We have been intently gathering feedback on BrainPOP UK since we opened for business at the end of Feb 09. As a new product one of the big issues for us going forward was: is our subscription structure right?

After all, the educational marketplace is splintered into dozens of customer types these days. We cater to home schoolers, virtual schools, pupil referral units, libraries, teacher training colleges, parents, TEFL schools and more besides.

Not forgetting the Primary & Secondary schools, Colleges and LAs.

Oh, and VLEs/MLEs/Content portals/purchasing groups…well, you get the idea.

We don’t have field sales people to send into your school to dazzle you with a corporate PowerPoint presentation before negotiating prices and access. We’re only a little company so we have to think a little differently.

So how can we deliver a pricing structure that accommodates every establishment type?

The answer? We can’t. We can’t have a subscription for every type and flavour of requirement out there. It’s fruitless even trying.

So we took a fresh look at the packages we offer and have concluded that we need to offer a greater range of subscription types based on a model of “user number bands” rather than “establishment size“. It’s not a radical change but a necessary evolution.

We think this is fairer as it is simple (no messing about with exact seat numbers; no hidden licence, support or training costs; no per year group/class charge) and flexible (you can buy for the whole school,  specific key stage, user group or even just one user for example).

There are some extra things you need to know about our new subscriptions:

1. We have named each size after an animal to show how they increase in size. This is not just for fun, it is supposed to help you identify quickly and easily what size might suit you.
2. Well, maybe it is a little bit fun.
3. If you want to buy for more than one site you need to get in touch to talk about our very special package: The Forest. This is not necessarily about having 1000′s of users but about using BrainPOP UK in different places. We need to adjust the licencing to accommodate that.
4. If you just want to use it for yourself and not have a whole school licence (perfect for a supply teacher for example) there is a single user BrainPOP UK licence made just for you.
5. Each site subscription can be purchased as either:

• School hours only (8am-4pm) – Some schools prefer to restrict access to teaching time only and simply want to use BrainPOP UK in the classroom, as  a dip in/dip out resource. Some teachers do not want to let their pupils take all the quizzes outside the classroom as it may impact their effectiveness when they come to use them inside the classroom.
• 24/7 home access – This costs a little more but is licensed for all day use and full home access too e.g for staff to plan and kids to use, perhaps linked via a VLE or similar, as a homework or revision resource.

It’s all explained on the price grid on our pricing page . The home user annual and monthly subscriptions will remain the same.

These new prices should not impact any current subscribers – your subscription will carry on as you expect and you will be able to pick one of the new options when you renew.

We hope that these prices more accurately reflect the needs of the modern educator and establishment. You can always get in touch to chat through your options of course, but we want YOU to be able to make up your own mind without too much interference from us.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/josefstuefer/ / CC BY 2.0

The X-Large subscription - "The Blue Whale" - £599 or £699

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seabass_london/ / CC BY 2.0

The Large subscription - "The Elephant" - £399 or £499

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizard_queen/ / CC BY 2.0

The Medium subscription - "The Lion" - £299 or £349

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/ / CC BY 2.0

The Small subscription - "The Monkey" - £199 or £249