Coba Education

What Coba Education does

Coba Education is a UK-based specialist education recruitment agency (Coba Education Limited, Company No. 08203776) that supplies vetted teaching staff, cover supervisors, and support staff to Primary, Secondary, and Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools. The company is headquartered in Northampton with a second office in Bradford, serving schools across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, and Yorkshire. Its core value proposition centers on rapid-response supply cover (24/7 consultant availability), dedicated per-school consultant relationships, and a robust compliance and vetting regime aligned to DfE Quality Mark and REC Audited Education standards, including DBS checks, references, GTC registration, health checks, identity verification, and face-to-face interviews.

The company operates a two-sided technology platform comprising a teacher-facing registration and timesheet system built on the EvoPortal/Tracker RMS platform and a proprietary Online Schools Area portal (apps.cobaeducation.com) for school-side booking management, vetting verification, and loyalty scheme administration. A CRM system underpins candidate database management. The revenue model is predominantly transactional: schools pay placement fees for supply teachers, with a national average benchmark of approximately £18 per hour inclusive of 12.07% holiday pay, and teachers are paid via PAYE or through the Advance umbrella company. A secondary revenue stream comes from paid CPD training courses, including Team-Teach physical intervention training (£70) and the NSPCC Child Protection in Schools course (£25). Adjacent programs include a Hope Education loyalty scheme (monthly cap £500) and a £100 Voucher Express referral reward for both teacher and school referrals after ten days of completed work. The go-to-market motion is direct field sales to schools, complemented by organic content marketing via blog, Facebook, and Twitter, with teacher acquisition handled through an online self-serve registration portal followed by an in-person verification meeting.

Name

Coba Education

Legal name

Coba Education Limited

Website

https://cobaeducation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Coba Education is a UK specialist education recruitment agency supplying vetted teaching, cover, and support staff to Primary, Secondary, and SEN schools across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, and Yorkshire, operating from offices in Northampton and Bradford.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Staffing Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Co-Teaching & In-Class Instructional Support (Specialist Teachers) (EDAKABAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Instructional Delivery & Pedagogy (School-Led) (EDAJAFAB)

Keywords

• Supply teaching agency
• Education recruitment
• School staffing services
• Teacher placement
• School cover staff

Headquarters

HQ city

Northampton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Staffing/Placement Fees: Coba Education charges schools for providing vetted teaching staff on a temporary or long-term supply basis. Schools pay for the supply teacher or support staff placed by the agency. Rates include 12.07% holiday pay. The company offers PAYE and umbrella company payroll options.
2. CPD Training Courses: Coba Education offers paid CPD training to teachers, including Team-Teach physical intervention training at £70 and NSPCC Child Protection in Schools course at £25.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Coba Education is a specialist education recruitment agency that places vetted supply teachers, cover supervisors, and support staff into Primary, Secondary, and SEN schools across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, and Yorkshire. The company operates a dedicated Schools Online Area portal for booking management and a Teacher Portal for candidate registration and timesheets, complemented by CPD training (Team-Teach, NSPCC, Prevent) and a Hope Education-linked loyalty scheme for schools.

Product overview

Coba Education operates as a supply teaching agency providing education recruitment services. The core offering is a staffing platform that connects schools with vetted teaching staff, cover supervisors, and support personnel. The company maintains a digital infrastructure comprising two distinct web portals: an Online Schools Area for institutional clients to manage bookings, verify teacher credentials, and access loyalty rewards, and a separate Teacher Portal for educators to manage their placements and timesheets. Beyond the primary recruitment service, Coba Education offers professional development through CPD training courses (Team-Teach, NSPCC, Prevent Training) and supplemental programs including a Recommend a Teacher/School referral scheme and a Loyalty Scheme for schools partnered with Hope Education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Supply Teaching Agency Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Supply teacher daily rate benchmark of approximately £18 per hour (national average)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hope EducationcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCoba Education has a loyalty scheme partnership with Hope Education (hope-education.co.uk). Schools accumulate loyalty credits through placements with Coba, which can be spent on items from Hope Education's catalogue. The scheme includes bonus rewards at loyalty level thresholds. Monthly order limit is £500, and loyalty credits expire after two years.
• Voucher ExpressminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCoba Education uses Voucher Express for its teacher and school referral reward scheme. Successful referrers receive £100 of Voucher Express vouchers of their choice once the recommended candidate or school has completed 10 days of work.
• AdvancecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAdvance is Coba Education's preferred umbrella company supplier for processing teacher payroll. Teachers can choose to be paid through Advance (umbrella company) or PAYE directly. Advance handles weekly invoicing submitted to Coba Education's accounts department.
• UK NARICTechnology or IntegrationUK NARIC (0871 330 7033) is used by Coba Education to compare overseas teacher qualifications against UK standards as part of the overseas teacher registration process.
• Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoba Education is a member of the REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) and has undergone REC Audited Education certification. The REC conducts regular audits of the company's operations.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Aspire People: UK education recruitment specialist placing teachers, cover supervisors, and support staff in primary, secondary, and SEND schools. Directly comparable service offering and customer base to Coba Education.
• Protocol Education: UK specialist education recruitment agency providing supply, long-term, and permanent teaching and support staff to primary, secondary, and SEN schools. Directly comparable in product, customer base, and operating model to Coba Education.
• Class Teachers: UK-based education recruitment agency specialising in placing teachers and support staff in primary, secondary, and SEN schools on supply and long-term contracts. Comparable service offering and customer profile to Coba.
• Simply Education: UK specialist education recruitment agency placing teachers, teaching assistants, and support staff across primary, secondary, and SEN schools. Comparable in product mix and customer base to Coba Education.
• Teaching Personnel: One of the UK's largest specialist education recruitment agencies, placing teachers, teaching assistants, and support staff in nurseries, primary, secondary, and SEN schools nationwide. Closest direct peer to Coba in terms of product and customer segment.
• Engage Education: UK education recruitment agency placing teachers and support staff in primary, secondary, and SEND schools on a supply, long-term, and permanent basis. Directly competes with Coba in the same niche.

Broad incumbents

• Reed Education: Part of Reed, the UK's largest family-run recruitment group, providing supply, permanent, and international teacher recruitment to schools. Larger and broader portfolio than Coba but with overlapping core services and target customers.
• Hays Education: Education recruitment arm of Hays, a global recruitment group, providing supply teaching, permanent, and SEN recruitment to UK schools. Operates at significantly greater scale and geographic breadth than Coba but serves the same customer base.

Regional players

• New Directions Education: Wales-headquartered education recruitment agency that has expanded into parts of England, placing teachers and support staff in schools. Comparable business model and target customers to Coba but with a different geographic anchor.

Emerging players

• Tes (Recruitment arm): Tes operates a large education jobs marketplace and recruitment platform, including a growing supply-matching service used by UK schools. Increasingly competes with traditional agencies like Coba by offering digital-first matching and a school-facing platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cobaeducation
• Facebookfacebook.com/CobaEducation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coba-education

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coba Education