Education Software Solutions Limited (ESS) is the largest provider of school management information system (MIS) software in England and Wales. In the UK, most state schools are required to have an MIS in place to manage information on staff and students including for handling attendance and safeguarding.
In April 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into whether ESS’s conduct was anti-competitive by effectively limiting schools’ ability to choose an alternative MIS software provider and excluding its competitors. The CMA was concerned that customers of ESS – meaning certain schools in England and Wales – had to move from one-year contracts to three-year contracts, without having sufficient time to make alternative arrangements with other software providers. The CMA was concerned that these changes reduced schools’ choice of MIS software provider and made it difficult for other providers to compete with ESS to win business.
To address the CMA’s concerns, the CMA has secured ESS’s offer and signing of legally…
