International school SIS checklist
A vendor-neutral checklist for evaluating a student information system for IB, British, American, and mixed-curriculum international schools.
International schools evaluate software under time pressure — often after a bad term with fees, a registrar resignation, or a board member asking why peers “have an app.” Checklists beat brochure demos because they force yes/no answers on operations that matter Tuesday morning, not slide aesthetics.
This list is vendor-neutral. Use it when comparing Edument OS, legacy SIS products, or regional ERPs. We link our pages where we ship something concrete; absent a link, assume you should ask any vendor the same question.
Core student record
- Single profile: enrolment history, guardians, documents, medical notes access-controlled
- Multiple guardians with distinct contact channels (email, mobile, WhatsApp)
- Class placement and campus on the record
- Alumni transition without deleting history
- Bulk import/export with validation reports
International schools solution describes how Edument OS models these fields.
Academics and curricula
International schools run operations in the SIS even when curriculum planning lives elsewhere (ManageBac for IB units, for example).
- Attendance codes configurable; exports for local regulators if required
- Exam sessions, subject schemes, marks entry, principal approval
- Report cards PDF batch generation
- Homework/gradebook optional if you use Classroom or Moodle integrations
Compare ManageBac if IB unit planning is the main ask — many schools need both layers.
Fees and finance
- Fee heads, discounts, partial payments, receipts
- Multi-currency display on invoices where needed
- Collection and ageing reports
- Official WhatsApp or email notices with PDF (WhatsApp integration)
Fee collection is often the make-or-break module.
Admissions
- Pipeline stages with ownership
- Website embed forms without replacing your marketing site
- Conversion to enrolled student without retyping names
See admissions pipeline.
Parent and student experience
- Portal for balance, receipts, attendance, results
- Clear boundary vs WhatsApp groups (parent portal vs WhatsApp)
- SSO option for staff/students (Google Workspace SSO)
Multi-campus and groups
- Campus switching in one tenant
- Consolidated reporting with campus filters
- Plan limits on campuses, students, teachers documented upfront
Multi-campus operations and pricing for Edument limits.
Integrations
- WhatsApp Business for transactional notices
- Email with your domain
- Google Classroom or Moodle if LMS sync matters (Classroom comparison)
- API or export if you must feed a BI tool
Security and data protection
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- Role-based access; no shared superuser habit
- Backup/restore tested, not only promised
- Subprocessor list for GDPR conversations
Data protection checklist and /security.
Migration and vendor viability
- CSV import templates and staging
- Phased migration guidance (migration)
- Trial with realistic demo data
- Transparent pricing without “contact sales for a number” if self-serve matters to you
Compare Fedena, OpenSIS, iSAMS with this same checklist.
Support and training
- Time-zone-aware support for your region
- Documentation staff can search without opening a ticket
- Escalation path during exam or fee peaks
Scoring honestly
Rate each section 1–5 based on observed demo, not promises. Weight fees and student record highest if you are mid-year crisis migrating from spreadsheets (migration guide).
A product that scores 5 on marketing microsites but 2 on fee receipts is the wrong product for most registrars.
Red flags
- Cannot show audit log for mark or balance changes
- Report cards require manual Word merge every term
- WhatsApp “integration” means export CSV to third-party blast tool
- Campus = separate database with manual consolidation
Closing
International schools are not a niche flavour of generic school software — they are multi-currency, multi-time-zone, multi-curriculum operations with expat parent expectations. A checklist keeps demos grounded. Take it to demo conversations, score answers, and decide based on Tuesday morning work, not conference booth coffee.
Choosing a school management system in 2026 complements this list with market context.
Accreditation and inspection visits
Accreditors ask for attendance samples, safeguarding evidence, and financial controls. Your SIS should produce exports without a weekend of manual assembly. Before inspection season, rehearse:
- Random class attendance extract
- Fee waiver audit trail
- Staff list with role history
If those take more than an hour each, note gaps for vendor roadmap or process fix.
Deep dive: fee module questions
Ask vendors to demo these explicitly:
- Partial payment against one invoice with running balance
- Sibling discount without breaking receipt totals
- Credit note applied to next term invoice
- Bulk invoice generation with per-student exceptions
- Official WhatsApp or email notice from the invoice row
If any step exports CSV, mark the section “manual gap” on your scorecard.
Deep dive: exam and results questions
- Subject scheme with multiple components per subject
- Teacher entry lock after HOD approval
- Principal review screen before publish
- PDF batch with per-programme template
- Historical results visible after student alumni transition
Exam workflows lists the stages your demo must cover.
Deep dive: admissions questions
- Public embed on your domain with spam protection
- Stage conversion reporting
- Document upload with virus scanning or size limits
- Offer letter generation (even simple PDF mail merge inside SIS)
Admissions pipeline explains why embeds beat mystery portal URLs.
Post-demo scorecard template
| Section | Weight | Score 1–5 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student record | 20% | ||
| Fees | 25% | ||
| Attendance | 10% | ||
| Exams | 15% | ||
| Admissions | 10% | ||
| Portals & comms | 10% | ||
| Security | 10% |
Weighted totals beat gut feel after the third vendor lunch.
Trial environment discipline
Use trial tenants for destructive experiments — bulk delete, bad imports, permission tests — not production. Label trial data clearly so a tired registrar never sends a WhatsApp notice from demo students. After purchase, migrate playbooks to production with fresh validation.
Final advice
Bring a working registrar and bursar to demos — not only IT. Buy for the Tuesday after go-live, when the inbox is full and the board wants numbers. Everything else is slide decoration.
Summary
International schools need an SIS checklist weighted toward fees, guardians, exams, admissions embeds, multi-campus reporting, WhatsApp-grade parent communication, and defensible data protection — not generic district ERP features. Re-run the scorecard when a vendor releases major updates; “we evaluated them in 2022” is stale in 2026. Score demos, document migration ownership, and reject fake logo walls as substitutes for reference calls in your region. Save scorecards in the board pack so future leaders inherit rationale, not rumours.
