How a UK Multi‑Academy Trust Streamlined HR and Workforce Census Reporting with People Inc. HR

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CASESTUDY

From basic reporting to full HR management:

How a UK multi‑academy trust modernised HR by replacing a limited legacy system with a flexible HR platform (People Inc. HR) — built to handle workforce census reporting and day‑to‑day HR management.

Delivered by PeopleFirstHR — UK HR software implementation specialists

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 Results at a glance

Consolidated HR management and School Workforce Census reporting in one system

Reduced duplicate data entry “overnight”, saving time and admin effort

Scalable setup designed to support trust growth and multi‑site access

Improved absence tracking via Employee Self Service and automated triggers

Strong reporting capability, including custom report creation

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BACKGROUND

Client snapshot

Organisation: UK secondary school and sixth form college (founding member of a growing multi‑academy trust)

Location: Northern England

Employees: 200+ at the time (expanding to 300+)

Context: Growth from single institution into a multi‑academy trust with plans to expand over several years

Previous system: Legacy solution able to produce Workforce Census reports, but limited for broader HR management

Reason for change: Needed a more complete HR system without exceeding a modest budget

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THE CHALLENGE

A workforce census tool — but not an HR system

As the organisation transitioned into a multi‑academy trust, HR requirements increased quickly: more staff, more sites, and significantly more complexity in reporting and administration.

Their existing system could support School Workforce Census reporting, but offered little in terms of:

• managing day‑to‑day HR data effectively
• tracking absence and patterns across the workforce
• providing staff access to policies and documents
• reporting across multiple sites and expanding headcount
• capturing additional Department for Education (DfE) data requirements in a flexible way

They needed a system that could do both:

1. handle DfE/School Workforce Census reporting, and
2. operate as a practical, scalable HR platform for a growing trust.

Crucially, it also had to be achievable within a modest budget.

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THE SOLUTION

Implement People Inc. HR — flexible HR software built to adapt

People Inc. HR met the organisation’s needs because it combined comprehensive HR capability with the flexibility required in education settings—where reporting structures and data requirements are often specific.

What the organisation needed (and what People Inc. HR delivered)

• Core HR for 300+ teachers and support staff
• Multi‑site access to support a growing trust model
• Absence management via Employee Self Service
• Central document storage for HR documentation and processes (accessible to employees)
• Support for term time plus hours for support staff (including time off in lieu)
• Flexibility to incorporate additional data for DfE reporting
• Powerful reporting to produce School Workforce Census outputs in the correct format
• Automated absence triggers (email notifications when thresholds are reached)
• A comprehensive suite of standard reports plus the ability to create new ones
• Help desk support

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IMPLEMENTATION

Requirements-heavy — but delivered without “breaking the bank”

This project included a long list of requirements, many of them education-specific. The priority was to implement a system that could support both operational HR and statutory reporting—without a long, disruptive rollout.

The HR Director described the selection process as challenging because few systems could meet the full requirement set at any price point. After implementation, feedback highlighted that People Inc. HR not only met requirements, but surpassed expectations—while still remaining within budget.

“We had looked at a number of different systems but found it extremely difficult to find one that could meet all of our requirements to a suitable level at any cost… [it] met these and in many cases surpassed all of our needs within our budget.”

Training and adoption focused on enabling the HR team to manage the entire HR function from a single system, rather than maintaining parallel processes.

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IMPACT

One system for HR + workforce census reporting — and duplicate entry stopped

The most significant operational improvement was the shift to a single source of truth.

By managing HR and School Workforce Census reporting in one place, the HR team reduced duplicated data entry and removed the overhead that comes from maintaining multiple systems for overlapping tasks.

“To be able to manage our HR function and… produce our School Workforce Census reports all from one system has saved us a great deal of time, effort and costs by effectively stopping duplicate data entry overnight.”

As the trust continued to grow after implementation, the scalability of the setup became increasingly important—supporting expansion without requiring a complete process overhaul.

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Why People Inc. HR for schools and academy trusts?

People Inc. HR is designed to serve organisations from small employers through to large, complex environments—making it well suited to education groups that need:

• configurable data structures
• strong reporting
• multi‑site access
• workflow triggers
• an HR system that can scale with headcount and complexity

It also delivers core “out of the box” HR functionality (e.g., Core HR, Employee Self Service), while remaining flexible enough to handle education-specific reporting demands.

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Ready to reduce admin and improve HR reporting across your school or trust?

If you’re managing HR across a school, academy, or multi‑academy trust—and need a system that supports both day‑to‑day HR and School Workforce Census reporting—PeopleFirstHR can help you assess whether People Inc. HR is the right fit.

Talk to PeopleFirstHR today to discuss your requirements.

☎ 0330 223 6180	✉ enquiries@peoplefirsthr.co.uk

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FAQ’s

Can HR software support both School Workforce Census reporting and HR administration?

Yes—if the system is designed with flexible reporting and data capture. The key is ensuring it can output workforce census data in the required format and manage core HR processes in one place.

What features should a multi‑academy trust look for in HR software?

Most trusts benefit from multi‑site access, strong reporting, configurable data fields, absence management (ideally with employee self service), document storage, and the ability to scale as schools join the trust.

Can the system handle term time plus hours and time off in lieu for support staff?

Yes—this is a common education requirement. The right HR system should support varying work patterns, term-time contracts, and policies like TOIL (time off in lieu) in a structured way.

Do absence triggers and automated notifications help in education HR?

They can. Automated triggers can alert HR when absence thresholds are reached, helping teams act consistently and avoid missing patterns across a larger workforce.