Edvolve

14/09/2026 | 5 mins to read EdTech & School Technology

Who it’s for: School leaders, teachers, IT and digital leads, school business professionals and anyone involved in choosing or using school technology

Subcategory: EdTech & School Technology

Teachers use digital systems throughout the school day, from recording attendance and managing homework to checking timetables, sharing documents and communicating with colleagues and families. With so much of everyday school life taking place through technology, the platform needs to work well for the people using it without creating more unnecessary work.

There is also another side to school technology that is less visible. Behind every message, attendance record, timetable and report is information that needs to be handled carefully, with clear controls around who can access it, how it is protected and how the provider manages its responsibilities.

For schools choosing technology, understanding what sits behind the screen is therefore just as important as understanding what the platform can do.

The features are only part of the picture

A school platform needs to support the everyday tasks that teachers and school staff are responsible for, which is why Edvolve brings together features such as attendance nd behaviour, homework and assignments, timetables, documents, communication and reporting within one secure platform.

Having those features in one place can make the school day easier to manage, but it also means that a platform may hold a wide range of information about pupils, parents, teachers and other members of the school community. The way that information is accessed and protected matters just as much as the features themselves.

Who can see what?

Because different people use a school platform for different reasons, access needs to reflect their role and responsibilities. A teacher will need access to information that a parent does not, while school administrators may need a broader view of information across the school.

Edvolve uses role-based permissions so that users are given access to information relevant to their role. Permissions are managed by authorised school administrators and can be updated as responsibilities change, with the principle of least privilege applied so users receive the minimum level of access needed to carry out their role.

This becomes particularly important when one platform is being used across different parts of school life, with teachers, administrators, parents and students all accessing different areas of the same system.

Security should start before the feature does

Security needs to be considered before a feature reaches the people who will use it, rather than being something added once development is complete. Within Edvolve, security considerations form part of the product development process, from planning and software design through to testing, release and ongoing maintenance.

Before a new feature is released, considerations include authentication, user permissions, the sensitivity and visibility of information, secure transmission, audit and accountability requirements, potential safeguarding implications and the risks associated with misuse or unauthorised access. These considerations continue throughout the life of the feature as the platform develops.

The same approach applies to the platform as a whole, with security controls, infrastructure and maintenance reviewed as Edvolve continues to evolve.

Data protection belongs in the design

Schools have clear responsibilities when it comes to the personal information they hold, which means the technology they choose also needs to support those responsibilities. Edvolve has been developed around the principles of Data Protection by Design and by Default, with privacy considerations incorporated into product planning, system architecture and software development from the outset.

In practice, this means considering whether personal information is genuinely needed, what the minimum information is for a feature to operate, which users should have access to it, how long it should be retained and whether additional safeguards are needed because of its sensitivity.

Children's information requires particular care. Edvolve does not collect children's personal information for advertising, behavioural profiling or commercial marketing, and information is processed to support the educational, safeguarding, communication and operational requirements of the subscribing school or trust. Access to student information is also controlled through role-based permissions, so staff, parents and students only see information appropriate to their role and relationship with the school.

Good technology still needs to work for teachers

All of this sits behind the everyday experience of using the platform. Teachers still need to be able to record attendance, manage homework, check timetables, access documents and communicate with colleagues and families without having to think about the technical processes taking place in the background.

That is why security and privacy need to work alongside a straightforward user experience, the technical safeguards should be there without making ordinary tasks more complicated, while schools should still be able to understand how their information is protected and how access is managed.

For teachers, the experience might be as simple as sending a message or updating a record, behind that action, however, there should be appropriate controls around authentication, permissions, data visibility and secure transmission.

Trust should be something you can look at

When a school is considering a new platform, it is reasonable to want more than general statements about security and privacy. Schools should be able to find out how a provider approaches data protection, what security measures are in place and how responsibilities are managed.

The Edvolve Trust Centre brings together information covering security, data protection, children's privacy, acceptable use and compliance, alongside the policies that explain how these principles are applied. The Data Protection & Children's Privacy Policy sets out Edvolve's approach to Security by Design, Data Protection by Design and by Default, role-based access, encryption, secure UK cloud infrastructure and children's privacy.

Having this information available gives schools something practical to refer to when reviewing their technology, rather than leaving important questions unanswered.

What happens to the information over time?

Choosing a platform also means understanding how information is managed throughout its use, including how long it is retained, who is responsible for it and what happens when it is no longer required.

Data portability and interoperability must be taken into account, so schools can move their information if their needs change or they decide to work with another provider. The Department for Education’s current MIS procurement principles emphasise migration-ready, machine-readable data, API access and reasonable cooperation when schools move between suppliers, while the ICO encourages data to be provided in structured, commonly used and machine-readable formats.

Within Edvolve, the subscribing school, academy or multi-academy trust normally acts as the Data Controller, while AppyHive Ltd acts as the Data Processor on its behalf. The school or trust determines what personal information is collected, why it is processed, who can access it and how long it should be retained, while AppyHive processes that information in accordance with its documented instructions.

Keeping those responsibilities clear is an important part of managing personal information properly and helps schools understand where their own responsibilities sit alongside those of their technology provider.

What should schools ask?

When looking at a school technology platform, there are some straightforward questions that can help uncover what sits behind the features:

• What information does the platform need, and why?
• Who can access it?
• How are permissions managed?
• How is children's information protected?
• What security measures are in place?
• Where can we find the provider's policies and supporting information?
• What happens to our information throughout the life of the contract?

The answers should be clear enough for a school to understand without having to work through unnecessary technical language, particularly when the information relates to children, families and staff.

Looking beyond the screen

The features a school sees and uses every day are only one part of choosing the right technology. The way information is protected, how access is controlled and how responsibilities are managed all form part of the overall experience.

For teachers, technology needs to work during a busy school day and support the tasks they are already responsible for, and for schools, there also needs to be confidence that the information behind those tasks is being handled appropriately.

Within Edvolve, security, privacy and responsible use of information form part of how the platform is designed, developed and operated, rather than being treated as separate considerations.

Because when you are choosing technology for a school, what happens behind the screen matters too.