Independent Schools IT Services
IT Support for Independent Schools
Independent schools ask more of their IT than almost any other setting: boarding houses that never switch off, parents who expect polish, a bursar accountable for every pound, and a curriculum that should be enhanced by technology rather than interrupted by it. Advanced IT Services is an education-only managed service provider supporting independent schools across the UK — from fully managed IT support and onsite engineers to connectivity, infrastructure installations and cyber security.
We believe in the power of technology to enhance and inspire the way in which the curriculum is delivered. IT has the ability to transform schools from not only a learning perspective but also productivity, collaboration and the freedom to engage and innovate.
LEAD THE WAY
Propel your IT provisions with Advanced IT Services
AIT go beyond the traditional offerings of a standard Managed Service Provider. We are innovative, supporting and always seeking to deploy the latest cutting edge technology which will transform the schools we work with. We pride ourselves on driving to be better, and supporting our schools to harness the power of technology.
Strategic IT Direction
Your school's IT should follow a plan, not a purchase history. We work with bursars and Heads on a multi-year technology strategy — aligned to your development plan, your buildings and your budget — and we review it with you each term. See how we build it on our IT vision and digital strategy page.
Customised Infrastructure
No two independent schools are alike, and neither are their networks. From listed main buildings to new sports halls and boarding accommodation, we design, cable and install infrastructure around your site — not a template. Explore our network and data cabling work.
Tailored Approach
Termly rhythms, exam windows, open mornings, lettings and holiday works: we schedule support and projects around the reality of your school year, with engineers who understand that a speech day is not the moment for a server reboot.
Secure Solutions
Safeguarding-grade filtering, monitoring and cyber security are built into everything we deliver — because pupil safety is not an optional extra. Read more about our approach to safeguarding and filtering and security for schools.
What we deliver for independent schools
Everything below is delivered by our own UK-wide team — qualified, DBS-checked and education-only. This is the core of what you buy from AIT: the support, the installations and the connectivity. The platforms come later, and they come included.
Cloud Solutions for Independent Schools
At AIT we offer a variety of Education Cloud Services to help make learning collaborative and efficient. From Microsoft 365 to Google G-Suite for Education, the Cloud has endless benefits for schools. Our specialist trained team can assist your team in exploring a solution that is right for your school.
Onsite Support
Whether you are looking for full-time onsite support engineers or an ad-hoc solution, our nationwide coverage helps your IT system go further. All our team are fully qualified and DBS checked, and can ensure your IT system is kept in tip top shape.
Outsourced IT Directors & Network Managers
Being your outsourced Director of IT is not just about supporting and maintaining the IT you have; it's about where your schools wants to get to and how our knowledge and experience can help you reach your goals. We'll help you with forward planning and recommendations to help you develop and maintain cost effective IT systems to help you run your school and drive you to the next level.
Data Backup & Disaster Recovery
Unlike self-service remote backup and storage, we provide a fully managed service that takes care of everything for you when it comes to data security. At AIT, we configure, install and monitor it for you. As a Redstor partner, AIT offers a data & recovery service as well as full disaster recovery with instant data.
Secure Education Broadband
Many independent schools use business grade broadband without the specific requirements needed for pupil safe connectivity. Our packages include all the necessary security features required to run a safe school environment. By bundling all the security features together along side your broadband in one simple package, our clients are often surprised at the substantial improvement in connection and reduction in cost we can offer schools.
Remote Support
Even simple printer problems and software updates can push your day off track. That's why we run a suite of daily checks to ensure your IT is ready for you to hit the ground running. Our pro-active ICT support teams solve many IT technical issues before you're even aware of them. And that's the real benefit of the way we do things at AIT.
Built for bursars: AIT Horizon comes included
Every independent school we support gets AIT Horizon — our leadership platform — included with the service, not sold on top. For a bursar, it changes the annual budget conversation.
- IT Finance, planned five years out. Horizon's IT Finance module holds a rolling five-year projection of your school's entire technology spend. Hardware refresh is scheduled by device, not guessed at year-end: a 120-device teaching estate on a four-year cycle appears as a steady c. £30,000 a year rather than a £120,000 shock in a single capital bid (figures illustrative). Software licensing sits alongside it, so every renewal — MIS, Microsoft, filtering, door access — is visible months before the invoice lands, and duplicated or unused licences are surfaced before they auto-renew.
