IMP adds ASOT benchmarking dashboard for school trusts

IMP Software has added an ASOT benchmarking dashboard to its finance platform through a collaboration with ISBL, bringing ISBL's benchmarking framework into existing school trust finance workflows.

The dashboard lets academy trusts view benchmarking metrics for individual schools or across a multi-academy trust using data already held in IMP. It presents the information through RAG-rated indicators, trend lines and national threshold ranges.

ASOT, the Advanced Strategic Optimisation Tool, is an independent benchmarking framework developed by an ISBL panel of school finance and resourcing specialists, with input from ISBL Fellows and Department for Education school resource management advisers.

Until now, school and trust finance teams using ASOT have generally relied on a separate spreadsheet-based tool. That meant extracting figures from their systems, entering them manually and maintaining the analysis outside their usual reporting processes.

Under the integration, metrics are calculated automatically using ISBL's ASOT definitions and reflect the latest budget position held in the IMP system. Trusts can also filter views by school, school type, hub and region.

Will Jordan, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of IMP Software, said: "IMP partnered with ISBL to make it easier for trusts to engage with ASOT benchmarking and understand what 'good' really looks like. That vision has now taken a significant step forward. Trusts no longer need to extract figures or paste data into a spreadsheet. Instead, ASOT benchmarking is built directly into IMP's reporting suite, with a dedicated dashboard that shows how their data compares against ASOT thresholds across a number of key metrics."

The change is aimed at finance leaders seeking a more regular view of spending and staffing patterns across schools in a trust. For Chief Finance Officers and Chief Executive Officers, it is intended to provide a common basis for discussing resource use across multiple schools.

Warren Porter, Head of Education Strategy at IMP Software, said: "Schools and trusts using ISBL's ASOT framework have until now had to rely on a separate Excel-based tool to calculate and review their benchmarking metrics. This means manually extracting data from their systems, entering it into the ASOT spreadsheet, and managing the tool outside their normal workflows - a time-consuming process that is prone to error and easy to deprioritise. For trust finance teams, this creates a gap between the data they already hold in IMP and the benchmarking insight they need to assess how efficiently their schools are using resources. Without a straightforward way to view ASOT metrics, trusts either invest significant time maintaining the standalone tool or go without the insight altogether. This release therefore takes the first significant step towards closing that gap."

Sector focus

ISBL serves school business leadership professionals and acts as the central hub within the Centre for Education Operational Excellence. The integration reflects a wider push across the education sector to make financial and operational benchmarking part of routine management rather than an occasional review.

Bethan Cullen, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at ISBL, said: "This integration marks an important step in making ASOT benchmarking a practical, embedded part of how trusts operate. By bringing robust, evidence-based metrics directly into financial workflows, leaders can better understand how resources are deployed and use data-assured actuals to inform forward-looking planning aligned to their strategic priorities. Crucially, these insights provide a shared foundation for informed dialogue across business, educational and governance leadership. In doing so, it strengthens the systems and data foundations required to deliver sustainable operational excellence, as set out through the Centre for Education Operational Excellence OpEx for Education framework."

The ASOT framework was designed to help schools assess efficiency and compare themselves against recognised measures. The integration allows benchmarking to sit alongside existing planning and reporting data rather than in a separate tool.

Andrew Hamilton, who designed the ASOT framework, said: "The inclusion of ASOT within IMP marks the beginning of something genuinely transformative for schools. By automating complex analysis and drawing data directly from existing systems, we are removing the barriers of time and resource that often prevent schools from undertaking meaningful efficiency reviews. This is far more than a metrics tool - it helps schools to understand what they can realistically afford, quantify inefficiencies, and make informed choices based on their unique circumstances rather than relying solely on benchmarking. The partnership with IMP unlocks the full potential of ASOT, creating exciting opportunities to support smarter decision-making and operational excellence across the education sector."

User view

One trust finance chief said the combination brings together two established tools used in school financial planning and benchmarking. The integrated format also gives trusts a way to keep benchmarking current as their organisations grow.

Kate Davison, Chief Finance Officer at Yorkshire Causeway Trust, said: "ASOT and IMP's ICFP solution are two tools I have relied on for years, so bringing them together in a single platform is a really exciting development. What ASOT has always given me is a clear diagnostic view of school performance and a valuable benchmark for what 'normal' looks like across staffing and spending. Combined with the depth of analysis already available in IMP's planning tools, the new ASOT benchmarking dashboard has the potential to make that insight far more accessible and actionable.

"In the past, benchmarking has often been a point-in-time exercise that quickly becomes out of date across a growing trust. The real value of this new dashboard is having live, integrated data that can be incorporated into regular reporting and used to support more informed conversations with headteachers and business managers. For trusts like ours, that means less time spent updating spreadsheets and more time focusing on the decisions that will have the greatest impact on educational and financial sustainability."