What is a school MIS?
A school MIS (management information system) is the system at the heart of a school’s data: who is on roll, who is in today, who teaches which class, how pupils are doing, and what goes to the DfE each term. PMC People is a school MIS with HR built in, running on your own server.
A school MIS in plain words
Every school keeps records it can’t do without: an admission register, morning and afternoon attendance registers, contacts for every pupil, medical needs, special educational needs, behaviour, timetables and assessment. A school MIS keeps all of these in one place, so each member of staff sees the part they need and the office isn’t copying the same details between spreadsheets.
It is also how a school meets its duties to the Department for Education. Schools in England must keep admission and attendance registers, send the school census each term, and pass a pupil’s records on with a common transfer file (CTF) when they move school. A good school MIS does all of this from the records staff already keep, rather than as extra work.
Well-known school MIS systems in England include SIMS, Arbor and Bromcom. Many schools are now reviewing theirs: to move to something easier to use, to bring HR and pupil data together, or to keep their records on their own server.
What a school MIS does
These are the parts of a school management information system (or MIS for schools), and how PMC People covers each one with its school modules.
Pupil records
Every student’s details, contacts with parental responsibility, medical needs, SEN, free school meals, year groups, forms and houses, with CTFs in and out.
Attendance
Morning and afternoon registers with the DfE codes, an attendance office for reasons and late marks, and reports that pick out persistent and severe absence.
Behaviour and safeguarding
Achievements and incidents with points and detentions, suspensions and exclusions, and a safeguarding log that only the designated safeguarding leads can see.
Timetables and cover
Timetables for every member of staff, student, class and room, lesson registers, and daily cover that already knows who is off.
Assessment and reports
Data drops, markbooks and targets, analysis by subject and student group, and reports to parents.
SEN
The SEN register, one-page profiles, support plans, EHC plan reviews and a provision map of interventions with their time and cost.
Homework and seating plans
Homework set, handed in and marked online, and seating plans that follow seating needs and keep-apart rules.
The school census
The termly census built from your records, checked against the DfE’s own validation rules, with the file ready for COLLECT.
Parents and students
A parent portal for their child’s day, attendance, behaviour, homework and reports, with messages, consent forms and absence reporting. Students sign in too.
Why choose PMC People as your school MIS
PMC People started as an HR system for schools. With the school modules it is a complete school MIS, and that brings some things most school MIS systems can’t offer.
- Staff and pupils in one system
- Staff records, the single central record, recruitment, absence, training and the workforce census sit in the same system as pupils. A teacher off sick appears in cover without being entered again, and the single central record and the workforce census come from the same staff records.
- Your data on your own server
- PMC People runs on a server in your school, your trust or a hosting company you choose. Sensitive details are encrypted, every change is in an audit log, and backups are encrypted and test-restored every week.
- Pay for what you use
- Each school module is a separate add-on. Start with students and attendance, and add behaviour, timetables, assessment, SEN, homework, seating plans or the parent portal when you are ready.
- Built for the DfE’s rules
- The DfE’s attendance codes, persistent and severe absence, CTFs, suspensions and exclusions with the DfE’s reasons, and the school census checked against the DfE’s validation rules.
- Each person sees only their part
- Built-in roles for teachers, tutors, heads of year, the SENCO, the designated safeguarding lead, the data manager, HR and the cover manager. Sensitive details are shown only to the roles that need them.
- Easy to keep up to date
- Updates install with one click, signed by us. Your system backs up first and puts things back by itself if anything goes wrong.
- Works with your other apps
- Staff sign in with their school Microsoft 365 accounts, and the data-sharing module gives the apps you choose the data they need, and only that.
- See it before you buy
- The live demo has a fictional school with every module, and a guided tour that signs you in as different staff and shows each part in turn.
Moving from SIMS to PMC People
Looking for a SIMS alternative? The Move from SIMS module brings your data across from SIMS’s own exports, one step at a time. Each step shows exactly what it will do before anything is saved, and can be run again safely.
Pupils and contacts
Import a whole-school CTF from SIMS: pupils, contacts, parental responsibility, addresses, SEN and free school meals.
Staff, groups and classes
Staff from a SIMS report, then year groups, forms, houses and tutors, classes, and the timetable from your timetabling software.
History
Medical conditions, attendance marks, behaviour incidents, achievements, suspensions and exclusions, and pupil photos.
Check and go live
Every import is in the audit log. Set up assessment and SEN plans in PMC People, then switch over at a time that suits you, such as the start of a term.
What to look for when choosing a school MIS
Whichever school MIS you look at, these are worth asking about:
- Where your data is kept, who can reach it, and how it is backed up and encrypted.
- The DfE returns: the school census, attendance codes and CTFs, done from your records rather than by hand.
- How easy it is for teachers: taking a register, logging behaviour or setting homework should take seconds.
- Staff data: whether HR, the single central record and the workforce census are in the same system or another one to keep in step.
- Moving your data: how your records come across from your current MIS, and what doesn’t.
- The apps you already use: how they get the data they need.
- The cost over time: what is included, and whether you pay for modules you don’t use.
See every part of PMC People on the school modules page and the PMC People page, or try it yourself in the live demo.
School MIS guides
More detail on the parts of a school MIS, and on PMC People as one:
Questions about school MIS systems
What does MIS stand for in a school?
Management information system. It is the system a school uses for its pupil records, attendance, behaviour, timetables, assessment and returns to the DfE. You may also hear it called a school information system or school management system.
Is SIMS a school MIS?
Yes. SIMS is one of the best-known school MIS systems in England. PMC People does the same job, with HR built in, and the Move from SIMS module brings your data across from SIMS’s own exports.
Does a school need an MIS?
Schools in England must keep admission and attendance registers, send the school census each term and pass records on with CTFs. A school MIS is how almost every school does this.
Can PMC People replace our current MIS?
Yes. With the school modules, PMC People covers pupil records, attendance, behaviour and safeguarding, timetables and cover, assessment and reports, SEN, homework, seating plans, the school census and a parent portal. See the school modules for what each one does.
Where is our data kept?
On your own server: in your school, your trust or with a hosting company you choose. It isn’t kept on our servers. The parent portal reaches parents through a small gateway, so your PMC People server stays off the internet.
Can we bring our data from SIMS?
Yes. The Move from SIMS module imports pupils and contacts, staff, groups, classes and timetables, medical conditions, attendance history, behaviour, achievements, exclusions and photos. Assessment marksheets and SEN plans are set up again in PMC People.
How much does it cost?
PMC People is in beta. We’re looking for a beta school to help us finish it, with a free licence during the beta and a reduced price afterwards: become a beta school.
Can we try it first?
Yes. The live demo has a fictional school with every module, and the guided tour shows each part as a different member of staff.
See PMC People as a school MIS
Take the guided tour through a fictional school, or apply to be one of our beta schools.