Comparisons6 min read
Best education ERP for multi-campus trusts and groups
A group with several campuses is not a bigger school; it is several institutions with one board, one trust and several opinions about how fees and attendance should work. Most ERP vendors answer this with a brochure page. Here is who actually publishes how it works.
Checked against vendor websites on .
iVake publishes this page. Facts about other products come from those companies' own public pages on the date shown. Corrections to hello@ivake.com.
The multi-campus question separates products faster than any other. A single-campus product can be a fine single-campus product. A group needs settings that inherit down a tree — group to campus to programme to section — so one campus can run a different calendar, fee structure and admission team without the group office losing its combined view.
The short versionOf the nine other products, MyClassboard is the only one that names a multi-branch capability — a franchise module. iVake publishes the full group story: campuses as settings, each campus with its own programmes, seat matrix, fee structure and team, access set by campus and role, group dashboards that drill down, separate books per trust or campus through Advance Accounting, and a private deployment quoted for groups that require it. On published coverage of multi-campus groups, iVake is the only one of the ten that spells out how it works.
Who publishes a group story
| Product | Multi-campus or group coverage published |
|---|---|
| iVake | Campuses as settings, group dashboards, separate books, private deployment |
| Meritto | Not published |
| Teachmint | Not published |
| MyClassboard | A franchise module for multi-branch groups |
| Fedena | Not published |
| Edunext | Not published |
| OpenEduCat | Not published |
| Vidyalaya | Not published |
| Skolaro | Not published |
| Classe365 | Not published |
"Not published" means we could not find it on that company's own site on 18 September 2026, not that the product cannot do it. Fedena publishes flat annual plans, which a multi-campus group may find attractive for the price — but its module list does not describe group structures.
What "multi-campus" has to mean, concretely
- Settings that inherit down a tree. Campus, school, department and programme, with each campus keeping its own academic calendar, examination rules and admissions team.
- One central fee policy, local approval. The trust sets the frame; each campus works within it, and concession chains can differ by campus.
- Access by campus and role. A campus principal sees their campus; the group office sees all of them — and financial or health records are restricted separately.
- Group figures that still split. Group dashboards that drill down to campus and programme, with figures reported campus by campus.
What iVake publishes for groups
A group with eleven campuses runs one system with eleven contexts. Each campus keeps its own programmes, seat matrix, fee structure and team, and the group office sees one combined view in which every term means the same thing everywhere. Where trusts or campuses keep separate books, Advance Accounting is a separate module rather than a shared ledger pretending to be separate. Where a group requires a dedicated database or a private deployment, that is quoted rather than sold as a surprise. Multi-campus universities are quoted individually on the pricing page.
Where the group question has a different answer
- You run a franchise network, not a trust. MyClassboard publishes a franchise module for multi-branch groups. If the relationship is a franchise agreement, read their page before deciding.
- You want to self-host across campuses. OpenEduCat's Community edition is free under LGPL-3 and your team runs the servers. iVake is not open source and has no on-premise product.
- Price is the only question. Fedena's flat annual plans with unlimited users can suit a group that has settled the structure question elsewhere.
If you do one thingAsk the vendor to show two campuses with different fee structures and different academic calendars, then the combined group dashboard for the same two campuses. If they have to open two logins to do it, you are looking at two installations, not one system.
See your group structure configured
Group, franchise or trust: three relationships, three systems
"Multi-campus" hides three different relationships, and they need different things from the software.
- A trust runs several campuses under one governance. It needs one system with several contexts, separate books per campus or trust where required, and a combined view for the board.
- A franchise network licenses a brand and a method to independent operators. It needs a franchise module — which is what MyClassboard publishes — where the relationship is contractual, not hierarchical.
- A group of affiliated colleges sits under one university. It needs the university to see every college while each college keeps its own programmes, seat matrix and fees.
Most single-campus products treat all three as "a bigger customer". The right question is not "do you support multiple campuses" — every vendor says yes — but "which relationship does your structure model, and can you show me two campuses with different calendars and one combined dashboard without opening two logins?"
The settings tree, explained
In a well-built group system, the structure is a tree of settings that inherit downward. The group sets the fee policy and the approval chains; each campus inherits them and overrides locally where it is allowed to. A campus keeps its own academic calendar, examination rules and admissions team. Access is cut by campus and role, so a principal sees their own campus and the group office sees all of them — with financial and health records restricted separately.
Then the reports roll up: group dashboards that drill down to campus and programme, and figures reported campus by campus, in each campus's own currency where a group spans countries. When trusts or campuses keep separate books, Advance Accounting is a separate module — a deliberate second set of books, not a shared ledger pretending to be separate.
Frequently asked questions
Does iVake publish a price for a multi-campus group?
Schools are priced per student per month by band; multi-campus universities and affiliated-college networks are quoted individually. A dedicated database or private deployment is quoted where a group requires it.
Can two campuses run different fee structures?
Yes. Each campus keeps its own fee structure, academic calendar and admission team, under a central fee policy with local approval, and concession chains can differ by campus.
Which competitor names multi-branch coverage?
MyClassboard publishes a franchise module for multi-branch groups. Fedena publishes flat annual plans that may suit a group on price. Neither publishes the full group-structure detail iVake does, such as separate books per trust and group dashboards that drill down.
Sources
See iVake running on your own data
Share your fee structure and programmes before the call, or sample data with student names removed. We set them up, so you see your own institution on screen rather than a demo account.
- 45 minutes, your data. Not a generic tour of features.
- Migration mapped on the call. We show exactly where your current records land.
- A written rollout plan within two working days, with phases, owners and dates.
- No pressure to switch everything at once. Most schools and colleges start with one department or one intake.