- schools use SIMS, according to ParentPay Group
- 10,000+
- SIMS users, according to ParentPay Group
- 700,000+
- about, Capita’s 2020 sale of ESS, The Register
- £400M
- SIMS Parent on the UK App Store, 1,845 ratings
- 1.3
About SIMS
SIMS is a management information system (MIS) for UK schools. Schools keep pupil records, registers, assessment, behaviour, timetables and census returns in it. Parents use the free SIMS Parent app and the website sims-parent.co.uk, and students use SIMS Student, after the school sends an invitation code. Education Software Solutions Ltd in London makes SIMS and has belonged to ParentPay Group since August 2021. ParentPay Group says 10,000+ schools use SIMS.
SIMS holds the central records of a school. Staff take registers, record assessment and behaviour, plan timetables, options and cover, manage SEND and file census and statutory returns. SIMS 7 is the established version. SIMS Next Gen adds cloud modules to it, and ParentPay Group publishes new Next Gen features every month. Parents see their children’s data in SIMS Parent. Students see theirs in SIMS Student.
Philip Neal, a teacher at Lea Manor High School, wrote the first version in 1982 and 1983. Bedfordshire County Council developed it further, and other schools started to use it in 1984. SIMS Ltd was founded in 1988 to develop the product, and Capita bought it in 1994. Wikipedia says SIMS claims just over 50% of the school MIS market in England and Wales.
In December 2020 Capita agreed to sell its Education Software Solutions business to Tiger UK Bidco, a company formed by Montagu Private Equity, for about £400 million. The deal closed on 29 January 2021. In August 2021 ParentPay Group completed its purchase of ESS from Montagu, and Montagu took a significant minority stake in the group. ParentPay Group also runs ParentPay, Schoolcomms, Cypad and GDPRiS, and says more than 20,000 schools use its products.
History
- 1982 Philip Neal, a teacher at Lea Manor High School, starts writing the program that becomes SIMS.
- 1984 Bedfordshire County Council develops SIMS further, and other schools start to use it.
- 1988 SIMS Ltd is founded to develop SIMS as a commercial product.
- 1994 Capita Group buys SIMS Ltd.
- 2016 The SIMS Parent app appears on the App Store on 5 October.
- 2017 The SIMS Student app appears on the App Store on 20 January.
- 2020 Capita ESS Ltd is registered on 11 May. In December Capita agrees to sell ESS to Tiger UK Bidco, a Montagu company, for about £400 million.
- 2021 Tiger UK Bidco takes control of ESS on 29 January. The company becomes Education Software Solutions Ltd in May. ParentPay Group completes its purchase of ESS in August.
- 2021 A review under Montagu finds technical problems with SIMS 8, according to Wikipedia. ParentPay Group then announces SIMS Next Gen.
- 2022 ESS plans up to £40 million over three years for SIMS and FMS. Schools on direct contracts get the new cloud functions for £1 a year.
- 2026 SIMS Next Gen adds CTF Export for all schools in July. ParentPay Group releases the Schoolcomms parent app on the App Store on 22 July.
Leadership
- LA Lewis Alcraft Chief Executive Officer, ParentPay Group
- AN Andrew Neubauer Chairman, ParentPay Group
- AG Alistair Gates Chief Product and Operations Officer
- IT Ian Tufts Chief Technology Officer
- PR Phil Roberts Chief Commercial Officer
- TW Tracie Ward Chief Service Officer
Roles from the ParentPay Group about page on 16 October 2026. SIMS has no separate leadership page. Companies House lists Lewis Alcraft as a director of Education Software Solutions Ltd since 12 October 2022, and Andrew Neubauer and Clint Wilson since 12 August 2021.
