We asked MIS suppliers if they’re adding or launching any new functionality in preparation for the beginning of the new academic year in September.
This is what they told us.
As always, we ask all suppliers the same questions and we list MIS supplier responses that we have received in strict alphabetical order.
If you’d like more information about any of the providers listed below, please see: https://www.whichmis.com/your-mis-in-your-own-words/
We’ve developed a flexible scheduling system tailored for Alternative Provisions and specialist settings.
It allows staff to build personalised 1:1 timetables with varied lesson durations, whether 15 minutes or 40, and schedule them with ease using a simple drag-and-drop interface. All key information, such as behaviour, lesson objectives, assessments, and supporting documents, is recorded in one place.
The system automatically totals the number of minutes each pupil has received, giving a clear view of actual teaching time.
We’ve also introduced AI-powered voice-to-text reporting.
Staff can now speak their notes, and our system intelligently removes filler words, filters inappropriate language, and accurately categorises content into the relevant report sections.
This dramatically reduces time spent typing and editing, freeing up staff to focus on teaching.
We find that our customers don’t always like new features or significant changes to our solutions at the start of term, particularly in September as it’s such a hectic and stressful time of year.
We tend to put out new features after school starts in September, but we do have many planned for the months leading up to the new academic year and following its start.
It is worth noting, however, that these improvements to the MIS’ functionality are subject to change.
Pre-September, users can expect a number of changes including several improvements to our parent app, MyChildAtSchool, such as parents being able to log absences via the app, a new dashboard for SEND students which will include information on Needs, Provisions, Events, and Categories, and a whole host of improvements to the MIS’ Power BI capabilities which will include a new Finance and Behaviour dashboard.
We’re revamping our Attendance and Behaviour dashboards, too, and with more Welsh schools joining Bromcom, we’re making changes specifically for their needs, such as adapting Performance dashboards to showcase student progress across key stages in Wales.
From October onwards, MIS users can anticipate further upgrades to its wide-ranging capabilities including enhanced Performance dashboards which will enable users to compare student performance with national or regional averages and other schools, updates to SEND provision mapping, and enhanced Behaviour Insights with visualisation.
We have a number of items roadmapped for completion and release in time for the new academic year, each one spanning the entire Compass platform as we work to enhance the overall user experience across our suite of modules.
Here’s what’s coming from Compass:
Body Map
A new tool within our Chronicle module, the Body Map allows schools to record restraints and injuries on students, while also enabling staff to add notes and other detailed information to fully capture the incident. This has been a highly requested feature from our Special schools, but it will be a valuable addition for all schools in our customer base.
Canteen
Based on feedback from schools, we’ve been exploring ways to improve the parent-facing experience of our Canteen module. The first wave of improvements will enhance parent ordering, with further updates to the staff workflow coming shortly after. This updated flow will restrict meal orders to one item per day, better aligning with how UK primary schools typically operate. It will also automatically deduct free school meal allowances from order totals to ensure accurate billing for parents.
Seating Plans
While our new Seating Plans feature has already been a huge success, pilot schools have identified areas they’d like us to develop. Upcoming enhancements include:
- The ability to copy seating plans from one room to another – reducing admin time.
- Support for multiple versions of a seating plan in the same room.
- Multi-select functionality to update several seats or students at once – e.g. bulk editing seat orientation, adding Chronicle entries, or communicating with selected students.
- Auto-seating options, allowing staff to assign students based on custom criteria and layout preferences.
- We’re also exploring drag-and-drop seating, which is part of our long-term vision for this feature.
For more information about our Seating Plans feature, here’s our latest blog – Introducing Seating Plans in Compass MIS.
Exams
Our Exams module is already live and in use, but we’re continuing to build out functionality to support Exams Officers during busy periods. Key additions include:
- Direct manipulation of basedata within the platform, allowing Officers to timetable exam components tied to options like History or Religious Studies.
- Enhanced seating and timetabling tools to filter and assign students with access arrangements in bulk, followed by efficient seating of the remaining candidates based on preferred layouts.
Census
We’re introducing improved error messaging and streamlined workflows. While our Census module is already intuitive, we’re adding a new Validation feature. This will let Census Administrators view a digital list of all census-related errors, click to jump directly to the relevant areas, and quickly resolve issues using built-in tools. This feature has been a frequent request during customer demos, and we’re confident it’ll further improve the Census experience for users. For more information about our Census module, here’s our latest blog – Completing the School Census with Compass.
There are plenty more items on our roadmap, and due to the dynamic nature of the business and the ever-changing needs of our customers, this is always evolving, but these are a glimpse into some of the items we have planned.
As part of our SIMS Next Gen innovation programme, we’re launching a range of new cloud-based modules and features to help schools hit the ground running from September.
These updates mark a major step forward in our cloud journey.
From the start of term, teachers will be able to complete all their daily tasks directly in our new cloud MIS — from taking registers and creating seating plans to recording behaviour and accessing key pupil information. Everything is centralised, giving teachers instant access to the insights they need, right at their fingertips.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming:
SIMS Next Gen
Conduct Detentions
A faster, more reliable way to manage detentions
Our new module makes it faster to create detention sessions, automatically assigns pupils based on behaviour events, and removes the manual steps that slow schools down.
