How to sign digital school authorisations

We all remember a very specific scene from our school days: there was always a pupil on the verge of missing out on a school trip because they’d forgotten to ask their parents to sign the school consent forms. Although it’s an innocent oversight, for teachers and the school office it means last-minute phone calls, waiting at the school gates with the rest of the class, and a huge waste of administrative time.

Ultimately, channels such as WhatsApp and email can be used to streamline the process, but they have a major drawback: should an incident occur during the school trip, the consent form would have no legal validity and the school would be left vulnerable.

By 2026, paper and email will no longer suffice for school administration. Schools require tools that are convenient for families, provide legal protection for the school and streamline the work of administrative staff. The electronic signature is emerging as the preferred option.

How to get 100% of parents to sign first time

In many of the meetings our sales representatives hold with schools and educational institutions, they often speak to senior management, HR managers or IT managers, and a common concern is raised: “We love the idea, but we don’t think parents will know how to complete digital processes.”

If you think about it, this concern makes no sense in 2026. Many years ago, Spain’s autonomous communities adopted digital software to facilitate communication between schools and pupils’ families. The clearest example is Séneca (and its iPasen app) in Andalusia, which was introduced in 2010.

Parents have adapted to this system, integrating it into their daily lives as one of the tools they use most frequently. Indeed, some of those who were pupils at the time have even started using it, now as parents themselves.

For this reason, the education sector should not be afraid to integrate new digital tools if doing so will lead to more efficient management. The challenge is to provide tools that work seamlessly.

Beyond tools focused on centralising communication between schools and parents, there are others that streamline the signing of any type of document, including school authorisations. Viafirma offers an omnichannel signing system where parents can digitally sign school authorisations in minutes, seamlessly, without needing to have a digital certificate installed or download any app.

As an educational institution, you decide how you’d prefer them to sign:

• OTP code (via email or SMS)
• Handwritten signature
• Uploading an image
• Signing with a digital certificate

Managing joint custody and joint authorisations

But what happens in the case of pupils whose parents are separated and have joint custody? Absolutely nothing, as Viafirma also adapts to this family model without any problems.

Our tools allow you to add multiple signatories, as well as set a signing order based on who you want to sign first. The best bit? It’s very simple to use: the school (whether staff, management or someone else) sends the school authorisation for ‘Parent A’ to sign, and the system automatically forwards it to ‘Parent B’. Until the document bears the digital signatures of both parents, the school will not receive the completed authorisation. In this way, both parents can sign school authorisations or activity forms that legally require the signatures of both.

In a daily routine filled with marking exams, preparing lessons and meetings with parents, this system saves you hundreds of administrative headaches.

Data security (GDPR) and the protection of children’s personal data

Any institution or organisation that handles personal data (hospitals, public offices, travel agencies, etc.) must exercise caution. However, in the education sector, data protection requires an extra level of attention (so to speak, as data protection is crucial in any sector, organisation and company). Any piece of paper left by a teacher on their classroom desk can easily go missing, with the risk of information relating to minors being disclosed: allergies, medical details, confidential family circumstances, etc. From a legal perspective, this would constitute a breach of regulations and a serious infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which could result in significant penalties for the institution.

In response to this, Viafirma offers various solutions that comply with GDPR regulations in educational institutions:

• Centralisation and secure storage: Every document and signed school authorisation is stored in an encrypted and secure cloud environment.
• Strict access control: The school can specify exactly who is authorised to access the documentation (school management, form tutors or the school office), preventing unauthorised staff from gaining access.
• Full traceability: A record is kept of who accessed or signed a document, when and from where.

School authorisations backed by law

Furthermore, all our digital solutions operate in accordance with the eIDAS Regulation, the European legislation on trust services. This means that each authorisation generates an unalterable electronic evidence document (IP address, date and time, OPT codes), guaranteeing its absolute legal validity in any court.

Use cases in education: What you can digitise at your school with Viafirma

Signing school authorisations is a good example of the type of document you can sign with Viafirma in the education sector, but it is not the only one. In fact, electronic signatures can be applied in dozens of different ways in education:

To mention just a few examples:

• As we have already mentioned, authorisations for school trips
• Extracurricular activity forms
• Applications and enrolments for the new academic year
• Direct debits
• Work placement and study exchange agreements
• Staff contracts and teacher registrations

Modernise your educational institution and save hundreds of hours this academic year

At Viafirma, we have extensive experience in helping educational institutions digitise their signing processes. From music colleges (Orihuela Music College) to language schools (Carlos V Language School), as well as secondary schools (Lacectània Secondary School) and other educational institutions.

With Viafirma’s tools, everyone involved in the signing process has witnessed a complete digital transformation of the school, making life easier for parents, teachers and management. Educational institutions have left behind bureaucratic and inefficient management practices, giving way to more efficient, environmentally friendly and legally secure organisations.

Fill in this form with your details and we’ll show you how Viafirma can meet the needs of your school, language centre or secondary school.