Yes. Ciphr offers integrated HR and payroll software for schools. Key benefits include full integration, improved data accuracy, faster pay runs, pay data that transfers automatically between systems, and a dependable, well-supported system.
HR software for schools
One connected suite. Built to make work, work
Independent schools and academy trusts have more HR-related moving parts than most organisations: safeguarding checks, pay spines, term-time contracts and DBS renewals. When those live in multiple different spreadsheets, something eventually slips.
Ciphr's HR software for schools connects safeguarding, absence, payroll and recruitment in one system, so everyone works from the same up-to-date record, whether you run a single school or several sites under one trust.
Safeguarding you can stand behind
A safeguarding gap doesn't show up as a line in a report. It shows up as a question you can't answer fast enough. Our safeguarding module tracks background checks and safer recruitment training, and includes a single central record (SCR) template for straightforward reporting. So when a governor or inspector asks who's cleared and who isn't, you already know the answer.
Ciphr also works with Experian to run enhanced DBS and occupational history checks before a new starter's first day, not after.
One set of rules, however many sites you run
Set pay spines, access levels, branding and system rules once, then apply them across every site you run, whether that's one school or several under a shared trust. Update a policy centrally and it doesn't mean re-entering it school by school. Staff on different sites, patterns or split contracts sit in the same system as everyone else, without separate workarounds.
“Safeguarding is absolutely a key priority, and Ciphr’s onboarding facility allows us to complete some of that safeguarding journey before they join so they are well informed in time for their first day”
Built in the UK, for UK schools
Ciphr is a UK company, built around UK employment law and UK statutory reporting requriements. Ours isn't a global platform adjusted for the UK education sector afterwards. Your data sits under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act, with UK-based support teams who understand what a change to safer recruitment guidance or an Ofsted requirement means for your work.
Implementation built for term dates, not just go-live dates
You aren't handed a login before September and left to work it out. Our HR implementation is a structured process: your data migrated properly, your workflows configured to match how your school or trust runs, and a named team who plan your go-live around the school calendar rather than against it.
"Our consultant also helped us with data collection and migration, which was quite an overwhelming task. He was really patient with us and kept making sure we understood what needed to happen and how the system could work. Our project manager was fantastic too. She gave us great recommendations about taking a phased approach to implementation"
Lifetime
Self-service that gives teachers their evening back
Staff enter their own absence, book holiday, check payslips and accept school-wide policies without a form or an email chain. Fewer interruptions for your HR team, and a system staff trust enough to use without being told to.
“Asking people to record their holiday and absence themselves through Ciphr HR has helped with the engagement”
Talent and training that stands up to inspection
Set objectives, run performance reviews and report on progress against your school's own standards, not a generic framework. Ciphr's learning management system, when used with content from our extensive eLearning course catalogue, keeps staff up to date with safeguarding, diversity and compliance training, with a record of who's completed what.
The connected suite is what makes the AI useful
Ciphr's AI works because it sits on one connected data set. It’s not a chatbot bolted onto old systems. Some capability is live today, answering questions from your real HR data. Other capabilities are on the roadmap, and we'll say so plainly rather than describe it as if it's already shipped.
Live now:
- AI assistant
- AI form summarisation
- AI-powered coaching (through MyTeamBuilder)
This is HR amplified
One connected suite. Built to make work, work. For HR directors who need a system that holds up to a governor's question, and CFOs who need numbers they don't have to double-check against payroll, Ciphr's HR software for schools gives both more control over the complexity, not more of it.