The right tool to guide you

Barnett Waddingham and ISBA's sophisticated yet simple tool allows school business teams and governors to analyse business performance in comparison to an absolute standard and with other similar schools.

"Bursars and others with responsibility for school finances can often feel they can’t get the analysis needed from existing paper reports. They can be forced to ‘read between the lines’ and make their own estimates."
John Murphie Chief Operating Officer, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association (ISBA)

 

A blue and black logo features the acronym "ISBA" prominently, with the full name "Independent Schools’ Bursars Association" in lighter blue. The background is plain white.

 

Our Data Navigator dashboard provides you with the answers you need to the questions which are asked.

The tool is presented to each school as an individual, online, and interactive dashboard, refreshed annually. It is structured with two distinct levels to ensure that all schools can benefit with access at a point that suits their needs.

 

 

The core dashboard

Available free to all participating schools (or £250 annually for non-participating schools). It includes the features below:

Request a demo
A tablet displays a financial dashboard with graphs and statistics, highlighting income, expenditure, and various financial metrics related to schools. A stylus hovers above the screen for interaction.

 


Built-in benchmarks

Against similar schools (stages, pupil ages, boarding, region, and more) for relevant comparisons and context.

 

Summaries of education and finances

With details across marketing, income and expenditure considering both operational and capital activities, supporting all levels of strategy and decision making.

 

Self-service

Allowing immediate ad-hoc comparisons, deep-dives into the data, and future planning without requiring additional consulting projects.

 

Comprehensive metrics

Reflecting the varied challenges schools face, with rich summaries and ready-to-use tables and charts for effective communications.

A tablet displays an education data dashboard showing statistics for students, teaching staff, costs per teacher, pupil-staff ratios, and filtering options, surrounded by a sleek, modern design.

Benchmarks are compiled from surveys across the ISBA membership and presented with a strict regard and a concern for the commercial sensitivity of the information. The surveys are designed to be easy to complete from readily available information, primarily a subset of the ISC Census data for context with HR and accounting data for details.

Enhanced dashboard

Provides additional data and detail to support governors and executive teams in their decisions around capital and other large or long-term projects. It will be priced around £1,250 annually, with a discount in the first year (final pricing to be confirmed), and will include the features detailed below:

Request a demo
Additional
external data

Integrated into the dashboard, including changing demographics in catchment area for improved future planning.

Detailed
benchmarks

Allowing more control over the selection of schools for comparison, including by location, regional affluence and more, giving extra confidence to investment cases.

Alerts with standard and configurable triggers

For metrics that are out of benchmark or out of budget.

Ability to update
school data at any time

Providing confidence in ongoing delivery against targets.

Integrated planning
and risk management

Including impact of policy decisions and external changes, including pupil numbers, fees, changes in salary, pensions, or benefits and more.

Additional
external data

Integrated into the dashboard, including changing demographics in catchment area for improved future planning.

Detailed
benchmarks

Allowing more control over the selection of schools for comparison, including by location, regional affluence and more, giving extra confidence to investment cases.

Alerts with standard and configurable triggers

For metrics that are out of benchmark or out of budget.

Ability to update
school data at any time

Providing confidence in ongoing delivery against targets.

Integrated planning
and risk management

Including impact of policy decisions and external changes, including pupil numbers, fees, changes in salary, pensions, or benefits and more.

The dashboard covers these key performance indicators:

Present operating considerations

  • SoFA surplus
  • Net and gross fees and income
  • Income breakdown by fees, investments, educational, and other
  • Concessions
  • Total expenditure and breakdown by staff, running costs, capex, marketing, and borrowing
  • Borrowing and reserve levels
  • Staff across teachers, teaching support, and non-teaching staff
  • Cost per teacher and other staff
  • Pupil / teacher ratios
  • Capacity fill
  • Pupils per year, gender, and boarding
A laptop displays a dashboard showing income fees data. Graphs represent financial metrics with comparisons. Filters on the right allow adjustments for region, pupil type, and affluence.
A laptop displays a graphical chart titled "Capital Expenditure 2022 - 2027," illustrating data trends in capital expenditure with various colored lines and shaded areas across fiscal years.

 

 

Long term indicators

  • Capex this year and next four years
  • Capex breakdown by buildings, IT, fixtures, and vehicles
  • Pension enrolments in TPS and equivalents
 

The dashboard lets you select your
own benchmark group across:

  • National vs your region
  • Urban vs rural locations
  • Boys / girls / mixed schools
  • Boarding vs non-boarding schools
  • Affluence of local area
  • Number of pupils
  • Distance from your school
A laptop displays an educational data dashboard. It features statistics such as student and staff numbers, costs, and ratios, complemented by bar graphs for visual representation of data.

Data Navigator

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Our experts

Want to learn more about how Data Navigator can help you? Contact our experts to request a demo.


Allan Engelhardt

Head of Management Decision Analytics

Contact Allan