Student Information System of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Guildhall School of Music & Drama (GSMD), recognised as one of the world’s leading conservatoires and a key institution within the City of London Corporation, currently utilises a Student Information System (SIS) to manage the entire student lifecycle from admissions and enrolment through to assessment, progression, and graduation. While this system has provided a solid foundation for both academic and administrative operations over several years, GSMD is now reassessing its long-term SIS strategy in response to sector developments, digital transformation ambitions, and the evolving needs of students and staff.

This Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) and Soft Market Testing (SMT) exercise aims to explore the current market landscape for higher education SIS solutions, including the latest offerings and alternative suppliers. The objective is to inform an options appraisal that will guide GSMD’s future procurement approach, ensuring any subsequent tender is both feasible and aligned with the School’s strategic direction.

The City of London Corporation and GSMD seek to:

• Identify innovative, robust, and cost-effective SIS solutions that support GSMD’s digital transformation and sector best practice.
• Gather insights on deployment models, interoperability, user experience, compliance, and support arrangements.
• Inform an options appraisal and procurement strategy that delivers long-term value for students, staff, and the institution.
• Mitigate the risk of launching an unachievable or misaligned procurement by understanding market capabilities, indicative pricing, and implementation approaches.

Through this process, GSMD is particularly interested in:

• Cloud-based models (SaaS or managed service)
• Core SIS capabilities: admissions, enrolment, curriculum management, timetabling, assessment, progression, graduation, and reporting
• Interoperability via APIs or integration with systems .