Schools have an abundance of information on their staff, pupils and operations. In fact, in theory, they already have all the data they need to tackle the growing complexity of requirements and challenges they face.
But the problem we regularly hear from school and trust leaders is that this data is spread across separate systems that aren’t connected.
Consequently, staff have to spend more time, which they generally don’t have, making connections themselves and identifying any warning signals that require action. By the time they’ve manually consolidated the data, the reality of what it’s showing might have already changed, and interventions or decisions take place too late.
For many schools, teams do have detailed information around their direct area of responsibility. A SENDCO, for example, can access comprehensive pathway data for pupils on the SEND register. Administrative staff can see the curriculum priorities for pupils and staff for timetabling. The CFO and HR teams can see a detailed financial picture of operations and how staff sit within this.
Yet this data remains siloed in these functions. The result of this fragmentation, this lack of connectivity, is that gaining a coherent understanding of what’s happening across a school, its staff, pupils and operations, is nigh on impossible. And this means leaders are missing out on a host of meaningful insights that enable them to take effective, targeted action and data-driven decisions.
Ultimately, it’s through making connections between all of these data points that schools can improve outcomes across the board.
To deal with the myriad of pressures schools face, from retaining staff to supporting SEND pupils, one answer has been to use more technology. In August 2024, for example, the DfE put aside £4m in funding to accelerate the development of AI tools for teachers to help with their workload.
These can be valuable tools. But the success of their use still depends on the data foundations and connectivity that underscores a school’s tech stack. Without this, more systems and more data can lead to even greater fragmentation and time spent on manual interventions. So, while the granular detail is there, the wider, connected picture actually becomes blurrier.
How outcomes suffer from a lack of connectivity
What exactly is the impact of not connecting data?
For one, a fragmented picture can cause a variety of admin headaches. But its impact extends far beyond the office: it can have severe consequences throughout the school. Warning signs, from pupil outcomes to staff burnout, might go unnoticed, priorities, such as investment and budgets, can become misaligned, and key resources can go wasted.
It’s a complex web of connected factors. Pupil outcomes are directly linked to staff retention and wellbeing. Staff retention and wellbeing is linked to their workload and behaviour management and support. And staff and pupil outcomes depend on the wider community, operational efficiency and financial health of the trust or school.
The gap between having data and being able to use it is what we call the connected view. It’s a challenge many MATs and schools are dealing with – and it has wide-ranging effects. It can make the difference between how well schools can recruit and retain great teachers, their ability to spot any particular student needs and intervene early, and the insight to deliver overall operational excellence.
For all the investment made into technology, the lack of a connected view stops schools from truly achieving improved outcomes for their staff and pupils.
Take teacher recruitment and retention, one of the foremost challenges schools face. It’s a strategic priority for almost every leader. Recruitment and retention can be treated as separate issues, but they are actually underpinned by the same factors: how well a school retains teachers impacts how well they can recruit, and vice versa. And the ability for a school to find, recruit and then retain staff is directly linked to how well its pupils do, how well the school is perceived and funded, and how stably it runs operationally.
Often, it’s the operational rather than the financial reasons that turn teachers away from the profession. It might be down to workload and stress, or the burden of having to grapple with disjointed systems. These issues can all emerge from the lack of a connected view.
But what if leaders had one view on attracting, hiring, onboarding, developing and retaining teachers? The insight to see where talent comes from, any issues with development or training, and who might be at risk of leaving long before they hand in their notice?
To do this, they need to overcome the gap between information and action.
Connecting the data (that already exists)
By connecting technology into a central platform, schools can reduce duplication, manual tasks, and fragmented handovers, helping leaders and teachers focus less on reconciling systems and more on supporting pupils and colleagues.
Immediately, there’s no need for staff to enter into various spreadsheets and systems to gather the necessary data and then move it into another spreadsheet, or spend days requesting the data they need from another department.
Instead, key information from every part of a school’s operation – timetabling, staffing and retention, behaviour management, HR, SEND, safeguarding, finance, and more – is brought into the same place. Teams and staff can still access specific data insights for their function. But they can now also see correlations between different departments and how a change in one area could impact another, or identify a potential safeguarding issue, for example, with a pupil earlier.
Instead of trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle, leaders have one view of every staff member’s journey, every pupil’s journey, and the school’s live operational picture presented to them. Decisions are guided by deeper insights and leaders can subsequently deliver more impact with how they use their time, spend their money and allocate resources.
Above all, when data provides timely, actionable insight and context to leaders, it shifts from a reactive reporting device to a strategic driver for improving outcomes. And the more this connected data builds, the better leaders can see what is happening across their school, enabling them to take action earlier and direct their attention where it matters most.
Why connectivity underpins future developments
In the years ahead, there are a range of trends and changes that will make this connectivity even more important. Generally speaking, from falling pupil rolls to funding challenges, the more real-time, connected insight leaders have, the more equipped they’ll be to adapt to these evolving trends. And for MATs, the extra benefit of connecting data is that these insights can span every school in the trust. Better visibility also provides better security and transparency around how data is handled and secured.
The government has also just proposed new SEND reforms, expected to take effect from 2029. If leaders can access an overview of how support is delivered across their school, they can track interventions and evidence impact. They can also take stock of their current provisions and what they need to do to prepare for the more structured and tiered approach to SEND that’s been proposed by the government.
Then there’s the push by the DfE for schools to use AI. Again, connectivity is crucial. A connected tech infrastructure represents a fundamentally different proposition to bolting on AI on top of separate systems – the value gain in the quality of insights leaders can access will be significant.
A large part of this push has been to use more tools in the classroom. While this can be beneficial, why not connect the technology behind the scenes to enable more time for effective teaching, instead of simply turning to more tools as a solution?
This points to the larger problem – and solution – in all this. Schools, MATs, and school groups aren’t impacted by not having the technology or insight to drive change. If anything, they have too many tools. What they need is to make more effective and faster decisions with the information they already have – and that's why connecting their data and their systems should be a critical priority.
With this, they can run schools more efficiently, deliver better outcomes for pupils and staff alike, and achieve greater impact at scale.
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