Careers
Pinpoint, ParentPay Group
5Pune 1Coventry 1Colombo - Development5
- Service Operations1
- Marketing1
- IT1
- Data1
Perks
- Medical cover
- Eye care
- Life assurance
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
Video, blogs and resources
Products
- SIMS MIS and SIMS Next Gen The school MIS for primary and secondary schools. The Optimise package covers SIMS Next Gen, attendance, assessment, exams, census, conduct, timetabling, options and cover, pupil and staff data and SEND. Hosting and support are optional. SIMS for schools
- SIMS Parent Parents see homework, timetable, calendar, activities, assessment results, attendance, behaviour and school reports. They receive messages and update the contact details the school holds. One login covers children at different schools if each school sets up access. The app is free and needs an invitation code from the school. App Store
- SIMS Student Students see the details of their school life, according to the store listing. The school must invite the student first. The web version is at sims-student.co.uk. App Store
- SIMS Pay An older payments service for meals, trips and clubs that used SIMS ID logins. The SIMS ID help page names pay360educationpayments.com as its entry point. On 16 October 2026 that address did not respond, and the ParentPay Group login page lists no SIMS Pay. The current Pay package runs on ParentPay and includes SIMS Dinner Money. SIMS ID help
- Schoolcomms app A parent app from ParentPay Group Services, released in July 2026. Parents get attendance alerts, fill in forms and consents, see events and reports, and reach payments, clubs and trips where the school offers them. One account covers children at different schools that use ParentPay Group products. App Store
- SIMS for MATs and Group Hub Trusts see school, staff and pupil data from every school with one login, set central controls and report through Power BI dashboards. SIMS Group Hub is the new central tool for multi-academy trusts. SIMS for MATs
SIMS for schools and trusts
Product packages- 01ParentPay Group sells SIMS in packages: Optimise for the MIS, Pay for payments, Engage for parent messaging, Finance for FMS and Secure for data protection.
- 02Engage includes SMS and email messaging, the parent and student app, data collection and attendance, conduct and assessment insights.
- 03Pay includes meal selection, clubs and trips, wraparound care, shops and donations and SIMS Dinner Money.
- 04Class View and Seating Plans stay in Optimise until March 2027. Group Hub for trusts stays until March 2027.
- 05Schools pick a mix of packages and ask for a quote.
No public prices. ParentPay Group asks schools to request a quote.
App ratings, UK stores
- SIMS Parent websiteParents log in with their SIMS ID account
- SIMS Parent appiPhone and Android, invitation code from the school
- SIMS ID registrationRegister with the invite code from the school
- SIMS StudentWebsite and app for invited students
- SIMS OptionsListed for parents, students and schools on the login page
- Login hubLinks to SIMS Parent, SIMS Student, SIMS Options, ParentPay and School Gateway
SIMS Parent, App Store UK
- Current version
- 3.17.17, released 1 October 2024
- First release on iOS
- 5 October 2016
- Requires
- iOS 11.0 or later
- Price
- Free, needs an invitation code from the school
- Google Play
- 500K+ downloads, updated 3 February 2026
- Developer
- Education Software Solutions Ltd
Is SIMS worth it?
What parents and students like
- One SIMS Parent login shows all of a parent’s children, even at different schools, if each school sets up access.SIMS Parent, App Store UK
- Parents can register with Google, Microsoft, Facebook or Twitter, or with an email address and password.SIMS ID help for parents
- SIMS Next Gen got new releases every month from January to July 2026, including CTF Export in July.ParentPay Group product updates
What parents and students criticise
- SIMS Parent scores 1.3 on the UK App Store from 1,845 ratings and 1.7 on Google Play from 2,021 ratings.App Store and Google Play, 16 October 2026
- The iOS app has had no update since 1 October 2024. SIMS Student on iOS was last updated on 7 August 2024.App Store UK
- Parents can register only with an invitation from the school. Password and account problems go to the school first.SIMS ID help for parents
- In 2005 Becta reported that the dominant MIS supplier’s charges to many schools had risen to 2.5 to 3 times their 1999 level.Wikipedia, citing Becta
What users write in reviews, not our rating. Parents and students rate the apps in the stores. The Trustpilot page for ess-sims.co.uk has a single review, so we do not show it. Schools buy SIMS, and the school decides which apps parents get.
