Developing a candidate mobile app for a leading education recruiter
TeacherActive wanted to bring key candidate services together in a single connected mobile app to improve availability, training and booking.
TeacherActive is one of the largest education recruitment agencies in the UK, placing candidates into primary and secondary schools, further education, residential, nursery and SEND settings across England and Wales. With over 20 years of experience in education recruitment, the business has built a strong reputation for candidate support and sector expertise.
Alongside its core recruitment services, TeacherActive provides professional development through My-Progression, an in-house platform through which candidates can complete Continuing Professional Development (CPD) modules and gain certification.
As one of the UK's biggest education recruitment agencies, TeacherActive delivers well-established recruitment services to support with outstanding learning experiences, offering a comprehensive candidate support package through dedicated teams across England and Wales.
Team members get to know every candidate’s skills, values and working preferences, matching them to local education settings on a permanent, long-term and temporary basis.
Candidates also benefit from CV and job interview advice, free classroom resources, dedicated support for ECT and NQTs and free CPD via My-Progression.
TeacherActive commissioned OWA to scope and deliver a mobile app that would consolidate key candidate services and create a more connected digital experience.
A phased approach across two projects was proposed that would address various issues and deliver on the following requirements:
- Candidate availability and CPD training were fragmented across separate systems and channels
- No single mobile touchpoint existed for candidates to manage their activity
- The app needed to connect with existing TeacherActive systems while providing a scalable foundation for future development
- Booking information was communicated through separate channels, reducing visibility for candidates
- The second project needed to extend the app's value without disrupting the foundations already in place
Both projects needed to be delivered through an iterative process, with user interface concepts shaped around candidate needs and TeacherActive's visual identity.
OWA worked closely with TeacherActive's project team throughout the design and development lifecycle of both projects. The first focused on creating the core candidate app experience – mapping how candidates would access CPD training, manage availability and interact with content through a simple, on-brand mobile interface. This phase required a thorough understanding of TeacherActive's existing systems, translating established behaviours and logic into an app experience that was straightforward to use and technically scalable.
The second project expanded the app's value by introducing booking data, giving candidates direct access to key information about upcoming work – including dates, times, client details and locations – directly from their mobile device. Across both phases, the work was delivered through an iterative design and development process, with interface concepts refined around candidate needs and TeacherActive's visual identity.
The two projects delivered a clearer, more connected digital experience for TeacherActive candidates:
- Users gained a single mobile app for key activity, including availability, CPD training and booking visibility
- Booking data gave candidates improved access to upcoming work information, reducing reliance on separate updates
- The app was designed and built to connect with existing TeacherActive systems without disruption
- TeacherActive gained a scalable app platform that can continue to evolve as candidate needs and operational requirements develop
- The overall candidate experience became more cohesive, with key services accessible in one place for the first time
If your organisation relies on separate systems and communication channels to manage a high-volume user base, a well-scoped mobile app can bring key services together and significantly improve the experience for your users. Working iteratively and in close collaboration with your project team, we can scope, design and build a solution that connects with your existing systems and scales as your needs evolve:
- Consolidate candidate, customer or user services into a single mobile app
- Integrate with existing platforms and back-office systems
- Design intuitive user journeys built around real user needs
- Deliver phased app development across multiple projects
- Build a scalable foundation for ongoing enhancements and new features
Whether you’re looking to create a new application or facing legacy system challenges and performance bottlenecks, we're here to help.
UK-based design and development
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Project planning and scope definition
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Migration strategy for legacy systems
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