Bespoke EdTech · Built at cost · Mission, not margin
Custom software should cost exactly what it costs to make.
The Leveller builds software for schools and companies that fits the way you actually work — and bills you for the hours, the hosting, and nothing else. No markup. No licence fees. No per pupil, per month, forever.
Built by a serving assistant headteacher — not a sales team.
01 — The going rate
EdTech pricing is a seller's market.
Schools budget per pupil, per term, forever — for software that half-fits. Companies get quoted agency rates, plus a “discovery phase”, before anyone writes a line of code. Here's the thing: the software isn't expensive to make. It's expensive to buy. The gap between those two numbers is the markup — and closing it is the entire point of The Leveller.
Every project is different, so every price is different. There's no tier list here because there are no tiers — you tell me what you need, and you get an itemised quote before a penny is committed. The quote is the real cost: the hours, the hosting, the materials. Asking what it would cost is free, and always will be.
Ask what yours would cost02 — How it works
Four steps. No mysteries.
-
01
We talk
You tell me what's broken — the spreadsheet that's become load-bearing, the system everyone works around, the job that eats your Sunday. This part is free, because it's a conversation, not a “discovery phase”.
-
02
We design it together
You know your school or your team better than any outsider will — and I've worked in one for a decade, so we start from the same page. We sketch the fix side by side until it looks like something your least techy colleague would actually use.
-
03
I build it, in the open
Short weekly show-and-tells. You see everything as it takes shape, steer early, and never wait months for a big reveal that misses the point.
-
04
You pay the real bill
Hours, hosting, materials — itemised, at cost. Then you own it: the code, the data, the roadmap. If we never speak again, it keeps working — and costs you nothing but the hosting.
03 — What I build
If it runs your day,
it should fit your day.
Off-the-shelf tools make you work their way. Bespoke tools work yours. Here's the sort of thing that comes out of this workshop — and if your team runs on a spreadsheet held together with hope, that's usually where we start.
- Assessment & feedback tools
- Timetabling, cover & rotas
- Parent & carer comms
- Attendance & progress dashboards
- CPD & staff training platforms
- Admissions & onboarding flows
- Trips, clubs & payments admin
- Integrations with your MIS or CRM
- Internal tools for companies
- …and the thing that outgrew its spreadsheet
04 — A note from the founder
Hello. I'm Jay — an assistant headteacher, and the person who builds the software.
My day job is a secondary school in Cheshire: pupil premium, literacy, assessment, and the data underneath all of it. Which means I've spent years on your side of the table — sitting through the demos, reading the quotes, and watching money that should have reached children go out the door as a licence renewal instead.
I've also spent a decade trying to close the gap between the pupils who arrive with everything and the pupils who arrive with nothing. That work is hard enough. It shouldn't be made harder by tools that cost more than the intervention they're meant to support, and still don't quite fit.
So here's my deal. You tell me what's broken. We design the fix together. I build it, show you everything as I go, and bill you for exactly what it cost — hours, hosting, materials. Then it's yours. Outright.
No markup. No lock-in. No per-pupil, per-month, forever.
That's it. That's the company.
Jay
Jay Lobina-Lal · Founder, The Leveller
Assistant Headteacher
05 — Fair questions
Asked, answered, honestly.
What does “at cost” actually mean?
Your invoice is the hours worked at a transparent rate, plus anything bought on your behalf — hosting, domains, services — at sticker price. No multipliers, no “project management overhead” line that's really margin, no rounding up. You see the same numbers I do.
So how much will it cost?
Genuinely: it depends on what you need, and anyone who quotes you before understanding that is guessing. Bespoke work is priced bespoke. What I can promise is how the number is reached — hours at a transparent rate, plus anything bought for you at sticker price, itemised before you commit. Tell me what's broken and I'll tell you what it would take. That conversation costs nothing.
What's the catch?
Time. I'm a full-time assistant headteacher, so The Leveller takes a few projects at a time and builds them properly rather than quickly. There's sometimes a wait, and I'll tell you honestly what it is before you commit to anything. If you need a 24/7 enterprise support desk by Tuesday, I'm not it. If you want something built carefully by someone who answers their own email — hello.
Who owns what we build?
You do. The code, the data, the design, the roadmap. If you want another developer to take it over next year, they can — it's well-documented and it's yours. Lock-in is a business model, not a technical necessity.
What happens when something breaks?
If it's my bug, I fix it — free, forever. That's not generosity; it's just what “I built this properly” means. New features and changes are billed the same honest way as the original build.
We're a company, not a school. Can we still work with you?
Yes, and please do. Companies pay the same transparent, at-cost rate — and that work keeps the lights on, which keeps school projects affordable. Everybody levels somebody.
How is this sustainable if there's no profit?
“At cost” includes paying the human doing the work a fair wage — that's a cost. What it doesn't include is a margin engineered to please shareholders. There aren't any — the mission is the return.
Tell me
what's broken.
A stuck process, a spreadsheet at breaking point, a quote that made you laugh out loud — bring it here. You'll get a reply from a person, usually within two days. Prefer a call? Say so in the message.