In the complex world of education, the path to meaningful improvement can often feel overwhelming, buried under mountains of paperwork and disparate systems. School leaders and staff know they need to evaluate and plan, but often lack a clear, effective way to do it collaboratively.

iAbacus was created to be that better way.

It's an online self-evaluation and strategic planning tool that’s deceptively simple, visually engaging, and powerfully effective. Built on over five decades of research and real-world leadership practice, iAbacus transforms evaluation from a compliance chore into a continuous cycle of insight, action, and sustainable success.

"Staff knew they had to self-evaluate but didn’t know how - iAbacus showed them how. As we went through each screen, it was collecting our thinking and producing a cumulative report... It’s a blessed relief from wading through pages of Word document plans.” — Jill Boyle, Headteacher

At its heart, iAbacus uses the intuitive metaphor of an abacus – sliding beads to represent progress – making complex evaluation processes accessible and tangible for everyone.

The Story Behind iAbacus: Proven Power, Deceptive Simplicity

The iAbacus journey began not with code, but with decades of experience. In 1970, John Pearce, an educator and leader with over 50 years spanning schools, public services, and business, developed the original 'Abacus' concept. Grounded in academic research and extensive practical application, he refined a simple yet powerful sequence for effective self-evaluation and planning, designed to empower professionals and cut through complexity.

In 2010, John met Daniel O’Brien, a pioneer in educational technology known for blending simplicity with powerful functionality. Daniel instantly saw how John's proven, hands-on process could become an intuitive online tool.

Their partnership launched iAbacus in 2012. It was quickly hailed as "unique and transformational" and became a Bett Awards finalist in 2014 for its genuine innovation.

This history is key: iAbacus uniquely fuses John's deep, research-backed methodology with Daniel's expertise in creating accessible, powerful software. It’s a tool built on wisdom, designed for impact.

What Makes iAbacus Unique?

iAbacus stands apart by focusing on a few core principles:

  • Empowering Professional Judgement: We believe your team's insight is invaluable. iAbacus starts with your professional judgement ('nous'), providing a structure to evidence, verify, and act upon it, rather than imposing data first.
  • Driving Action, Not Just Reporting: Evaluation without action is pointless. iAbacus guides you through analysing why things are the way they are (identifying 'Helping and Hindering Factors' – the heart of the process) before creating targeted, strategic action plans.
  • A Continuous Improvement Cycle: Success isn't static. iAbacus supports ongoing cycles of evaluation, action, and review. Visually track progress over time as new judgements (beads) are added, creating a living record of your journey.
  • Intuitive and Visual: The abacus metaphor and clean interface make evaluation less daunting and more engaging. It's designed to be understood quickly – "I only had to look at it to know what it is all about".
  • Built for Collaboration: School improvement is a team effort. iAbacus makes it easy to share evaluations, invite contributions (with different permission levels), compare perspectives, and build collective ownership.
  • Flexible and Adaptable: Use ready-made templates aligned with national frameworks (Ofsted, Estyn, HGIOS?4, LAOS, etc.) or create completely bespoke ones. iAbacus adapts to your school's unique context, roles, and priorities. Complimentary expert support is always available to help tailor iAbacus perfectly.

How It Works: The iAbacus Process

The core of iAbacus is a simple, five-step cycle:

  1. Make a Judgement: Start by sliding a bead to visually represent your current performance against a specific area. This harnesses your initial professional insight.
  2. Verify with Criteria: Check your judgement against clear criteria – from national standards, inspection frameworks, or your school's own goals – to refine its accuracy.
  3. Provide Evidence: Back up your judgement. Attach files, add notes, link to data, photos, or videos – consolidating proof in one place.
  4. Analyse Factors: Identify what's Helping success and what's Hindering progress. This crucial diagnostic step (based on Force-Field Analysis) reveals why things are the way they are.
  5. Plan Actions: Based on your analysis, create targeted actions specifying what needs doing, who is responsible, how success will be measured, and by when.

This isn't a one-off task. As actions lead to improvement, you add new beads, visually tracking progress over time while previous judgements remain visible.

Who Uses iAbacus?

iAbacus is designed for everyone involved in evaluation and improvement within educational settings:

  • Schools: Primary, Secondary, Special, Independent, Faith Schools, Alternative Provision.
  • Groups: Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), Federations, Local Authorities.
  • Further Education: Colleges, Sixth Forms, Training Providers.
  • Roles:
    • Senior Leaders (Headteachers, Principals, CEOs) for strategic planning and oversight.
    • Middle Leaders (Department Heads, Subject Leads, Phase Leaders) for focused reviews and team development.
    • Teachers & Teaching Assistants for personal reflection, professional development, and appraisal.
    • Specialist Leads (SENCOs, Pastoral, Attendance, Safeguarding, etc.) for evaluating specific provision.
    • Governors & Trustees for board self-evaluation and strategic accountability.

Ready to Simplify Your Improvement Journey?

iAbacus offers a more authentic, collaborative, and effective route to sustained school improvement. Move beyond cumbersome paperwork and embrace a process that builds clarity, confidence, and collective ownership.

  • Explore Features: See the tools that make evaluation simple and powerful.
  • See Roles in Action: Discover how iAbacus adapts to every role in your school.
  • Book a Personal Demo: Let us show you how iAbacus can fit your specific goals in a friendly chat.
  • Start a Free Trial: Experience the clarity and confidence iAbacus brings with your own team.

Empower your school with the confidence and clarity to keep moving forward—one bead at a time.