Latest news
- 2012SIMS Discover, BESA Education Resources Award for innovation
- 2009BETT award for SIMS Partnership Xchange
- What’s new in SIMS: July 2026 release
- ParentPay expands school income solutions with SchoolHire acquisition
- ParentPay Group makes managing school finances easier with reimagined FMS
- SIMS Next Gen to empower schools with direct ownership of MIS, FE News
- ParentPay Group announces acquisition of ESS, FE News
- Capita sells ESS to Montagu for about £400 million, The Register
Contacts and company data
- Parent help portalparenthelp.parentpaygroup.com
- School help portalhelp.parentpaygroup.com
- Mediamediaenquiries@parentpay.com
- Contact formSales, training and partnerships
- Legal entity
- Education Software Solutions Limited, 11 Kingsley Lodge, 13 New Cavendish Street, London, England, W1G 9UG
- Company number
- 12595779, incorporated 11 May 2020, active
- Previous name
- Capita ESS Limited, until 21 May 2021
- Parent company
- Tiger UK Bidco Limited, 13060715, 75% or more since 29 January 2021
- Group
- ParentPay Group Limited, 13477997, through Tiger UK Midco Limited
- Nature of business
- SIC 62012, business and domestic software development
- Latest accounts
- Full accounts to 30 November 2025, filed 8 September 2026
- VAT number
- 524 6553 87
Alternatives to SIMS
-
Arbor🇬🇧 United Kingdom A cloud MIS from London, part of The Key Group, with its own parent and student apps. It publishes per-student prices on G-Cloud. → -
Bromcom🇬🇧 United Kingdom A cloud MIS from Bromley for UK schools and trusts, with the free MyChildAtSchool parent app. → -
iSAMS🇬🇧 United Kingdom A cloud MIS for independent and international schools, part of IRIS Software Group. →
How we built this profile
- Sources. Facts come from the company’s own website, press room, imprint and careers page, from Wikipedia, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Every source is listed on the page.
- Checks. Kinescope checked every number on 16 October 2026. Prices, ratings and job counts change, and we refresh them with each update.
- Our words. Descriptions are written by the Kinescope team. Quotes from reviews are marked with the author and source, and we do not rate the company ourselves.
- Corrections. The company can send new facts or corrections, and we update the profile.
Other learning platforms companies
-
itslearning🇳🇴 Norway -
FeedbackFruits🇳🇱 Netherlands - Arbor🇬🇧 United Kingdom
-
Satchel One🇬🇧 United Kingdom -
Genially🇪🇸 Spain -
LearnWorlds🇨🇾 Cyprus
More EdTech from United Kingdom
-
BusuuLanguage learning -
MemriseLanguage learning -
Seneca LearningK-12 learning -
UnibuddyHigher education -
FutureLearnHigher education -
TwinklK-12 learning
Is this your company?
Send us new facts, products, numbers or a fresh logo, and we will update the SIMS profile on the EdTech map.
Show the badge on your website
<a href="https://kinescope.com/edtech-map/sims"><img src="https://kinescope.com/images/edtech-badge.svg" alt="Featured on Kinescope EdTech Map" width="220" height="56"></a> SIMS FAQ
SIMS stands for School Information Management System. It is the MIS that schools use for pupil records, registers, assessment, behaviour, timetables and census returns. Education Software Solutions Ltd in London makes it, and ParentPay Group says 10,000+ schools use it.
SIMS Parent is the free parent app and website for SIMS schools. Parents see homework, timetable, attendance, behaviour, assessment results and reports, get messages from the school and update their contact details. It works only after the school sends an invitation.
Open www.sims-parent.co.uk or the SIMS Parent app and sign in with your SIMS ID account. To create the account, use the invitation email from the school, or go to registration.sims.co.uk and enter the invite code. You can register with Google, Microsoft, Facebook or Twitter, or with an email address and password. Use the same sign-in method every time. Students log in at www.sims-student.co.uk. All ParentPay Group logins are listed at login.parentpaygroup.com.
SIMS Pay was a payments service for meals, trips and clubs that used SIMS ID logins. The SIMS ID help page names pay360educationpayments.com as its entry point, but that address did not respond on 16 October 2026. ParentPay Group’s login page lists no SIMS Pay. ParentPay Group’s Pay package runs on ParentPay. Check your school’s website for the current payment link.
Contact your child’s school first. ESS says the school can reset your password or register your account again. If you used Google, Microsoft, Facebook or Twitter, recover that account with the provider. If you forgot your SIMS ID password, follow Reset your Password on the SIMS ID help pages.
ParentPay Group does not publish SIMS prices. Schools choose packages such as Optimise, Pay, Engage, Finance and Secure and ask for a quote. SIMS Parent and SIMS Student are free to download. The school pays for the system.
Education Software Solutions Ltd makes SIMS. It belongs to ParentPay Group, which bought it from Montagu Private Equity in August 2021. Montagu had bought ESS from Capita in January 2021 and kept a significant minority stake in ParentPay Group. Capita owned SIMS from 1994 to 2021.
SIMS Next Gen is a set of cloud modules that runs alongside SIMS 7. ParentPay Group says it invests £50 million in rebuilding SIMS and that thousands of schools use Next Gen every day. New features arrive in monthly releases.
Host your courses on Kinescope.
DRM, a white-label player and analytics for online schools and EdTech platforms.
