HR & payroll
HR and payroll for schools, academies and multi-academy trusts
Cloud-based and specifically designed for the education sector, our school HR software streamlines and centralises HR operations in schools and trusts across the UK.
While our HR solution can be purchased as a standalone tool, schools also have the option to benefit from our managed payroll service or our in-house payroll system. Whether you’re a maintained school, academy or a growing multi-academy trust, our school HR software has something for everyone.
Centralise your employee records
Store all your employee records and documents securely in one online place. Employees with multiple job roles, can be stored against a single record, even if they work in different local authority areas with different conditions and pension arrangements.
Our software ensures you are always compliant, makes reporting and statutory returns easy, and protects all data with high security and automated backups.
Key features of our HR software for education
Sickness and leave tracking
Easily manage sickness and leave with our school HR software. With Bradford Factor or your own sickness triggers automatically calculated for you, our HR system helps you monitor and reduce absence in your school or trust.
Appraisals and evaluations
Store information about meetings and reviews with employees, and record the meeting type, date, description, performance and outcome. Set employee objectives for follow-up meetings and add training requirements and expectations. Schools are also able to set notifications for automated meeting reminders.
Employee self-service
Employee self-service allows your staff to view their own payslips and amend their personal details. Employees have autonomy to view and acknowledge policies and documents, request annual leave, claim expenses and overtime, as well as log training and timesheets, all from their desktop or mobile device to reduce staff admin centrally.
Comprehensive reporting
With a suite of over 100 reports including absence, turnover, headcount, establishment and more, schools can drill down and report on important staffing information. Reports can be scheduled and automatically emailed to specific people, while bespoke dashboards offer a quick snapshot overview of the key data affecting your school.
Our payroll solutions for schools and academies
Managed payroll services for the education sector
With a 99.9% accuracy rating and a 100% pass mark from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals’ Payroll Assurance Scheme, your payroll needs couldn’t be in safer hands.
While your school or trust manages its employees through Access Education People, your dedicated payroll executive will look after everything from sending BACS, producing electronic pay slips, meeting RTI obligations, managing your pension processing and much more.
In-house payroll software for the education sector
Do you have a dedicated payroll team and are looking to bring all your processes in-house?
Our payroll software can be purchased both as a stand-alone system, or in conjunction with Access Education People to help schools and trusts manage their payroll and pension obligations internally.
Integrated HR & payroll software
Our school HR & payroll software seamlessly links with our school budgeting software, Access Education Budgets. This integration ensures any updates made in your HR system are then updated in your school budgeting software eliminating the need for duplication of entry and ensuring one version of the truth
Launched through, Access Workspace, securely access our HR software for schools, anytime, anywhere.
Streamline your processes with our HR & payroll software for schools
Why customers love our HR & payroll software
HR & payroll resources
Building a business case for a school HR and payroll system
This guide takes you through:
- Why do you need a business case?
- Why invest now?
- Why choose our HR & payroll software?
Your guide to payroll for schools, academies and MATs
This guide takes you through:
- Why do you need a business case?
- Why invest now?
- Why choose our HR & payroll software?
Online ROI calculator
Calculate the return on investment (ROI) that HR software for your school can provide.
HR providers for schools, academies and MATs: Should you switch, and when?
This guide covers:
- Signs to consider changing your HR provider
- How to choose the right HR provider
- When to switch & planning for your transition
- Measuring HR success following your transition to new a provider
The cost of payroll software
This guide covers:
- Understanding the cost of payroll software
- Comparing the costs of different payroll software
- Maximising your payroll software investment
- How our software can help
How a school payroll system can help your organisation
This guide covers:
- The benefits of school payroll system
- The importance of choosing the right school payroll system
- Comparing school payroll providers
- Why you should consider Access Payroll for your needs
Benefits of having your payroll work with your HR system
This guide covers:
- How to streamline your school operations
- How to choose the right HR & payroll software
- Future-proofing your HR& payroll systems
- How our software can help
Teacher retention: Build your education tech stack
Whether you’re grappling with retaining your teachers, overall efficiency or seeking a more streamlined solution to reduce the workload on your staff, this infographic will illustrate how our education tech stack can transform your institution.
Modules of our school HR software
Recruitment
Our recruitment module gives your school its own branded careers microsite, allowing schools to manage candidates from start to finish through the recruitment process.
