The UK’s most popular MIS, now for Independent Schools
For the first time, Arbor MIS is coming to Independent Schools. Take action from your data, automate entire workflows, and deliver a seamless parent experience – all from one system.
Say goodbye to fragmented systems
With all your data in one place, Arbor makes it easy to align information across your school. Arbor’s modules, like Attendance and Communications, talk to each other – so you get the complete picture of every student without needing to look in multiple places. No more wasting time switching between disconnected systems, spreadsheets, and paper.
End-to-end fees and billing, part of your MIS for the first time
Arbor is the only MIS that lets you manage your fees and billing with a built-in payments system that works hand-in-hand with your student data and communication tools. No need to import third party data, and just one system to run reports from.
Finally, give parents a seamless experience
Don’t let your parents bear the brunt of countless systems. With the Arbor Parent App, parents log into just one place for tasks. Book a club or trip in seconds, read school messages, or make ad-hoc purchases via Apple and Google Pay – it’s all at their fingertips.
Why schools choose Arbor
117+
minutes saved per staff member per week
2.5
third party systems eliminated on average
13,000
state schools using Arbor
92%
agree Arbor has transformed the way they work
Arbor Workflows is here
Turn every day manual processes into automatic actions which Arbor runs for you. Let Arbor run the right tasks, at the right time.
Ready-made Workflows for Independent Schools
- Student admissions
- Complaints
- Policy sign off
- Staff onboarding
- Capital approvals
- New academic year checklist
- Subject Access Requests
“We’re saving time, we’re joining up our processes. Jobs that I allocated an hour to in our old cloud MIS are taking me minutes in Arbor – we’re no longer held back by our MIS”
David Pendlebury
Assistant Principal, Hinchingbrooke School
“When we met Arbor, you could just tell this was a different way of doing things. There was a degree of ambition that matched what we wanted to do for our school.”
Martyn Essery
Deputy Headteacher, The Reach Free School
“There was relief from staff when [Arbor] was implemented and staff could see what they could do. There’s this feeling like the sky’s the limit for us now.”
Lynette Clapham
Headteacher, Rawdon St. Peter’s CofE Primary School
“We love it! There is nothing more to say – it’s great!”
Claire Lindsay
Former Administrator, Kettering Park Infant Academy
“What is most amazing is the customer service for school staff. In less than a year, I went from never having used a school MIS to overseeing all things Arbor for our school.”
Mark Ellis
Data and Exams Manager, Goresbrook School
“It’s been one big huge win! Since we moved from our old MIS, we have never looked back.”
Damon Murphy
IT Lead, Plantation Primary School
Switch with confidence
We’ve migrated over 13,000 schools from legacy, server-based systems to the cloud, more than any other MIS.
We know your onboarding involves more than moving data, so we partner with you to understand your school inside and out.
Hands-on onboarding
A decade of moving schools to a new MIS. We set you up for the long run.
Top-rated support and training
Fast, friendly support online, by phone, or in person.
Regular updates you shape
We listen closely and respond to what you tell us.
Be part of something bigger
Arbor HQ, our online customer community, and ArborFest, our annual conference.
Work in ways you never could before
See the data that matters, when you need it
All your key student and school performance data, in simple, at-a-glance dashboards, integrated with tools like Excel, PowerBI and Google Data Studio. Tell the full story of your school, with quick to create, in-depth templated reports designed by sector experts and powered by AI.
AI and workflows that take admin off your hands
Arbor is the only MIS with built-in AI tools and workflows that automate routine tasks, take whole processes off your hands, and answer questions instantly. Built into the heart of your MIS with Ask Arbor, so your data stays as secure and permissioned as ever.
Features
Explore Features
Attendance
Lightning-fast digital registers – no more paper
Fees and Billing
End-to-end fees, billing and payments, all from the same system
Admissions
Manage the full applicant pipeline from enquiry to enrolment
Parent App
Communicate with parents on the go, and take payments
Payments
Online and offline payments for meals, clubs and trips and manage your school shop
My Classroom
Create seating plans and manage your class
Meals, clubs and trips
Easily schedule activities and link to consents and payments
Communications
Send and receive SMS and email, with a fully searchable inbox and outbox
Calendar
School, staff and pupil calendars
Census
Complete the SLASC and ISC quickly without repeated resubmissions
Report Builder
Build reports using any data point in Arbor, run them on a schedule
BI tool integrations
Connect your Arbor data to your BI tool and view dashboards within your MIS
Assessments
Track your pupils’ progress through school
Document Manager
One central place to view, search, filter, and bulk manage documents
Live link to Excel
Link all your data to Excel via Live Feed for seamless custom reporting
Behaviour
Record, reward and report on behaviour and manage detentions
Safeguarding
Securely permissioned access to child protection data
Student App
Give students access to their day-to-day info
Arbor Workflows
Automate your school’s processes
Drag-and-drop workflow builder
See and assign tasks, like checklists or approvals
Send reminders and see where processes are getting held up
Collect data in custom forms
Ready-to-go workflow templates
Arbor AI
Ask Arbor, your collaborator and assistant
Create an instant student summary
Draft an email, letter, or SMS
Suggest a formula
Auto Absence management (£)
74%
agree Arbor has improved their working life
We’re in good company – Arbor MIS connects with your essential tools and services
Use our built-in features, or integrate easily with the apps you already rely on.
Our packages
Choose the right fit for your Independent School from one of our three packages:
Core
Our best-of-breed basics
Our best-of-breed basics:
- Attendance
- Applicants
- Behaviour
- Census
- Custom Reports
- Clubs & Trips
- Staff Cover
- Student and Staff profiles
- Emails and SMS
- ✨ Standard Arbor AI features including Ask Arbor
Arbor Workflows features
- Two-step workflows
- Update Arbor MIS
- Workflow run manager
- Template library
Comms
Everything in Core, plus:
All Core features, plus:
- Fees and Billing
- Payments
- Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Parent App
- Student App
- School Shop
- ✨ Higher Arbor AI Monthly Free Allowance
Arbor Workflows features
- Five-step workflows
- Asset library
- Custom roles
- Forms
- Tasks
- Workflow followers
Perform
Everything in Core and Comms, plus:
All Comms features, plus:
- Admissions
- Assignments
- My Classroom
- Staff Development
- Medical Tracker
- BI Viewer
- ✨ Highest Arbor AI Monthly Free Allowance
Arbor Workflows features
- Multi-step workflows
- Conditional logic
- Bulk triggers
- Checklists
- Filtered views
- Folders and permissions
- Workflow managers
Choose a better way to work
We’re inviting independent schools to join our pilot programme. Register your interest and we’ll be in touch.