Why choose between a waiting list and direct booking when you can have both?

Many music and culture schools are considering which registration method is best for allocating their course places. Some use waiting lists where the student registers and is contacted by the teacher to book a lesson time, while others use direct booking, where the student selects their specific lesson time from a range of available slots without the teacher’s involvement - just like booking an appointment at the hairdresser on your mobile phone.

SpeedAdmin is convinced that both methods are effective - and that combining them is even better!  That's why we let our SpeedAdmin Play! schools decide for themselves which method suits them the best. Direct booking fills schedules quickly without any administrative handling, while a waiting list is ideal for more complex schedule management where factors like group composition need to be considered. Perhaps direct booking is the best for the choir or dance group, while the violin lessons work better with a waiting list? Or maybe it's the other way around?

Hybrid booking allows you to mix these methods across different activities and change enrollment methods at any time during the year as needed. If the available places in the course catalog run out, students can join a waiting list for a specific class. If the waiting list is empty, the available places can be published in the course catalog and booked directly. This streamlines the admission process throughout the semester.

In the first SpeedAdmin Play! schools, we've already seen the creativity flow around how hybrid booking can be used. The world's first Play! school, the Gothenburg School of Culture, chose to continue using a waiting list for its long-term courses and, after the first intake, to convert the bookings to direct booking to fill its vacancies. For short courses and holiday activities, they chose to use direct booking from the start. We are excited and curious to see even more ways of combining these methods in all our future Play! schools.

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Hybrid booking solves your enrolment process challenges:

• Easily manage waiting lists with internal notes, tracking features, and tools to assign students to specific teachers — ensuring no one falls through the cracks.

• Increase enrolment by offering students and parents multiple options that fit their preferred schedules and availability.  

• Cater to today’s ‘click and collect’ mentality, where digital users expect convenience and speed. With hybrid booking, they can check availability and book an activity with just a few clicks.  

• Give parents or students a quick overview in the course catalog of which activities are available immediately and which have a waiting list — helping them discover activities they might not otherwise have found.  

• Optimise your school’s resources by filling vacant slots throughout the year. When a waiting list runs out, the remaining places can be made available for direct booking, ensuring full course occupancy.  

• Allow students to join a waiting list for a specific group or lesson time if it is fully booked — and maybe even open additional groups if there’s enough interest.  

• Use direct links to offer selected students exclusive opportunities to book specific courses.

Read how different music and arts schools have streamlined their course registration with SpeedAdmin Play!

The Upplands Väsby Music and Arts School is making it easier than ever to book courses - with direct booking that enables faster registrations and greater availability. Watch the video to hear the Head of Music and Arts School Anders Elers Ivarsson explain how it works. 

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Discover how the Luleå Music and Arts School efficiently manages both daytime and evening courses with hybrid booking registration – and how they fill groups without manual administration.

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Follow the journey of the the Stockholm Music and Arts School, where the shift from paper chaos to digital direct booking not only streamlined the process – but also enabled more students to start sooner, thanks to new options and unexpected insights.

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