Education Operations Software | Universities, Colleges and Schools
Manage operations across your educational estate with software built specifically for education by the Director of Sport at the University of Reading. OpsPal helps universities, colleges, schools, and multi-academy trusts (MATs) manage facilities, ensure safeguarding compliance, track staff qualifications, maintain premises’ safety, and demonstrate governance to Ofsted, governors, and trustees—all while supporting educational excellence through efficient operations. See how Stirling University are using OpsPal
Built for education, trusted by leading institutions
OpsPal was created by the Director of Sport at the University of Reading because existing systems couldn’t manage the complexity of educational operations — sports facilities, academic buildings, residential accommodation, catering operations, estates maintenance and student services across campus.
Today, leading UK universities, colleges, schools and multi-academy trusts use OpsPal to manage operations that support educational delivery. From Russell Group universities managing extensive estates to primary schools ensuring playground safety, the system adapts to educational institutions of all sizes and types.
Educational Operations Software in Universities and higher education
Manage complex multi-site estates, including sports centres, academic buildings, student accommodation, catering facilities, laboratories, libraries and specialist facilities. Track facilities maintenance, compliance obligations, staff qualifications and health and safety across diverse operational environments. Support student experience through well-maintained facilities whilst demonstrating governance to university leadership and regulatory bodies.
Colleges and further education
Coordinate operations across teaching facilities, workshops, sports areas, student services and estates. Ensure safeguarding compliance, track staff and contractor qualifications, manage premises safety and demonstrate governance to college governors and education inspectors. Balance operational efficiency with educational quality in resource-constrained environments.
Schools and multi-academy trusts
Maintain safe premises for pupils, track safeguarding requirements, manage site staff and contractor coordination, ensure compliance with DfE guidance and demonstrate governance to school governors, trustees and Ofsted. MATs gain visibility across all schools in the trust, standardising best practice whilst accommodating site-specific requirements.
Safeguarding and compliance for educational environments
Educational settings carry unique safeguarding responsibilities and regulatory compliance requirements. OpsPal provides the systems and audit trails demonstrating systematic safeguarding and compliance management.
Single Central Record (SCR) support
Track essential staff information contributing to your Single Central Record — DBS checks, identity verification, qualifications, prohibition from teaching checks, overseas checks and right to work documentation. Automated reminders ensure DBS renewals don’t lapse. Link safeguarding training to staff records, proving everyone working with children or vulnerable students has current safeguarding knowledge.
Site safety and premises compliance
Educational premises require extensive compliance tracking — fire safety inspections, emergency lighting tests, legionella monitoring, gas safety checks, electrical testing, playground inspections, PE equipment examinations, asbestos management and building condition surveys. Schedule all inspections according to DfE and HSE requirements. Track completion with audit trails showing systematic premises management to governors and inspectors.
Contractor management and vetting
Contractors working on educational premises require appropriate checks and supervision. Track contractor DBS status, induction completion, site-specific briefings and supervision requirements. Ensure contractors understand safeguarding responsibilities and site safety rules before accessing premises where children or students are present.
Risk assessments for educational activities
Manage risk assessments for educational visits, sports activities, science practical work, DT workshops, drama productions, outdoor education and routine premises activities. Link assessments to activity delivery, ensuring staff refer to risk assessments when planning and supervising educational experiences. Update assessments when circumstances change and communicate revisions to relevant staff instantly.
Ofsted and inspection readiness
Demonstrate to Ofsted or education inspectors that you manage safeguarding, health and safety and premises systematically. Generate reports showing policy distribution, staff training completion, risk assessment coverage, incident investigation and premises compliance. Prove effective governance rather than scrambling to compile evidence when inspection is announced.
Support teaching staff and site teams efficiently
Educational institutions employ diverse workforces — teaching staff, support staff, site teams, catering staff, sports coaches, technicians and cleaners. Each group has different operational needs, training requirements and access to information.
Empowering site and facilities teams
Caretakers, site managers and facilities staff manage complex premises with limited resources. Digital checklists for opening/closing procedures, daily safety checks, maintenance routines and cleaning schedules ensure consistency regardless of which team member is on duty. Mobile access means site staff complete tasks and report issues in real-time without returning to offices for paperwork.
Problem reporting captures maintenance issues, safety concerns and defects immediately. Site teams photograph problems, add location information and assign urgency. This ensures nothing is forgotten and creates accountability for resolution. Governors and senior leadership see maintenance backlogs and problem resolution rates across the estate.
Supporting teaching staff with operational information
Teachers focus on education, not operational management. OpsPal ensures teaching staff access the operational information they need without administrative burden — risk assessments for educational visits, equipment usage procedures, incident reporting processes and emergency procedures are available on any device when needed.
When teaching staff identify problems (broken equipment, safety hazards, maintenance issues), they report concerns in seconds. Site teams receive notifications and take action, closing the loop so teaching staff know their concerns are addressed.
Standardising procedures and best practice
Educational institutions benefit from proven procedures developed through experience. Digital procedure management shares best practice across departments or schools in a MAT. When one school develops excellent practice for managing educational visits, playground supervision or parent communication, roll out improvements across the trust instantly.
Heads of department ensure subject-specific procedures are current and accessible — science practical safety, DT workshop rules, PE equipment protocols, art materials handling. Update procedures in response to incidents, regulatory changes or improvement initiatives. Track which staff have read updated procedures, ensuring changes are communicated effectively.
Governance and accountability for educational leadership
Governors, trustees and senior leadership carry accountability for operational management supporting educational delivery. OpsPal provides the visibility and evidence educational governance requires.
Governor and trustee oversight
Governors and trustees need assurance that premises are safe, safeguarding is robust, compliance is maintained and operational resources are used efficiently. Dashboards show health and safety performance, premises compliance status, safeguarding training completion and maintenance backlogs across the estate. Generate reports for governing body meetings without lengthy preparation time.
Audit trails demonstrate systematic operational management rather than reactive responses to problems. When governors ask about specific incidents, compliance areas or operational decisions, produce complete evidence immediately. This transparency supports governance accountability and informed decision-making.
Multi-academy trust (MAT) oversight
MAT central teams need visibility across all schools in the trust. Compare operational performance, identify schools needing support, and share best practice across the MAT. Standardise policies, procedures and training whilst accommodating site-specific requirements. Track compliance obligations across all schools, ensuring no location has gaps that create trust-wide risk.
Location-based data shows which schools operate efficiently and which consume disproportionate resources or generate persistent problems. Use this intelligence for strategic decisions about facilities investment, staffing allocation or operational improvement initiatives.
Self-evaluation and improvement planning
Educational institutions continuously self-evaluate and improve. Track action plans from self-evaluation, inspection recommendations or strategic initiatives. Assign improvement actions to owners, monitor progress and evidence completion. Link operational improvements to educational outcomes and student experience enhancements.
Professional development tracking supports staff capability building. Record training attendance, qualifications gained and competency development. Demonstrate staff development investment to governors, inspectors and staff themselves. Link training to improved operational performance and incident reduction.
Efficient operations supporting educational excellence
Well-managed operations create the environment where education flourishes. When premises are safe, maintained and compliant, when staff are qualified and supported, and when problems are resolved promptly, teaching and learning benefit. OpsPal enables efficient operational management so leadership focus remains on educational quality, student outcomes and institutional improvement.
