Best Booking Systems for HAF Programmes in 2026

Choosing the right booking system is one of the most consequential decisions a local authority makes when setting up its Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. The booking system determines how families find and access provision, how eligibility is checked, and how data flows through to DfE reporting. This guide compares the main booking system options available to HAF coordinators in 2026, helping you choose the right approach for your authority.

What you'll learn: The key features a HAF booking system needs, the main options available, and how they compare on the criteria that matter most.

Key decision factors: Eligibility checking integration, attendance tracking, DfE reporting, provider management, and family experience.

Real-world examples: How authorities like Camden, Islington, and East Riding have approached central booking for HAF.

TL;DR — Choosing a HAF Booking System

A HAF booking system needs to do more than just take bookings. It must handle FSM eligibility verification, manage capacity across multiple providers, track attendance, and feed data into DfE Q36 and Q38 returns. Generic event booking platforms (like Eventbrite or Bookwhen) can handle basic bookings but lack HAF-specific features. Purpose-built HAF platforms like Plinth integrate eligibility checking, provider management, attendance tracking, and DfE reporting into a single system. The best choice depends on your authority's size, budget, and current systems — but investing in a HAF-specific platform typically pays for itself through reduced administrative time and improved data quality.

Why Central Booking Matters for HAF

The DfE expects local authorities to provide families with an easy way to discover and book HAF sessions. A central booking system — as opposed to each provider managing their own bookings — offers significant advantages.

Family experience: Parents and carers can see all available sessions in one place, filtered by location, date, age, and activity type, rather than navigating multiple provider websites. Research from early HAF pilots showed that centralised information significantly increased take-up among hard-to-reach families.

Eligibility verification: Central booking allows the local authority to verify FSM eligibility once, at the point of booking, rather than relying on each provider to check individually. With approximately 2 million FSM-eligible children in England, consistent checking is essential.

Capacity management: A single system provides real-time visibility of available places across all providers, preventing overbooking and highlighting sessions with low take-up that may need additional promotion.

Data consistency: When all bookings flow through one system, the data needed for DfE reporting is captured consistently from the start, rather than being retrospectively assembled from multiple sources.

Without central booking, local authorities typically spend significantly more time on manual data collection and reconciliation after each holiday period.

Essential Features for HAF Booking Systems

Not all booking systems are created equal. Here are the features that matter most for HAF delivery.

FSM Eligibility Integration

The most critical HAF-specific feature. The system should be able to verify whether a child is eligible for benefits-related free school meals — either through integration with the DfE's Eligibility Checking Service, cross-referencing with local data, or automated checking against school census records.

Why it matters: Without integrated eligibility checking, families must provide proof of eligibility separately, and HAF teams must manually verify each booking. For authorities processing thousands of bookings per holiday period, this creates enormous bottlenecks.

Multi-Provider Support

HAF programmes typically involve 20–100+ activity providers across a local authority area. The booking system must support multiple providers, each with their own sessions, locations, capacity limits, and age ranges.

Why it matters: Generic booking platforms are usually designed for single organisations. They struggle with the multi-provider model that HAF requires, often necessitating workarounds that create data silos.

Attendance Tracking

Booking is only half the picture — the DfE requires actual attendance data, not just booking data. The system should allow providers to record attendance digitally, with data flowing back to the local authority in real time.

Why it matters: The gap between bookings and attendance is significant. Nationally, no-show rates for HAF sessions can be 15–25%. DfE reporting requires actual attendance figures, making this a non-negotiable feature.

DfE Reporting Integration

The system should be able to generate or export data in the format required for Q36 and Q38 returns, including demographic breakdowns, unique participation counts, and activity type categorisation.

Why it matters: If the booking system cannot produce DfE-ready data, HAF coordinators face hours or days of manual data manipulation after each holiday period.

Family-Friendly Interface

The booking system must be accessible to families, including those who may have limited digital literacy, English as an additional language, or accessibility needs. Mobile-responsive design is essential, as many families will book via smartphones.

Why it matters: If the booking process is difficult, families disengage. HAF programmes already face challenges reaching the most disadvantaged families — a poor booking experience makes this worse.

Comparison of HAF Booking Approaches

Option 1: Generic Event Booking Platforms

Examples: Eventbrite, Bookwhen, TicketSource, Google Forms

Generic booking platforms are designed for events and can handle basic session booking. They are typically inexpensive or free, quick to set up, and familiar to families.

Strengths:

• Low cost and quick to deploy
• Families may already be familiar with the interface
• Adequate for basic booking and capacity management
• Good mobile experience (for established platforms)

Weaknesses:

• No FSM eligibility checking — requires separate manual process
• No attendance tracking — providers must use separate systems
• No DfE reporting integration — data must be exported and manually processed
• Limited multi-provider support — often requires separate events or accounts per provider
• No provider onboarding workflow
• Data is fragmented across the booking platform, eligibility spreadsheets, and attendance registers

Best for: Very small authorities or those in the early stages of HAF who need a quick, low-cost solution and are willing to accept significant manual work for reporting.

Option 2: Custom-Built Solutions

Some local authorities have commissioned bespoke booking systems, either built by in-house IT teams or external developers.

Strengths:

• Can be tailored exactly to the authority's requirements
• Full control over features and data
• Can integrate with existing local authority systems

Weaknesses:

• Expensive to build (typically £50,000–£150,000+)
• Long development timelines (3–12 months)
• Ongoing maintenance and support costs
• Dependent on specific developers or teams
• May not keep pace with changing DfE requirements
• Risk of becoming outdated or unsupported

Best for: Large authorities with substantial IT budgets and in-house development capacity who have very specific requirements that cannot be met by existing platforms.