- Compliance the governors can read. Horizon's RAG compliance tracker turns your IT and safeguarding posture into a simple red–amber–green view a governing body can absorb in five minutes — backup status, filtering, patching, policy review dates — with your school's IT policies stored and version-tracked in the same place.
- A strategy roadmap, not a PDF. The multi-year plan we build with you lives in Horizon's strategy roadmap and moves as items complete, slip or get re-scoped — so the digital strategy the governors approved in September is still the one everyone is looking at in March.
- One platform, the right view for each audience. Horizon's Executive view gives the Head and governors the summary; the Schools view gives the bursar and office the operational detail; the Support view shows exactly what our team is doing and why. Same data, no re-keying, no chasing.
Illustrative demo data
Ask for a Horizon walkthrough on 0115 9170 197AIT Ordering: procurement governance without the paperwork
Independent schools carry a governance burden most suppliers ignore: charity trustees, audit trails, best-value evidence. AIT Ordering — included with our service like every AIT platform — puts the whole purchasing journey in one place.
- Quote → PO → delivery, tracked end to end. Every purchase starts as a quote in Ordering, converts to a purchase order on approval, and is tracked through to delivery and deployment. When your auditor asks how a set of interactive panels was procured, the answer is one screen: who requested it, who approved it, what it cost, when it arrived (all examples illustrative).
- A catalogue built for schools. Rather than open-ended shopping, your school works from an agreed catalogue — the devices, licences and peripherals that fit your environment and your standards — so a housemaster ordering a replacement Chromebook orders the right one at the agreed price.
- Leasing and supplier management in the same view. Considering a leased 1:1 device scheme against outright purchase? Ordering holds both quotes side by side, and supplier management keeps warranty terms, lease end dates and supplier performance in one record — so a three-year lease is a planned event in the bursar's calendar, not a surprise renewal. Lease commitments feed straight into Horizon's five-year IT Finance projection, so financed and purchased kit appear in the same forward view.
Planning a device refresh? See our device procurement and leasing service.
Illustrative demo data
Included with our service, not sold on top
Four platforms. One login. Zero extra cost.
The service you buy from AIT is people: engineers, installers, strategists. But every AIT school also gets our in-house platform suite included:
AIT Horizon
the leadership view: IT finance, compliance, policies and strategy for Heads, bursars and governors.
Helpdesk Reporting
transparent support performance: an Executive overview, KPI Insights and Training insights, with an AI Assistant to interrogate your own support history. (All figures shown in marketing materials are illustrative — your live data is yours, in the platform.)
AIT Atlas
how we run our own people, projects and fleet. Navigate. Manage. Deliver. You see the benefit as turn-up-on-time reliability.
AIT Ordering
quotes, purchase orders, deliveries and suppliers, governed end to end.
Everything is accessed through one door: the Customer Portal, your single login hub for all four platforms.
Also supporting
Part of a group of schools, or exploring collaboration? See how we support multi-academy trusts. We also work with primary schools and secondary schools across the UK.
LETS TALK
Speak to Us
Ready to embark on your digital transformation? Get in touch with our friendly team and learn how we can propel your IT.
Prefer to talk it through first? Contact us and we'll arrange a call at a time that suits the school day.
FAQs
Yes — AIT supports schools across the whole of the UK, with a 75-strong team providing onsite, remote and project support nationwide. Onsite engineers, installation crews and strategic reviews are scheduled wherever your school is; our helpdesk and monitoring cover you the same way regardless of postcode.
Absolutely. Many independent schools keep a technician or network manager onsite and use AIT for escalation, strategy, projects and cover. Alternatively, our outsourced IT Director service gives you senior leadership-level input without a full-time salary. We shape the engagement around your team, not the other way round.
Two ways, both included with our service. AIT Horizon's IT Finance module holds a five-year projection of hardware refresh and software licensing, so budgets are planned rather than reactive. AIT Ordering then governs the spending itself — every purchase runs quote to PO to delivery with a full audit trail, which is exactly the evidence trustees and auditors ask for.
Yes. We'll model both routes for your device scheme — outright purchase against a lease term — and hold the competing quotes side by side in AIT Ordering so the comparison is transparent. Whichever route you choose, the commitment feeds into your Horizon five-year financial projection, so there are no surprise renewals.
All our engineers are fully qualified and DBS checked, and we work to safeguarding-first practices on every visit — from filtering and monitoring standards to how we conduct ourselves on site. Pupil safety is built into the service, not bolted on.