Administrative burden in schools

In this advice hub, you’ll find help in understanding how administrative burden affects the whole school community, as well as the cost of disconnected processes and how international schools can get the most from their data.

A stressed woman at a sewing machine, trying to sew together a sheet of different icons representing school operations

School admin management in today's international schools

International schools are managing a growing number of platforms and supporting their staff across multiple different systems. This means IT and admin teams are dealing with more support requests and managing multiple vendors, and everything takes longer than it needs to. 

Verifying staff, student or parent information means moving between multiple platforms, each with their own login – ultimately, the systems put in place to reduce workload now often add to it.

Learn more

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The cost of disconnected processes

  • Duplicated work

    A lack of visibility of what’s already been done means multiple teams and staff members end up completing some of the same work, often working less efficiently rather than more.

  • Information silos

    Essential information is kept in separate systems, with no single point of oversight. This means staff can’t always find the information they need at the time they need it, and patterns that would be clear if data was connected are easily missed.

  • Manual data entry

    Staff spend valuable time inputting information manually, which increases the risk of errors and makes it harder to make connections between data points that could be used to suggest improvements.

  • Repeated parent enquiries

    Parents can’t all access the same information and end up asking the same questions – but when questions are all asked to a different member of staff, no-one has total oversight of the enquiries that keep coming up.

The patchwork problem

School management report 2026: How a 'connected view' has become critical to school improvement 

Leading trusts are turning the information they already hold into one connected view and are acting where it matters most. The 2026 report shows what that view makes possible across a whole school and trust. 

Download report

School management report

Learn more

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How administrative burden impacts the whole school

  • Office teams

    Spend more time manually inputting data than on proactive strategic planning. They have very little time and risk making errors that have knock-on impacts elsewhere in the school.

  • Teachers

    Know their time is better spent supporting students’ learning than on manual admin. The more time they spend on admin tasks, the less time they have to focus on improving their students’ outcomes.

  • School leaders

    Spend valuable time on admin that could be spent on strategic decision-making, supporting staff or engaging with parents and students. Many leaders lack oversight of their data in detail, instead relying on other staff to share relevant insights.

  • Parents

    Are already at risk of not engaging. The more admin associated with a parent-teacher meeting or event sign up, the harder it is for parents to engage – and the hardest-to-reach parents remain distant.

What connected school operations look like

A school with connected operations has fewer systems and easier access to information. This means less duplication and shared visibility for the adults who need it, creating a better experience for staff, students and parents. 

Our new report on school management, ‘The patchwork problem’, outlines what connection looks like in practice, exploring what leading international schools are doing and how connected operations help schools retain staff and improve student outcomes. 

Read the report

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How our school admin tools can help

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    Keep everything in one place with a tool that enables you to manage leaders, staff, students and parents in the same system.

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    Tes Assetwhere

    Visualise, map, plan and manage your property and assets to proactively manage risk and get the most out of your school’s resources.

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    Tes Clubs and Events

    Simplify your club and event management with easier sign-ups, centralised record-keeping and automated payment reminders.

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School admin management in Tes Magazine

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FAQs