iSAMS grr...

[River]

So we have been an iSAMS school for sometime, and it seems to me that it is no longer fit for purpose. They keep promising changes (the mythical Curriculum Manager) that then don't happen, other parts of the system are woefully neglected and they keep wanting to charge for new modules at extortionate prices. And now we finally have the promised update to Exam Access Arrangements which does not appear to include an easy way for teaching staff to see which pupils in their class will need help in exams.

Is anyone else using iSAMS and feeling the need to change? Has anyone switched to a different MIS - if so which one?

 

Or feel free to join in my anti-iSAMS rant!!

[2ilent8cho]

We are still happy with iSAMS, but a few areas feel like they have been left to rot such as the built in SMS system. We have Arbour and iSAMS in our Trust still prefer iSAMS, and no way would we want SIMS back. I think that since IRIS bought them it's not been the same, but it's still a decent product. 

[TechMonkey]

We are with iSAMS, I have been frustrated by iSAMS lack of innovation and development.  I would say hold fast though as I feel things are turning a corner.  I think a lot of the problems, that they can't really say, is the code base is from early internet, and changing it is a big task. Also, decisions from the very first version are coming back to bite them, just look at the contacts system and how hard that has been to update and change. At the time it was fantastic and revolutionary but now it is restrictive and holds the system back. With the investment from IRIS that seems to be changing.  The other issue iSAMS has is a want to let us know things are changing and what is coming but then things hit a technical or political bump that couldn't have been expected.

 

I spent a bit of time at BETT with one of their specialists and to see their enthusiasm for things that are coming was really wonderful, as well as their honesty about issues we were having. I do think this is one of those things that comes under the heading the grass isn't always greener, just a different shade.

 

Can I ask, do you write SSRS reports? I do think iSAMS is a system that really benefits from someone filling gaps with their own tweaks and reports. Recently a teacher was venting that they found it hard to mark homework as it was nigh on impossible to look at what pupils were in their class without keeping a separate class register, as iSAMS had no easy view for a class. I was astonished and was determined to prove them wrong. And they were right.  So, I knocked up a janky SSRS report to show them the register for a single class for a chosen date range. The teacher was ecstatic and told everyone about it, and the staff are happier and less inclined to keep a mark book now. Such a little thing but it has made their workflow a lot better.

[APMerry]

I don't mind isams, but there are some features it really lacks. There's a post on their ideas portal from 15 years ago asking for a way to link the calendar with outlook or your phone. Socs calendar seems to be the only way to do this, which is another paid solution. They've never even responded to the idea.

 

We're about to be pushed onto their new cloud parent portal, which admittedly looks and feels much better than the old one. But I've logged 3 tickets this week already about basic features it has that just don't work.

 

Nearly everyone seems to have something to moan about their MIS though, so I'm not sure there's a better one.

[wenikh]

On 12/02/2026 at 10:29, River said:

So we have been an iSAMS school for sometime, and it seems to me that it is no longer fit for purpose. They keep promising changes (the mythical Curriculum Manager) that then don't happen, other parts of the system are woefully neglected and they keep wanting to charge for new modules at extortionate prices. And now we finally have the promised update to Exam Access Arrangements which does not appear to include an easy way for teaching staff to see which pupils in their class will need help in exams.

Is anyone else using iSAMS and feeling the need to change? Has anyone switched to a different MIS - if so which one?

 

Or feel free to join in my anti-iSAMS rant!!

 

Has anyone looked into Compass? I’ve heard that they’re becoming more active in the independent school market lately — would be interested to know if anyone has had experience with them.

[River]

1 hour ago, wenikh said:

 

Has anyone looked into Compass? I’ve heard that they’re becoming more active in the independent school market lately — would be interested to know if anyone has had experience with them.

Likewise, I am sure that we will be jumping ship at some point. I know that no MIS will be a perfect fit but currently I am finding iSAMS is becoming less and less of a good fit

[TechMonkey]

Out of interest, what is not fitting any more?  I know there are problems but not fit for purpose is a very strong term to use.

[River]

The activities module has never worked for us, and there does not appear to be any development in that area. We want to customise who some detention/sanction emails go to and are limited in this. I have just spent most of this morning rewriting the new exam access export so that it can run from pupil manager and work for how we need it as the new export does not work as well as the previous version. The inability to save old contact details, and the big one is that our SEN department mostly save the data in SharePoint as they find Student Registers unworkable. I think it doesn't help that most of the development is going towards areas we don't use and don't think we ever will.

It does still have strong points, but we do need to look at other products to see if there is a better fit

[colly72]

I'd take a good look at Veracross. They are relatively new to the UK market but seem to be gaining good traction and are developing at some pace.

[Simcfc73]

I'm going to the iSams conference next week which will be interesting to see what they promise. A colleague went last year which was just a roadmap of promises. I imagine they will push all the modules we haven't got yet.

 

I came from a SIMS school using it for 20+ years which I prefer (sorry) especially with classcharts or Edulink as a nicer frontend. (Been ay my new iSams school for 6 months)

 

I visited Trent 10 years ago (the guys who invented it) and was impressed with iSams but looks almost identical.... and I haven't used PowerBi as I haven't got time to learn it. 

 

I did sit through the Veracross webinar last week... didn't show anything of interest tbh so no idea what it actually does... I'm sure its lovely.

 

Everything's in iSams at present so any move is going to be a big job.

 

 

[Danp]

On 04/03/2026 at 23:03, Simcfc73 said:

I'm going to the iSams conference next week which will be interesting to see what they promise. A colleague went last year which was just a roadmap of promises. I imagine they will push all the modules we haven't got yet.

 

I came from a SIMS school using it for 20+ years which I prefer (sorry) especially with classcharts or Edulink as a nicer frontend. (Been ay my new iSams school for 6 months)

 

I visited Trent 10 years ago (the guys who invented it) and was impressed with iSams but looks almost identical.... and I haven't used PowerBi as I haven't got time to learn it. 

 

I did sit through the Veracross webinar last week... didn't show anything of interest tbh so no idea what it actually does... I'm sure its lovely.

 

Everything's in iSams at present so any move is going to be a big job.

 

 

I was going to go as I have been the last few years, but decided yesterday not to bother. I'm not interested in hearing what might be coming in the future and then having to wait even longer!

 

I saw they released a "fix" last week for a bug I reported to them nearly 7 years ago 🙄

[Simcfc73]

Just got home and it's the greatest MIS ever.... (I may have got swept along with the sales pitches)