Conduct Report Cards
Monitor pupils consistently, with less effort
Staff can create and manage pupil report cards more efficiently with a simple, easy-to-use online system — making it easier to monitor progress, behaviour, and other pastoral scenarios over time in a clear, structured way.
Attendance Management Module
All attendance tasks, together in one place
Our new Attendance Management module significantly reduces the time it takes to search for, add, and edit attendance data, making day-to-day operations more efficient. It’s fast, flexible, and fully configurable to each school’s setup.
Smart Seating Plans (AI-powered)
Create purposeful seating arrangements in seconds
Setting up new classes at the start of a new academic year can be tricky — especially when teachers don’t yet know their pupils.
Smart Seating Plans takes the guesswork out of the process. Using real classroom data like SEND, behaviour, and attainment, teachers can generate seating plans in seconds with the help of AI — creating a more focused, supportive learning environment from day one.
You can find more details of what’s coming in SIMS Next Gen for Primary, Secondary and MATs on our roadmaps
We’re always refining existing functionality, and over the summer holidays, we’ll be reviewing customer feedback in detail to make meaningful improvements that enhance the overall user experience.
Continual Improvement & Future Roadmap
As a new MIS, we’re continuously updating and adding features to improve workflow for a wide range of users.
These enhancements are directly based on feedback from the schools now using the GO 4 Schools MIS as their main management system.
By September, we’ll have integrations in place with both Wonde and Groupcall Xporter. T
his will give schools greater choice and flexibility in using a wide range of third-party products. As a small, specialist EdTech provider, we believe it’s crucial for schools to have choice and to work with specialist products that deliver the best functionality and workflow.
Additionally, we will offer our schools an updated and more powerful reporting system for interrogating and analysing data within the GO 4 Schools MIS and extensions to our API. These will extend the tools already provided by GO 4 Schools modules for real-time analysis of student data.
The GO 4 Schools MIS roadmap also includes a wider range of internal and external communications. This will encompass messages reminding staff to complete registers or supervise detentions, and the scheduling of various communications to parents, students, and staff. An update to our mobile app will follow in the autumn term.
As the weather is heating up, so is HUBmis. We’re having a Hot Hub Summer!
This summer, HUBmis is delivering a host of exciting updates designed to save staff time, improve student support, and give schools greater control and visibility across their systems, all in time for the new academic year.
Wellbeing
In Wellbeing, we’re making it easier than ever to support student welfare. Staff will be able to log a single record for multiple students or quickly replicate similar records, ideal for pastoral teams dealing with group incidents or repeated concerns. It will be possible to automatically assign records to relevant staff based on their role, such as Form Tutor or Head of Year, ensuring the right people are informed from the start. Notifications will also alert staff when they’ve been assigned a new record or when a record they’re linked to is updated. For safeguarding reviews or parental meetings, users will be able to instantly export a PDF of either a single entry or a student’s full wellbeing history. We’re also introducing interactive charts to help visualise records by category and are adding wellbeing data to our External API and ETL warehouse, allowing schools to analyse trends over time!
Cover
In Cover, automation is taking the pressure off busy administrators. Once the update is released, when a staff absence is logged, HUBmis will now identify exactly which lessons will need cover. A filtered list of available staff will be suggested based on their subject specialisms, making it easier to assign cover fairly and effectively. Once assigned, cover teachers will be notified automatically and their calendars updated in real time. The new dashboard view will show all of you day’s cover arrangements at a glance and will produce reports on how often each member of staff has provided or required cover, helping leaders ensure equity and monitor patterns. As with Wellbeing, all absence and cover data is being added to our API and warehouse for deeper insight.
Reporting
Reporting is also getting a summer boost. Our new Google Sheets integration will bring with it the same ease of use and extra data analysis as HUBExcel, allowing users to pull live data from their HUBmis realm directly into spreadsheets. Importantly, role-based permissions ensure that users only ever access the data they’re authorised to see, maintaining compliance and protecting student information.
Onboarding
Finally, for schools onboarding to HUBmis (welcome!), we’re rolling out a number of new in-house migration tools to streamline setup and reduce admin workload. These tools cover common tasks like importing staff positions, shared addresses, sibling relationships, student contact details, and more. We’re also developing ways for schools to copy settings from other HUBmis schools which will be a major time-saver for trusts or groups.
Whether you’re already using HUBmis or exploring new systems, our Hot HUB Summer updates are all about making life easier for educators, while giving leaders the clarity and tools they need to drive improvement. Get in touch at sales@wcbs.co.uk, or sign up to the Hot HUB Summer mailing list here.
- We are adding to our Exams Manager functionality to allow schools to more easily plan exam logistics and share vital information with students, parents, and faculty through our portals.
- Enhancements to Pastoral Care will help schools manage and address group behaviours more effectively, enhancing student accountability and safety.
- We will be launching our custom-branded mobile app to give families easy access to all the information they need on the go.
For the Finance Office we are adding Automatic Revenue Recognition to automatically transfer deferred revenue into earned revenue to ensure accurate and timely revenue reporting.
