling hollowed out.

I despise the experience.
I resent the way it makes me feel.
And I dread the moment I have to open it again.

You really need to sort it out. It is so bad it almost makes me laugh. But instead I want to cry.

The website and app are both incredibly poorly designed and seem unfinished with some links that don't even work. I'd give zero stars if I could.

From a student's perspective, Arbor is genuinely horrendous. It's one of the worst apps I've ever had the misfortune of using. I would rate it in the negatives if I could. It is poorly designed and trying to submit assignments or just utilise features and it doesn't even give you notifications on when assignments are set. Trying to submit assignments on Arbor is like trying to complete a quest on an unfinished game. I would have a better chance at getting my father to love me than successfully submitting my assignments on this stupid app.

All assignments just get sent to my "overdue" bar and stay there collecting dust because it won't let me submit them. It's honestly impressive how an app designed to make schoolwork easier manages to do the exact opposite of its intended purpose. God only knows how much my teachers struggle using this app. I would have a higher success rate at submitting my homework via a carrier pigeon or a smoke signal because that way at least it would actually reach somebody.

My school has switched from Teams, to Class Charts, and now to Arbor. I can't believe I ever complained about Class Charts because switching to Arbor was a fall from grace. I want Class Charts and teams back, I'm sorry for ever complaining about you Class Charts, please come back. :( Using this app is a test of patience that I did not agree to complete.

In conclusion, do NOT get this app unless you enjoy watching your assignments disappear into a void of broken features.

Awful app the language they use is extremely negative and very damaging for children's mental health. Should be banned in all schools like smart phones!

As a parent this is an awful application. How do they get away with it? It is unituative, set up badly, and difficult to use. I have no choice but to use it as it has been selected by my childs school catering company.

Arbor is TERRIBLE,
It's really hard to work around and the timetable looks like basil in a farm. My homework never comes up with a submit button and the teacher tells me off for "not doing it." I SPENT HOURS ON THAT HOMEWORK! ATROCIOUS APP! If you are considering getting this app, DONT!

One time the whole arbor system went down for our entire school! It says it is number one but it is not. Yes it may be cheaper, but the quality is so rubbish i dont get why people are switching from synergy to arbor