Classroom365 is often asked which is the best MIS for independent schools. There are loads that specialise in independent and international schools, and we run through the leading players in the private school sector.
- We won’t bother discussing SIMS if you want to change your MIS. You may have SIMS, and its fall from the leading and most popular MIS in schools is simply spectacular. Amazingly, it is still the most used MIS. Not for long!
- Arbor and Bromcom are the most rapidly growing MIS in schools. They are for state schools: maintained, academies, multi-academy trusts, and other non-fee-paying schools. You can read here, Classroom365’s school management software reviews for state schools.
- However, fee-paying schools need a more specialised MIS to handle school fees, for example!
We hope we can help you make the right choice. Please complete the contact form below or call us for some advice and recommendations based on what you need from your new independent school MIS.
Who to Choose for your Independent School MIS?
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The MIS provider with the largest market share in the independent sector is iSAMS from IRIS. The others we have experience with are:
- Engage from Education Horizons. An international MIS that has a presence all over the world.
- HUBmis from WCBS is another popular MIS for international schools. HUBmis has an increasing market share in the international and independent sectors.
- Satchel One will introduce its MIS for independent schools later in 2024.
- SchoolBase from Furlong supports over 250 schools across the world.
- Compass MIS is a new entrant to the UK education MIS sector.
With the collapse of SIMS, new companies are popping up, looking to take advantage and gain market share. Some are international companies, like Compass Education from Australia, which is gaining market share in both the independent and state-maintained education sectors with their MIS solution.
All of these MIS providers for independent schools are cloud-based. This means you don’t need an on-site server with regular patches to install. Your onsite school’s ICT support will have more time instead of running around updating desktops when your MIS stops working while teachers are doing registers!
With a cloud MIS, this is done by the MIS provider, whether it’s HUBmis or iSAMS, and is constantly updated in the cloud. No more on-site server backup of your school MIS will be required.
Which MIS for International Schools?
An international school MIS works in the same way as for independent schools. Both require the same features and functions in common with a maintained school MIS:
- Tracking attendance for students.
- Behavioural monitoring with instant reporting.
- Pastoral management and recording student’s well-being.
- Assigning homework and academic performance monitoring. Not all school MIS systems have homework features with individual student logins, so if this is a critical module, it’s worth checking before you decide on a new school MIS.
All the MIS systems described here are appropriate for fee-paying schools, whether independent or international. This is their target market, and all have their pros and cons.
Differences between an independent school MIS and an MIS for state schools
The main difference between an independent MIS for schools and one like Arbor MIS is the fee-paying aspects. All the MIS systems listed above have integrations for invoicing parents and accepting payments. Most, like Engage and iSAMS, have developed their own, but plenty of third-party APIs and plugins allow online payments. Some of the payment features include:
- Automated bill and payment chasing.
- Managing deposits, school fees and insurance requests.
- International payments and open banking for instant credit and debits.
- Credit card payments are made with Stripe, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
- Financial planning and accounting reporting.
In addition to handling school fees, independent school MIS systems incorporate HR data and exam planning and management. Exam data can be imported manually or on the fly seamlessly with exam boards.
Independent and international schools are essentially businesses. Depending on the MIS chosen, marketing and promotional tools are included or available as an additional add-on. This may influence your decision on your next school MIS, and Classroom365 is here to help.
Please get in touch with us for more information on the different MIS solutions available for independent and international schools.
Mark Friend, BSc (Hons), is a Company Director at Classroom365 and has worked in technology for nearly 30 years. His IT career started with Rothschild Bank in Sydney, Australia, before working as a Global VPN Project Manager for the British Council. Mark has 20 years of experience in the UK education sector, helping schools integrate the latest tech into their curriculum and ICT vision.