The government is bidding to shield schools from the £200 million management information system (MIS) turf war by drawing up a new framework through which leaders can purchase the edtech.
Officials have launched a consultation on how they can simplify the process of buying the software – which collects attendance, payroll and admissions data – and reduce the “legal risks” schools face.
It follows a string of costly court fights, involving local authorities and some of England’s biggest academy trusts.
‘Minefield’
Education consultant Duncan Baldwin argued that “navigating procurement for these systems is a minefield” for many schools.
“If this framework provides a simpler, less risky route then it’s a good thing, so long as fairness and openness for suppliers is maintained,” he said. “Nobody – schools or suppliers – wants the complexity and cost of legal wrangles.”
The Department for Education told leaders this week it “understand[s] buying management information systems can be difficult”. Officials “want to hear” from them as it looks “to create a simpler purchasing route that reduces costs and legal risks with suppliers”.
During a webinar with suppliers on Thursday, officials revealed the framework – which will have “no limit to [the] number of suppliers” – will help “all schools and trusts use transparent buying processes, guidance and pricing”.
Improve data sharing
Slides shown during the event, seen by Schools Week, said they want to ensure data “flow[s] smoothly across school, trust, local authority and national levels”.
They also hope to “ease” information transfers when schools move trusts and simplify “contract exit around [the] transfer of data while protecting relevant supplier IP”.
The emergence of cloud-based suppliers has led to big changes in the MIS world, estimated to be worth about £200 million. SIMS, which has long dominated the sector, has seen its market share shrink to 34 per cent, down from 74 per cent in 2021, according to analysis by the Bring More Data blog.
It has been eclipsed by Arbor (39 per cent), while rival Bromcom’s share now sits at 16 per cent.
Legal turf war
The changing hand in suppliers has led to high-profile legal disputes. United Learning Trust, England’s biggest trust, lost a high court battle with Bromcom in 2023 after a judge ruled the business should have won a £2 million MIS contract.
This was despite ministers handing ULT £1 million to challenge Bromcom as it tried to protect the wider academy sector, amid claims the firm had “a history of litigiousness”, trust correspondence with the government said.
Ali Guryel, Bromcom’s executive chair, previously said the “litigious” comment was “unfair and defamatory”.
Lift Schools, previously called Academies Enterprise Trust, settled a three-year legal battle with Bromcom just over 12 months ago.
The Competition and Markets Authority was pulled into a dispute last year after SIMS announced its customers would be breaching their contracts if they sent copies of their databases to third parties.
Firms welcome change
Guryel said the government’s plans for a new framework was a “vital step forward”. His company “remain[s] committed to supporting a transparent, competitive, and user-focused marketplace that empowers schools to make informed decisions without fear of legal entanglements or restrictive contracts”.
James Weatherill, of Arbor, said his company “has always recommended frameworks as they ensure compliance and value for money, so we support any initiative that simplifies the way schools buy … and ultimately helps [them] choose the system that is right”.
However, ParentPay Group chief executive Lewis Alcraft, whose organisation owns SIMS, warned: “It’s vital that the framework protects genuine choice, not only in suppliers, but in how schools access and procure their systems.”
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