Explained for schools · secondary educationExplained for schools
Choosing a student administration system.
The requirements at a glance.
You choose a new student administration system for years. This list helps with the choice and with a tender: for each requirement why it matters, and what you ask the supplier. Usable for any system, even if you do not choose Ludendo.
As of 12 November 2026. This is an explanation, not legal advice.
1 · DUO and the other systems
Connecting to the chain.
A switch stands or falls on it.
| Requirement | Why | Question for the supplier |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting to DUO (the Register of Education Participants, Register Onderwijsdeelnemers, formerly BRON) | Enrolments, absence reports and exam results go to DUO, and the school’s funding depends partly on what DUO knows. Without reporting, you cannot use the system as your only administration. | Does the system report to DUO itself, for enrolment, absence and exams? Has that connection been tested and is it already in use, and at how many schools? |
| The transfer file (OSO) | When a student changes school, part of their file goes along digitally, via the OSO standard. According to Edustandaard, version 2026.1 applies from the 2026-2027 school year. | Does the system support OSO 2026.1, for both receiving and sending? |
| Logging in with the school account (Entree) | Students and staff log in with their school account via Entree, also for digital lesson materials. Publishers then get no name, but a fixed number per student: the ECK iD. | Does logging in via Entree work, and does the system pass an ECK iD on to publishers? |
| Timetable | Many schools make the timetable in a separate program. | Does the system fetch the timetable from our timetabling program, and how often? |
| Examination file and examination programme (PTA) | School exam grades count towards the diploma. A mistake in the weighting or during the switch directly affects an exam student. | Does the system support our examination programme (PTA), the weighting and the resits? How do the school exam grades from previous years come along in a switch? |
| Other connections | The learning environment, student care and the school’s other systems must connect to it. | Which connections already exist, and is there an open connection the school can use itself? |
| Importing at the start | Students, parents, classes and teachers must be in it well before the first school day. | Can we import from a file, with a check first, and all or nothing? |
2 · Privacy and security
The school’s data.
Safe, and only for those who are allowed.
| Requirement | Why | Question for the supplier |
|---|---|---|
| Data processing agreement | The school is responsible; the supplier works on its behalf. In education you usually use the model of the Dutch education privacy covenant for this. | Does the supplier sign the model of the Dutch education privacy covenant (version 4.0), with a privacy information sheet? |
| DPIA | A privacy assessment before you start using a system with a lot of data about children. | Is there a DPIA, for example one that SIVON had made if the system has a SIVON contract, or are there building blocks to make one yourself? |
| Who sees what | Student care, medical data and the citizen service number (BSN) belong only with those who have their own right to them. | Can we set permissions per role, and does the school see in the log who opened which file? |
| Where the data is stored | Storage in the European Union keeps the data under European rules. | Where are the data and the backups stored? Which other companies process them? |
| Security tested | A system with children’s data should also be checked from the outside. For your own requirements, the Kennisnet IBP standards framework (Normenkader IBP) helps. | When was the last penetration test by an independent firm, and may the school see the summary? Does the supplier have a certificate or statement, such as ISO 27001? |
| A data breach | The school reports a data breach with risk to the Dutch Data Protection Authority within 72 hours of discovering it. | How quickly and how does the supplier report a data breach to the school? |
3 · Switching and being able to leave again
Never stuck with one supplier.
Not even after ten years.
| Requirement | Why | Question for the supplier |
|---|---|---|
| Export everything | If the system falls under the European Data Act (that is likely, but not yet tested), the supplier hands over all exportable data in a switch, in a common file format. From 12 January 2027 that may then no longer cost anything. | Do we get all data from all years, with a description of the structure? Can we do that ourselves, without asking? |
| The old years after a switch | You keep the administration for at least 5 years after deregistration; do not destroy exam data for now. | How do we view old data after a switch, and what does that cost? |
| Retention periods | Not shorter than the law, not longer than needed. | Can we set periods per type of data, and does something only go with our approval? |
| Cancelling | If the system falls under the Data Act, the notice period is at most 2 months and the transition in principle at most 30 days. | What is the notice period, the contract term, and what does cancelling early cost? |
| Price and the supplier’s future | You choose for years, so the supplier must still be there in years to come. | What does it cost per student per year, all in? What happens to the data if the supplier stops? |
| Support | The first weeks of the school year are the busiest. | How reachable is the helpdesk in those weeks, and what availability does the supplier commit to? |
4 · In use
Everyone must be able to use it.
Without long training.
For parents and students
An app with timetable, homework, grades with explanations, reporting sick and requesting leave. Ask: can parents with more than one child see everything in one place?
For teachers and mentors
Absence, grades and lesson materials in the lesson itself. Ask: how many clicks does it take to register a lesson?
For the administration
What is open, absence and compulsory schooling, leave, applications. Ask: is the compulsory schooling report ready with the right deadlines?
On every screen
Does it work on a phone and a laptop, and is it accessible for people with poor sight or who only use a keyboard?
Fixing mistakes
You must be able to undo a mistake, without calling the helpdesk.
Try before you choose
Ask for a demo with made-up data, and have a teacher, a mentor and someone from the administration look along.
And Ludendo?
The same list, applied to ourselves.
With how far we are.
Ludendo is a new school app for Dutch secondary education, in development. For each point on this list we show what is already built and what is not.
Questions
What schools ask
when they start choosing.
What is a student administration system?
The system in which a school keeps track of its students: enrolment, classes, grades, absence and exams, with reporting to DUO. It often comes with an app for parents and students and a learning environment.
Does a student administration system have to report to DUO?
The school must pass on enrolments, absence and exam results to DUO. That almost always happens from the student administration system. So ask whether the system does this itself.
Does a school have to do a DPIA?
For a system with a lot of data about children, a DPIA is usually needed. The school does it itself; a supplier can provide building blocks.
How far ahead do you start?
Well over a year ahead: choosing, checking your current contract, requesting the export, and a trial in the spring. You switch at the start of a school year.
Does a new system have to be put out to tender?
That depends on the value of the contract and on your school board. Ask your procurement officer; buying together is also possible via SIVON.
Taking part in a tender?
Send us
your list of requirements.
We fill it in, with how far Ludendo is on each point. Or come and get acquainted and see the app with made-up data. Do not send any data about students.
Your email reaches Thomas and Geert, the makers of Ludendo.