From creating job vacancies to producing bespoke application forms, short-listing candidates to sending automated invites/ rejections for interviews, dispatching online offer letters to setting the successful candidate up as a new member of staff, schools have full visibility and control of the recruitment process.
Screening in education
Access Screening is a Pre and Post Employment screening and compliance platform especially relevant for the education sector.
The cloud-based platform improves visibility and control over your background screening, covering a range of checks such as Right to Work, Enhanced DBS, reference verification and more. Set automatic alerts of imminent DBS expiry dates and benefit from a fully auditable compliance trail.
Learning management solution
Our learning management solution is designed to help you engage your learners, whether at their desk or remotely, support their performance and development, and ensure the health, safety and compliance of your employees and organisation both now and in the future.
Designed to help improve the People Experience and ensure the compliance of your school or trust, our award-winning learning management solution delivers learning your employees want to engage with.
School performance management software FAQs
What is HR and payroll software for schools?
HR and payroll software for schools helps manage the full end-to-end lifecycle of employees within educational institutions and streamlines paying staff salaries. Software should aim to make schools more efficient by automating routine tasks such as logging absence, reporting grievances, onboarding new staff and managing pensions.
Often bundled together, but can be purchased separately, payroll software is used to pay school staff salaries. Integrated with school budgeting software, payroll platforms can ensure there are adequate funds available to pay staff. Payroll software also links with school HR software to make sure the correct amount is being paid to each employee, factoring in any sort of leave or absence automatically. Look out for products which are endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals’ Payroll Assurance Team.
Learn more about payroll for the education sector in our ultimate guide
What is the best school HR and payroll software?
The best school HR and payroll software are dictated by a school or academy trust’s needs. There are numerous platforms on the market, some education-specific, others more general.
Some providers of HR and payroll software for the education sector are MHR, Civica and Every – and of course, Access Education.
Does your school HR system manage school staff absence records?
Access Education HR manages the full end-to-end lifecycle of school staff including absence records. Stored in a central database, records are secure yet easily accessible by the appropriate school staff and software makes it easy to log and report on absence, utilising Bradford factors or any other sickness triggers a school uses.
Is the Access HR software for schools fully cloud-based?
Yes, Access Education software is fully cloud-based. Along with the rest of our school management software, our HR solution can be accessed at any time, from anywhere.
Does Access Education HR system integrate into a managed payroll service or software?
Yes, our HR system works seamlessly with Access Education Payroll software which is managed in-house by school staff. We also offer a managed payroll service where everything is taken care of by Access. We pride ourselves on paying staff accurately and on time with a 99.9%% first time accuracy rating. We also carry a 100% pass mark from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals’ Payroll Assurance Scheme.
What integrations does Access HR software for schools support?
Access Education works with our school budgeting software and our education payroll software for a complete end to end human resources solution that deals with budgeting for new team members through to paying staff salaries. A connection to Salamander MIS means staff sickness, holiday, contact information and more is fed directly into SIMs and needs entering just once – cutting down on administration time.
Does Access Education HR system integrate with schools budgets systems?
Access Education HR integrates with our Access school budgeting software to ensure that any changes in staff pay are automatically reflected in the school budget.
Choose the right solution for your school, academy or multi-academy trust
Continue reading about our HR payroll solutions or browse our other offerings.
HR software
Designed exclusively for educational institutions, our cloud-based HR software optimises and consolidates HR functions in schools, academies multi-academy trusts across the UK.
Payroll solution
Our market-leading integrated HR software integrates seamlessly with our payroll software or service.
Education software created by educators, for educators
The Access Education software suite is purpose-built to address the unique needs and challenges of educational institutions. Created by education experts, it's not just another solution – it's a comprehensive approach to improving the entire educational experience.
We've collaborated closely with educators at every stage of development to ensure our software reflects their insights, needs, and goals. It goes beyond functionality, becoming a strategic ally for schools, MATs, and local authorities.
Our ultimate goal is to empower educators to focus on what truly matters: delivering exceptional learning experiences to their students.
Ready to increase efficiency and cut administrative overhead? Want more time for teaching, mentoring, and inspiring the next generation? Click on our each of our products to find out how they can improve processes within your setting.
