What do schools really think about their MIS in 2024?

Annual analysis of over 1,000 MIS users

Management information systems (MIS) provide a vital range of functions for schools, including pupil data management, attendance and behaviour tracking, reporting, payments and assessment management.

Each year, The Key runs a survey to gain an understanding of what schools feel about their MIS. For the fourth year, we've explored the experiences of users of the top 5 providers by market share: Arbor, Bromcom, Integris, ScholarPack and SIMS. Our objectives were to understand what schools wanted from their MIS provider, whether they felt their current provider was living up to these expectations, and whether they were considering switching in the next year.

Some 1,002 people answered this latest survey in June and July 2024, including 961 users from the top 5 brands by market share, with over 100 respondents who used each of SIMS, Arbor, Integris and Bromcom, and 90 respondents who used ScholarPack. Due to the smaller number of schools purchasing alternative MIS systems, we weren’t able to achieve a large enough sample size of these customers to ensure robust analysis – so we haven’t provided analysis beyond the 5 providers listed above (please see our sample breakdown and survey methodology at the end of this blog post for more detail).

A note for transparency: The Key, which ran this survey, and 3 of the MIS providers used by schools in this survey (Arbor, Integris, and ScholarPack), are all part of The Key Group. As a group, The Key Group prioritises listening to schools and their needs, and believes in the ability of best-in-class tech products to transform schools for the better. Our aim is that the findings of this survey will help inform those leading on MIS decisions for their school. In this blog post, we endeavour to present an objective summary of the survey results without additional commentary, to avoid risk of bias.

Generally, how satisfied are schools with their MIS?

When asked for their MIS satisfaction rating on a scale of 1 to 10, responses varied – with the majority falling on the upper, more ‘satisfied’ half of the scale.

*Graph 1: “How satisfied are you with your MIS? Please select a score from 1 to 10, where 1 is ‘Extremely dissatisfied’ and 10 is ‘Extremely satisfied’”, base = 1,002 respondents*

Ratings of 9 or 10 can effectively be classified as ‘extremely satisfied’, and nearly a quarter (24%) of the total respondents told us that this was how they felt about their MIS. This has risen from 21% in 2023. Only 4% of total respondents reported an ‘extremely dissatisfied’ score of 1 or 2. The average level of satisfaction appears to have slightly risen this year from 6.7 in 2023 to 7.0 in 2024.

When looking at the top 5 MIS providers by market share (see graph 2 below), Arbor and ScholarPack had the highest percentage of respondents rating their MIS as either a 9 or 10 in terms of satisfaction (Arbor: 34%, ScholarPack: 33%). Some 30% of Integris users surveyed also selected one of these top 2 scores, while the percentages were 20% and 15% respectively for Bromcom and SIMS. Represented as averages, the overall satisfaction scores of survey respondents were 7.7 for ScholarPack, 7.7 for Arbor, 7.4 for Integris, 6.7 for Bromcom and 6.3 for SIMS. Overall average satisfaction has risen for all of the 5 top brands since last year, except for ScholarPack, which has slightly fallen from 7.9, albeit still having the joint highest average score.

Average general MIS satisfaction scores were higher for respondents from primary schools (7.2) than secondary schools (6.3). Among the school roles for which we received over 100 respondents, there was some variation in general satisfaction scores with their MIS; they ranged from an average score of 6.3 among assistant/deputy headteachers, to 7.4 for admin and PA staff.

Graph 2: “How satisfied are you with your MIS? Please select a score from 1-10, where 1 is ‘Extremely dissatisfied’ and 10 is ‘Extremely satisfied’”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share

How satisfied were schools with various aspects of their MIS?

Intuitiveness for new users

An MIS is integral to a range of school operations, and is used by staff members across the setting – from office staff to premises managers, support staff, teachers and leadership teams. For staff joining a school with a different MIS to the one they’ve used previously, being able to start using the MIS efficiently is pivotal for reducing their workload and increasing their confidence in the new setting. Equally, for schools changing MIS, the switch should be as seamless as possible to make sure that the day-to-day running of the school or trust isn’t disrupted, and to enable staff to access all the data they need to carry out their duties.

Overall, 13% of the total survey respondents reported being ‘extremely satisfied’ with how intuitive their MIS was for new users. Graph 3 shows that Arbor and ScholarPack had the highest satisfaction rating here, with 29% and 20% respectively of users who responded saying they were ‘extremely satisfied’ with how intuitive their MIS is for new users – compared with 10% of those using Integris, 16% of those using Bromcom and 3% of those using SIMS.

