Arbor have announced that they will be discontinuing both ScholarPack and Integris MIS systems in February 2026, giving customers 12 months to decide on a replacement system. All three MIS platforms are part of The Key Group.
In the announcement, Arbor states that they ‘will instead support all schools using ScholarPack and Integris to move to Arbor’. The full announcement can be viewed here.
They state that they are doing this because they believe that Arbor is a better MIS for schools than ScholarPack and Integris, with increased features that schools are looking for.
Arbor appear to be considering this change to MIS by ScholarPack and Integris customers as more of an ‘upgrade’ than any need for a full MIS procurement exercise, stating that customers will be moved to Arbor before February 2026 and that they will move these schools to their ‘Arbor Core’ package at no additional cost.
Whilst this announcement is unlikely to come as a shock to many, it does conflict slightly with the December 2020 announcement when Arbor joined The Key Group, where Arbor stated ‘Don’t worry, Arbor and ScholarPack will continue to be run separately for the foreseeable future, with investment into both platforms so schools can choose the solution that is right for them. There are no current plans to merge platforms, so customers of Arbor and ScholarPack will see increased investment into both systems. Schools will be able to choose between ScholarPack’s market-leading MIS for primary schools, or Arbor’s MIS that works across primary, secondary, specials and MATs, with no pressure to switch’. The full announcement can be viewed here.
According to the Autumn 2024 census data for schools in England, which is the latest made available, Arbor had 6,562 schools with ScholarPack having 1,334 and Integris 1,548. If all now move to Arbor, that would give them a total of 9,444 schools across England – and this number is surely going to increase once the data from the January 2025 census is released, almost certainly moving Arbor to a position of being the largest MIS provider across schools in England.
Interestingly, in September 2024, The Key Group published their 2024 Annual Analysis Report, where they asked all schools in England to tell them what they really think about their MIS, receiving over 1,000 responses.
In response to the question “How satisfied are you with your MIS?”, where respondents scored their satisfaction from 1 (Extremely dissatisfied) to 10 (Extremely satisfied), Arbor received 81% at 7 or higher, with ScholarPack securing exactly the same 81%, and Integris receiving 71% at 7 or higher.
These scores were all significantly higher than those received by other MIS providers.
In the same annual survey, ScholarPack scored 82% on functionality compared to 84% for Arbor so, again, excellent scores with very little difference here, which begs the question ‘Why do they need to discontinue two MIS platforms that seem so well-liked by their users?’
With The Key Group now holding a significant market share of the MIS sector, likely to be the dominant provider following the latest census, there are bound to be questions around this transitioning of customers from ScholarPack and Integris without the schools going through a full MIS procurement process.
Best practice guidance suggests that schools should regularly review their MIS system to ensure it meets their requirements. Where they decide they need to change their MIS, it is suggested that do so through a compliant procurement process such as using a framework etc.
However, since all three of the MIS systems being discussed here are owned by the same organisation, The Key Group, would this be seen as a new MIS procurement or merely an upgrade from one product to one with more functionality, in much the same way a school might decide to upgrade a product from one package to a higher one? Only the legal profession can answer that.
We are also sure that there will be concerns around competition rules and whether this dominant position and the potential to further consolidate their market share might be construed as limiting competition by forcing these schools to move to Arbor. Again, a question for the legal profession.
At WhichMIS, we remain agnostic and do not favour any particular MIS provider. We do not express our own views here but would be keen to hear from those of you in schools or Trusts, especially if you are currently using ScholarPack or Integris as your MIS.
How do view this move to discontinue ScholarPack and Integris and move those schools to Arbor?
Do you feel this is a fair process to take, or should all these schools undertake a procurement process to select their new MIS?
Please let us have your thoughts via email to whichmis@thewisdompartnership.com
