What education technology trends are shaping schools and trusts?

How are the UK’s school and trust leaders planning to maximise the impact of technology on education?

Recently, our education team conducted its most comprehensive survey to date. It gathered insights from 130 senior leaders across England’s schools and trusts.

The result was our whitepaper, The IRIS Education Leaders’ Survey 2025. It offers a snapshot of the sector’s big challenges, from budget and SEND provision to recruitment and pupil numbers.

The report also reveals where UK school and trust leaders are looking to Edtech for solutions.

The areas where tech investment is planned… and why

Before we look at where school and trust leaders are investing in technology, we need to understand the main drivers behind the decision to do so.

Having partnered with 75% of UK multi-academy trusts (MATs), we think we know the answer.

Across many areas of school and trust management, we see a fundamental lack of time. Unnecessary admin slows you down and prevents you from focusing on tasks that make a difference. The data needed to make decisions, from building condition surveys to student attendance and progress, staff absence or asset usage, is often incomplete, scattered, and outdated by the time it is collected. And there are too many barriers to working together. Too often, there are no simple ways to make things happen.

Good technology can help schools and trusts save time, get a clear view and work better together.

In numbers: are school and trust leaders planning to invest in new technology?

 We asked school and trust leaders if they were planning to invest in new technology solutions in the next three years. The results below separate respondents into MAT leaders, SAT leaders, Academy leaders in a MAT, and LA maintained school leaders.

In an environment of tight budget pressures (read more here), there are more school and trust leaders looking to invest in tech than not.

In particular, 77% of MAT leaders said that they were planning on investing in new technology over the next three years. On the face of it, perhaps this reflects MAT leaders looking at investing in strategic systems that cross the schools in their trust.

Education technology trends in detail

Those school and trust leaders who indicated that they are planning to invest in new technology in the next three years were asked to select areas in which they would prioritise investment.

We see SEND at the top. Beyond our graph, leaders of individual academies and LA maintained schools showed the most interest in SEND investment (100% and 72%, respectively), probably a function of having feet on the ground and working more closely with students than trust leadership.

We have seen throughout this report the challenges schools have with SEND provision at the moment, and it is interesting that leaders feel that technology can help. There is a role it can play in assessing, providing support strategies, monitoring and tracking students with SEND – as well as assembling the evidence to speed up the application process for EHCPs.

Beyond SEND: the other areas school and trust leaders are prioritising for investment

‘Staff training and professional development platforms’ was the second biggest tech investment priority at 51%. Interestingly, this area was a far greater priority for MAT leaders (72%) than LA maintained school leaders (33%).

This may reflect greater capacity in a MAT system to define programs formally for staff training and development.

In our recent research report, Happy staff, happy pupils: The new tools and rules to help staff and pupils thrive, we found that 50% of staff surveyed did not have a single online system for performance management, training and career progression, so there are probably big gains to be had here. Data analytics, student management information systems (MIS), compliance and estates management, and recruitment and onboarding were all chosen as priority areas by around a quarter of school and trust leaders, showing a pretty even split across other potential technology investment areas.

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See the education trends that matter

The IRIS Education Leaders’ Survey 2025 whitepaper brings together the voices of 130 sector leaders. If you want a clear picture of the pressures, priorities, and opportunities facing schools and trusts, it’s an important source.

Here’s what you’ll get from the free whitepaper

Explore how MATs are navigating SEND provision, recruitment challenges, and financial pressures – and what strategies are proving most effective.

Understand the real issues: Look behind the noise of news headlines. Get a true reality check on what is affecting state education.

Get all-important context: How do your school or trust’s challenges compare? Find out here.

Spot hidden issues: If you have the full picture, nothing takes you by surprise. This report helps you see the overall education story for 2025 and beyond, meaning you and your team are prepared.

Click here to get the whitepaper.