*Graph 3: “How satisfied are you with how intuitive the MIS is for new users?”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share*

The extent to which the MIS integrates with other systems and software

How well any new technology integrates with existing systems and software can make the difference between successful whole-scale adoption, and frustration. Just over 1 in 10 (13%) survey respondents cited ‘integration with other products’ as the most important factor to consider when thinking about switching MIS (see graph 13). We asked those survey respondents working in schools to rate their satisfaction with the integration of their MIS with their other systems and software and, overall, 64% reported being either ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’.

Broken down by the top 5 providers by market share (graph 4), Arbor came out on top, with 76% of its users reportedly feeling either ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with its integration. This was followed by 68% of users of ScholarPack, 67% from Integris, 59% from SIMS and 57% from Bromcom.

*Graph 4: “How satisfied are you with the extent to which the MIS integrates with other systems/software?”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share*

Functionality of the MIS

Functionality was selected as the most important factor when looking for a new MIS by around 3 in 5 (61%) of our survey respondents (see graph 13). Among the total sample, 68% reported being ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with the functionality of their MIS. Ratings were highest among surveyed users of Arbor and ScholarPack, with the vast majority, 84% and 82% respectively, reporting themselves to be either ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with its functionality (see graph 5, below). This was followed by the surveyed users of Bromcom (68%), Integris (65%), and SIMS (56%).

The quality of support received

Schools have various options for getting day-to-day support with their MIS – whether through direct assistance from the MIS provider, third-party agencies such as local authority teams or independent organisations, or informal support from colleagues or peers. The quality of support available remains a consideration when switching MIS, albeit less than other factors such as functionality (see graph 13).

Graph 6 shows that the percentage of ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ users, in terms of support, was highest among ScholarPack users surveyed (75%), followed by Arbor (73%) and Integris (71%), compared with the average of 66% of total respondents reportedly feeling this way. This compares with surveyed users of SIMS and Bromcom (at 63% and 55% respectively) giving these top ratings.

*Graph 6: “How satisfied are you with the quality of support received?”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share*

The extent to which the MIS provides actionable information

The interaction between school staff and their MIS should be reciprocal, with staff entering data into the system, which then gives them insights that they can use. The Department for Education’s ‘Working lives of teachers and leaders – wave 2’ report highlighted this year that ‘high workload’ was the most commonly-cited reason for considering leaving the profession, with 94% reporting it as an important factor. A school’s MIS should be a crucial time-saving tool for staff, helping them to better understand their pupils by collating data on everything from progress and attainment, to attendance, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), behaviour and more.

Overall, 60% of respondents from the total sample reported being ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with how well their MIS provides information they can act on. Graph 7 shows that Arbor users (75%) were the most likely to say they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with the extent to which their MIS provided them with actionable information. Some 64% of Bromcom users surveyed also reported this, along with 63% of ScholarPack users, 60% of Integris users and 51% of SIMS users.

*Graph 7: “How satisfied are you with the extent to which your MIS provides actionable information?”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share*

How effective is the MIS at providing various benefits?

It’s widely accepted that schools should be able to use their MIS to streamline manual data processing, assist with data extraction, and help facilitate collaboration with colleagues (whether by providing shared access to data, or surfacing and analysing data to enable collaboration – for example, between the pastoral team and attendance officer).

We asked all of our respondents how well they felt their MIS provided these benefits (graph 8), and a fifth (20%) reported that they didn’t feel their MIS was effective at saving them time (responding ‘not at all effective’ or ‘not so effective’). In addition, 14% didn't feel it gave them the data they needed to do their job well, and 30% didn’t believe their MIS helped them to collaborate with colleagues ‘at all’ or ‘so effectively’.

*Graph 8: “How effective is your MIS at providing you with the following benefits?”, base = 1,002 respondents*

It saves me time

When looking at the metric of ‘time saving’ (graph 9), if we break it down by the top 5 brands by market share, Arbor and ScholarPack were the most likely to be rated as effective, with 61% and 55% (respectively) of their users surveyed saying that their MIS was ‘extremely effective’ or ‘very effective’ at saving them time. This compares with 38% of Bromcom users surveyed, 37% of Integris users and 27% of SIMS users.