Option 3: Purpose-Built HAF Platforms

Examples: Plinth, Open Systems (HAF module)

Purpose-built HAF platforms are designed specifically for the requirements of HAF delivery. They integrate booking, eligibility checking, provider management, attendance tracking, and DfE reporting in a single system.

Strengths:

• All HAF-specific features available out of the box
• Automated FSM eligibility checking
• Real-time attendance tracking with provider access
• One-click DfE reporting (Q36 and Q38)
• Built-in provider onboarding workflow
• Continuous updates to reflect changing DfE requirements
• Proven in use by multiple local authorities

Weaknesses:

• Higher cost than generic platforms (though typically lower than custom builds)
• Requires buy-in from providers to use the system
• Less customisable than fully bespoke solutions

Best for: Most local authorities seeking a comprehensive, reliable solution that minimises administrative burden and ensures accurate DfE reporting. Plinth is used by authorities including Camden, Islington, East Riding, Hammersmith & Fulham, and South Tyneside.

What to Look for When Evaluating Booking Systems

When assessing booking system options, HAF coordinators should evaluate against these criteria:

Data Flow and Reporting

Ask: Can the system generate Q36 and Q38 data directly, or will we need to export and manipulate data manually? How does attendance data flow from providers to the central team?

Why it matters: Reporting is often the most stressful part of HAF delivery. A system that captures data consistently from the start transforms reporting from a multi-day exercise into a straightforward process.

Eligibility Verification

Ask: How does the system verify FSM eligibility? Is it automated, semi-automated, or manual? What happens when eligibility cannot be confirmed?

Why it matters: With thousands of bookings per holiday period, manual eligibility checking creates significant bottlenecks and introduces errors that affect DfE reporting accuracy.

Provider Experience

Ask: How will providers interact with the system? Can they manage their own sessions, record attendance, and view their bookings? What training and support is available?

Why it matters: Provider buy-in is essential. If the system is difficult for providers to use, they will resist adoption or use it inconsistently, undermining data quality.

Family Experience

Ask: How easy is the booking process for families? Is it mobile-responsive? Can it handle accessibility requirements and multiple languages? How many steps are required to complete a booking?

Why it matters: The booking system is families' first interaction with HAF. A poor experience reduces take-up, particularly among the most disadvantaged families who HAF is designed to reach.

Scalability and Reliability

Ask: Can the system handle peak booking volumes (often concentrated in the weeks before holiday periods)? What is the uptime guarantee? How quickly are issues resolved?

Why it matters: HAF booking often follows a predictable pattern of high demand in short windows. A system that crashes or slows during peak periods causes significant problems for families and HAF teams.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a HAF booking system cost?

Costs vary significantly depending on the approach. Generic platforms like Eventbrite may be free or low-cost (though the hidden cost is the manual work required). Custom-built solutions typically cost £50,000–£150,000+ to develop, plus ongoing maintenance. Purpose-built HAF platforms like Plinth offer subscription-based pricing that is typically more cost-effective than custom builds when you factor in development time, maintenance, and the staff time saved through automation. Most local authorities find that the administrative time saved by a purpose-built platform far exceeds the subscription cost.

Can we use different booking systems for different providers?

Technically yes, but this approach creates significant challenges. When different providers use different systems, data is fragmented, eligibility checking is inconsistent, and consolidating information for DfE reporting becomes extremely time-consuming. The strongest approach is a single central booking system that all providers use, even if some providers also maintain their own internal systems for non-HAF activities.

How do we get providers to adopt a new booking system?

Provider adoption is a common concern. Successful approaches include: involving providers in the selection process; providing clear training and ongoing support; demonstrating how the system reduces their administrative burden (not just the council's); and making system use a condition of HAF funding agreements. Authorities using Plinth report high provider adoption rates because the platform is designed to make providers' lives easier, not just the central team's.

What if families do not have internet access?

While most families can access online booking via smartphones, some cannot. Best practice is to offer multiple booking channels: online booking as the primary route, with telephone booking available as an alternative. Some authorities also offer in-person booking at libraries, Family Hubs, or council offices. The booking system should support all these channels, with staff able to create bookings on behalf of families who call in.

Conclusion & Call to Action

The choice of booking system fundamentally shapes how your HAF programme operates — from the family experience through to DfE reporting. While generic platforms offer a quick start, most authorities find that the manual work they create makes them unsustainable as programmes grow.

Integrated approach: The most effective HAF programmes use a single platform that connects booking, eligibility checking, attendance tracking, and reporting — eliminating data silos and manual reconciliation.

Purpose-built advantages: HAF-specific platforms like Plinth have been designed around the unique requirements of the programme, saving significant administrative time and improving data quality.

Proven results: Local authorities using Plinth report dramatically reduced time spent on DfE reporting and improved accuracy of their Q36 and Q38 returns.

Investing in the right booking system is one of the highest-impact decisions a HAF coordinator can make — it affects every aspect of programme delivery.

Ready to see how Plinth handles HAF booking? Book a demo to see the platform in action and learn how authorities like Camden and Islington manage their HAF bookings.

Recommended Next Pages

• What Is the HAF Programme? – A comprehensive guide to the Holiday Activities and Food programme for local authorities.

• How to Complete HAF DfE Reporting – A step-by-step guide to Q36 and Q38 returns.

• FSM Eligibility Checking for HAF – Comparing manual and automated approaches to eligibility verification.

• HAF Management Software vs Spreadsheets – Why purpose-built software outperforms manual processes.

• How to Track HAF Attendance – Digital approaches to meeting DfE attendance requirements.

• How to Onboard HAF Providers – Streamlining the provider approval process.

Last updated: February 2026

For more information about HAF booking systems, contact our team or schedule a demo.