Published 4 June 2026
Take control of supply: Why education providers are rethinking supply management
For schools, colleges and multi-academy trusts (MATs), supply staffing has become increasingly difficult to manage effectively.
Education providers across the UK are facing growing operational pressure, from rising costs and staffing challenges to increasing expectations around compliance, procurement efficiency, and value for money.
In our recent webinar, Take Control of Supply, hosted by Edwin’s Chief Strategy Officer, Sarah Monk, Director of Partnerships, Charnice Scott, Managing Director, Gareth Gaston and guest speaker Andrew Collishaw, COO of Connect Multi Academy Trust, we explored how MATs can regain visibility and control over their supply and procurement strategies through a managed service partnership (MSP).
The problem with fragmented supply management
Reliance on fragmented agency supply arrangements that often lack consistency, transparency, and measurable value, is a familiar challenge in the education sector.
Individual schools often build relationships with multiple agencies independently; processes differ from one setting to another, and reporting is spread across different systems, invoices, and teams.
As schools and trusts continue to navigate recruitment shortages and budget constraints, many are finding that traditional supply models create:
- Limited visibility over spend
- Inconsistent safeguarding and compliance processes
- Administrative burden for school leaders and HR teams
- Difficulty measuring supplier performance
- Reduced ability to negotiate costs effectively
At the same time, operational teams are burdened with the day-to-day admin of contacting agencies, arranging covers, checking documents, processing invoices, and resolving staffing issues as they arise.
Director of Partnerships, Charnice Scott added “A lot of trusts that I speak with manage supply on multiple spreadsheets with multiple agencies.”
The result is a supply model that is often reactive rather than strategic.
Why visibility matters more than ever
One of the strongest themes throughout the webinar was the growing importance of data visibility in education workforce planning.
Without consolidated reporting, trusts can struggle to identify areas of overspend, repeated staffing gaps and opportunities to improve efficiency and reliance on high-cost suppliers.
This lack of visibility makes long-term planning significantly harder, particularly as education organisations continue balancing financial pressures with the need to maintain high standards of teaching and safeguarding.
The discussion highlighted how MSP models centralise supply management into a single framework, providing leadership teams with clearer oversight across all schools and departments.
Rather than relying on disconnected processes, trusts gain access to:
- Centralised reporting
- Supplier performance tracking
- Real-time spend visibility
- Workforce trend analysis
- Standardised compliance monitoring
This allows leaders to make more informed operational and financial decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.
COO of Connect Multi Academy Trust, Andrew Collishaw explained “We knew which schools were spending, but we didn’t know the reasons why... we now know how much was spent on course cover, jury service, sickness, unfilled roles and interestingly, planned absence.”
Compliance and safeguarding at scale
Safeguarding and compliance remain among the highest priorities for every education provider, yet fragmented agency usage can make consistency difficult to maintain.
Where multiple agencies are operating across multiple schools, processes can vary considerably. Documentation standards, vetting procedures, onboarding checks, and reporting structures are not always aligned.
As organisations scale, this creates unnecessary risk.
The webinar explored how a managed service approach introduces greater consistency through:
- Centralised compliance oversight
- Standardised safeguarding checks
- Audit-ready reporting
- Clear supplier accountability
- Uniform onboarding standards
This not only strengthens governance but also provides schools and trust leaders with greater confidence that compliance expectations are being met consistently across the organisation.
Moving from transactional staffing to strategic workforce planning
A recurring point throughout the session was that supply management should no longer be viewed as simply filling vacancies at short notice.
Traditional agency relationships are often highly transactional, focused purely on immediate staffing needs rather than long-term workforce strategy.
The managed service partnership (MSP) model shifts this dynamic. Creating opportunities to move from reactive decisions toward a more sustainable, trust-wide workforce strategy. For MATs in particular, this approach will reduce operational pressure and duplication across schools.
Why more education providers are exploring MSP models
The wider conversation reflected a broader shift happening across the education sector.
As trusts grow and operational complexity increases, many schools and trusts are recognising that supply staffing can no longer be managed effectively through disconnected processes and supplier relationships alone.
What was once considered an administrative function is increasingly being viewed as a strategic operational priority.
Managed service partnerships offer a framework that helps education providers:
- Improve visibility
- Strengthen compliance
- Reduce operational burden
- Increase supplier accountability
- Support long-term workforce planning
- Deliver greater value from supply spend
Since working with Edwin through an MSP model, Connect Multi-Academy Trust reduced supply spending by 50% within one term, with spend being £260,000 lower than the same time in the previous year, and cut supplier invoices from 25 to 1.
For schools, colleges, and MATs looking to create more sustainable staffing strategies, one thing is clear: taking control of supply is no longer simply about filling vacancies. It is about building stronger operational foundations for the future.
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Edwin is already a trusted education partner for many schools and multi-academy trusts, so whether you're looking for practical support, fresh thinking or simply somewhere to share ideas with peers, we'd love to hear from you.