*Graph 9: “How effective is your MIS at saving you time?”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share*

It gives me the data I need to do my job well

Whether it's the dedicated data managers and office administrators who depend on their MIS throughout the working day, or the teachers seeking prompt access to records about pupils’ SEND, the MIS and the data it holds are crucial to school operations.

In graph 10, we see that the Arbor and ScholarPack users surveyed were most likely to say that their MIS was ‘extremely effective’ or ‘very effective’ at giving them the data they needed to do their job well (63% and 59% respectively). This compares with 47% of Bromcom, 44% of Integris and 39% of SIMS users surveyed.

Graph 10: “How effective is your MIS at providing you with the following benefits? It gives me the data I need to do my job well”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share

It helps me to collaborate with colleagues

Schools gather an abundance of data on their pupils – including communications with parents and carers, behaviour incidents, homework completion, SEND, attendance and more. Analysing that data as a team allows for collaboration on solutions, and an MIS can be key in facilitating this process.

Graph 11 shows that the Arbor users surveyed were the most likely to say that their MIS was ‘extremely effective’ or ‘very effective’ at helping them to collaborate with colleagues (53%). This was followed by 42% of users surveyed from ScholarPack, 36% from Bromcom, 30% from Integris and 24% from SIMS.

*Graph 11: “How effective is your MIS at helping you to collaborate with colleagues?”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share*

How likely are schools to consider changing their MIS provider in the next 12 months?

This is the fourth year we've asked about people’s intentions to switch MIS in the next 12 months (graph 12), and the proportion of those ‘likely’ and ‘very likely’ to consider changing MIS has continually increased – from 6% and 8% respectively in 2021, to 7% and 9% in 2022, to 11% and 11% in 2023, and 11% and 15% in 2024. This is despite those having switched during these years being presumably less interested in switching again so soon (i.e. it’s likely that the ‘pool’ is shrinking year-on-year).

Overall this year, just over a quarter (26%) of all respondents reported that they were considering changing their provider over the next year. Over 2 in 5 (43%) Integris users reported being ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to switch. This compares with 40% of users surveyed from ScholarPack, 36% from SIMS, 5% from Bromcom and 3% from Arbor.

It’s worth noting that the green in the graph below, in some cases, could also indicate that schools are tied into multi-year contracts or MAT-wide contracts, and so are unable to switch in the next year.

*Graph 12: “How likely are you to consider changing your MIS provider in the next 12 months?”, base = 961 respondents from the top 5 MIS providers by market share*

What’s the most important factor for users in looking for a new MIS provider?

We set out to identify the top priorities for schools when they look for a new MIS. As mentioned earlier in this post, this appears to be functionality – graph 13 shows that 61% of respondents chose this as the most important factor when considering switching providers. Price was the joint second most commonly selected important factor (‘integration with other products’ also ranking second), but to a lesser extent than in 2023, as only 13% of respondents selected this factor, compared with 20% last year.

*Graph 13: “What is the most important factor when looking for a new MIS supplier?”, base = 1,002 respondents*

A note on our methodology

The Key sent this survey to all primary, secondary and special schools in England, via email. The survey ran from 17 June to 17 July 2024, and asked the same questions (with some additional questions) as previous surveys run by The Key in June/July 2023, July 2022 and April 2021.

Some 1,002 people responded to the survey, including 961 users from the top 5 MIS providers by market share:

405 SIMS users (40% of total respondents)
236 Arbor users (24%)
120 Integris users (12%)
109 Bromcom users (11%)
90 ScholarPack users (9%)

According to the school census in May 2024, across the whole sector: SIMS holds 47% market share, Arbor 26%, Integris 8%, Bromcom 10% and ScholarPack 7%. This means that the data from our survey appears to be broadly representative of the market.

We also gathered data from schools which were using IRIS Ed:gen, iSAMS, Compass, Pupil Asset, SchoolPod, Schoolbase and engage – although these sample sizes were too small to break down. We’ve only included breakdowns by provider where there were at least 90 responses.

Our sample included 598 respondents working in primary schools, 266 in secondary schools, 76 in all-through schools and 67 in special schools. Some 372 of these respondents reported that they were working in academies, and 507 in maintained schools. In terms of roles, where available, our survey received responses from:

145 headteachers (including principals, heads of school and executive headteachers)
198 assistant/deputy headteachers
334 school business managers
263 admin staff, including PAs

The data has not been weighted by provider, nor have we attempted to ensure that it is representative by phase, role, type of school or region.