The Business School

The Business School is a browser-based classroom simulation in which student teams run rival firms in a shared market during one lesson. Students make decisions about prices, hiring, loans, VAT, crises, and deals, and see the effects in the simulation. Sessions support 6 to 32 students, organized into as many as eight teams of three or four. Teachers can pause and resume phases, trigger a crisis, view firm activity, and project a live leaderboard. Students join using a six-digit PIN and a team label or first name, without student accounts or email addresses. They can download private reports; teachers receive a curriculum-mapped class report by email within 48 hours. Knowledge Check questions are listed for 23 business courses. The site says session data is stored in an EU database in Frankfurt, is not sold or used for advertising, and can be ended by the teacher at any time. A free teacher demo is listed; school and trust licence prices are quoted after the pilot. The Autumn 2026 pilot cohort is full, with a waitlist open.

The simulation combines team decisions with teacher controls and reports in a browser-based lesson. Schools considering a licence will need to request pricing, and the pilot waitlist is open.

It suits teachers seeking a team-based business simulation for classes of 6 to 32 students. The listed curriculum questions cover a range of business courses, including AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, BTEC, and IB.

Overview

The Business School is a live business simulation built around teams competing as firms in a shared market during a single lesson. It suits teachers who want a structured, curriculum-linked group exercise without requiring student accounts. Its classroom controls and reporting make it compelling for facilitated teaching, but custom licence pricing and a full pilot cohort can delay adoption.

Key features

Students make decisions about prices, hiring, loans, VAT, crises and deals, then see the consequences within the shared simulation. That interconnected format is useful for discussing how business choices affect one another; it is less suited to learners seeking an individual, self-paced course. Sessions support 6 to 32 students, divided among up to eight firms of three or four, so the group format and 32-student ceiling are central to planning a class.

Teachers can pause and resume phases, trigger a crisis, inspect firm activity and project a live leaderboard. These controls let instructors manage lesson pacing and introduce a disruption deliberately. Students can download private reports, while teachers receive a curriculum-mapped class report by email within 48 hours. Knowledge Check questions cover 23 business courses, including AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, WJEC, Cambridge, BTEC and IB, giving teachers several curriculum connections to draw on.

Students join in a browser using a six-digit PIN and a team label or first name, without individual accounts or email addresses. The company says session data is stored in an EU database in Frankfurt, is not sold or used for advertising, and can be ended by the teacher at any time. TBS Education Ltd Oy states that it is registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office under ZC133810. Support is answered within 24 hours by a person familiar with the material. The site also describes downloadable CSV class data, but does not name third-party integrations.

Pricing

The free Teacher demo costs nothing, requires no credit card and offers a six-step demo, but has no PIN or licence. It is useful for getting a sense of the teaching flow, not for running a licensed classroom session.

The School licence uses one annual fee, with custom pricing quoted after the pilot. It covers unlimited sessions and classes, up to 32 students per session, and is priced per school rather than per seat. This structure may suit schools running the simulation repeatedly, though the annual commitment and quote-based price make budgeting harder before a quote.

The MAT licence is also custom pricing, quoted after the pilot. One agreement covers trust schools and provides a single point of contact, making it the more relevant route for multi-school trusts. The Autumn 2026 pilot cohort is full at 30 of 30 schools, with a waitlist open, so schools seeking access now may need to wait.

Platforms

The simulation runs on the web, including student access through a browser. Its browser-first setup avoids a requirement for student accounts or email addresses, but no named third-party integrations are described.

Who it's for

The Business School is a strong fit for teachers leading business classes that can assemble 6–32 students for a one-lesson team simulation. Its instructor controls, reports and course-specific Knowledge Check questions support a guided classroom activity. It is a weaker fit for solo learners, classes outside the supported size, or schools that need immediate access at a published price.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Active team decisions: Students handle several connected business activities and see consequences in the shared market.
• Teacher control: Instructors can manage phases, introduce a crisis, review firm activity and show a live leaderboard.
• Useful class reporting: Students get private reports and teachers receive a curriculum-mapped report within 48 hours.
• Low-friction joining: A PIN and team label or first name replace student accounts and email addresses.

Cons

• Access is constrained: The Autumn 2026 pilot is full, with only a waitlist open.
• Licence costs require a quote: Schools cannot compare the annual fee or trust pricing in advance.
• Class size is bounded: Sessions top out at 32 students and are designed for teams of three or four.
• The demo is not a free classroom licence: It has no PIN and is limited to a six-step demonstration.

Alternatives

Business Simulation Software is the broader category directory for comparing options. Consider CompanyGame if you want a paid simulation with a free plan and Android, iOS and web support. MonsoonSIM is worth considering for mobile as well as web access; its Education — Single Course Subscription costs $20, paid once, billed at USD 20 per learner for six months, with six or 12 months of access and a fixed class size.

Forio suits readers looking for a freemium platform with API, self-hosted and web options; its free Epicenter Personal plan allows unlimited public and private projects but no end-user authentication or authenticated projects. AnyLogic is another freemium option, with a free Personal Learning Edition for education, self-learning and evaluation across several platforms. OrgSimulator may suit instructors who want free professor access with teaching materials and course management tools; student access costs $50, paid once for each simulation run.

Cesim Business Simulations is a paid web option with a free trial. Capsim Business Simulations is a paid web alternative. Simformer is a paid web alternative with student access at $99, paid once or a 10-student licence package at $850, paid once.

Verdict

Choose The Business School if you teach a class-sized business group and want a teacher-led simulation that connects team decisions to consequences, with curriculum-mapped reporting and no student-account setup. Its main advantage is the combination of instructor controls and course-linked class feedback. Look elsewhere if you need a published licence price, immediate pilot access, an individual study tool or a session for more than 32 students.