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Custom student tracking system app.

A custom student tracking app that fits your teaching model: progress registration, test results, observations, student records and a parent portal in one seamless flow. Built vendor-independent, integrated with ParnasSys, Magister, SOMtoday, Eduarte or Osiris, with GDPR, ECK iD and AI Act compliance from sprint one.

SectorPrimary & secondary education

SectorVocational education (MBO)

SectorHigher education

SectorHealthcare competence register

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The student tracking landscape in numbers.

~7.700

Primary and secondary schools that use a pupil tracking system

~60

Vocational education institutions typically work with Eduarte or equivalent systems

~80%

Higher education institutions use OSIRIS or Studielink in the chain

Standards we integrate with as standard: UWLR, OSO, ECK iD, Edu-iX, Entree

Source: Kennisnet, SURF, DUO and in-house counts among education clients.

A standard SIS package covers the basics, not your teaching reality.

The Dutch education market for student tracking systems is consolidated. ParnasSys runs in most primary schools, Magister and SOMtoday dominate secondary education, Eduarte is the de facto choice in vocational education (MBO), and Osiris and Studielink handle the central flows for universities of applied sciences and research universities. These packages do what they were built for: they record grades, register attendance, produce reports on time and export neatly to DUO. They work as administration. They rarely work as a teaching tool.

The problem arises as soon as your institution needs something more idiosyncratic than the package offers. A special needs school that wants to keep a detailed individual education plan (OPP) per pupil, with goals, evaluations and adjustments. A vocational training programme that wants to store observations in its own rubric structure, with photographic evidence and voice recordings. A higher education institution that wants to link inclusive education to career guidance and placement performance in a single pupil view. A healthcare training programme that, alongside progress, maintains a competency register: which procedures may this student already perform, who signed them off, and when does the authorisation expire? Flows like these do not fit into fields that the package vendor designed for the whole of the Netherlands.

On top of that, the packages set their own pace. A request your care coordinator considers urgent this year may only appear on the roadmap two releases from now, if it fits at all. There are two traditional answers to this problem: either you live with it, or you commission a specialist app that works alongside the package, with integrations via a custom LMS approach or on top of the existing SIS, and that is what this page is about. We explain a thorough weighing of package versus custom in our guide to custom LMS versus packaged software.

We have been building that custom SVS layer together with educational institutions and healthcare training providers for years. It doesn't replace what already works; instead it adds its own layer that captures the specific flows of your institution: IEP management for the SO (special secondary education), an observation app for teachers in the MBO (vocational education), drop-out monitoring for the study guidance counsellor in the HBO (higher professional education), and a competence register for a teaching hospital. One learner view, your own data, your own source code, with integrations you don't have to rebuild with every package update. For the wider education working group, see our page educational app development, and for the service layer around a single training programme, building an app for a course.

A dedicated SIS flow per education level.

A student tracking system for a SO school is something quite different from an SVS for a HBO programme or a teaching hospital. Below, per layer, is what we typically build, with which integrations and which compliance requirements apply.

Primary & secondary: tailored support and the individual education plan

In primary and secondary education, internal supervisors, mentors and care coordinators work with a learner view that the packaged SVS only covers for basic flows. For pupils with support needs, ParnasSys' standard IEP rarely suffices: it lacks structure for goals per subject, evaluation points, parental signature on the IEP, and the link with the educational psychologist who sits outside the school.

On top of that, we build a specialist app: an IEP module with a clear goals tree, evaluations that trigger scheduled moments, a parent portal with digital signature, and a file that can be exported in summary form for the Samenwerkingsverband Passend Onderwijs (regional special-needs education partnership). For test results and observations, we build a teacher app in which the class teacher can record an observation with photo, audio and rubric in thirty seconds, on the move, in the classroom, without having four tabs open. Data syncs via UWLR with ParnasSys, with BSN pseudonymisation and ECK iD exchange.

For secondary education, we work on top of Magister or SOMtoday. There we typically build a form-tutor dashboard that shows attendance, grade trends, subject progress and support indicators on one screen, with a click-through per pupil to a file that only authorised form tutors and care coordinators may view. Tutor conversations are recorded in a structured way, and early-warning signals for dropout risk come from clear rules rather than an opaque algorithm.

IEP moduleGoals per learning area, evaluations, parent signature and summary export for the partnership.
UWLR + OSOStandard integration with ParnasSys, Magister and SOMtoday for learner data and transfer between schools.
Observation app for teachersRecord an observation quickly with photo, audio and rubric, built for the classroom, not for behind the desk.
Parent portalAccess to reports, IEPs and attendance, with digital parental signature and logic for separated parents.

Vocational education (MBO), higher education (HBO/WO) and the professional competence register.

MBO (secondary vocational education): Eduarte has become the dominant player in MBO, with SOMtoday as the main alternative. For basic administration these keep working; for the practical learning context we almost always build a custom layer. An MBO programme in healthcare or technology wants to see performance at the work placement as clearly as the grades from a written test, and that data is never fully in the package. We build a practice portfolio with rubrics, a feedback loop between workplace supervisor and teacher, photo or video evidence, and sign-off moments that follow your institution's examination regulations. For internships and BPV (work placements), we build a three-party flow between student, workplace supervisor and BPV coordinator. Everything with audit logs that comply with the SaaS-Toets-Convenant and with ECK iD as a pseudonymous identifier, so citizen service numbers (BSNs) don't unnecessarily cross supplier boundaries.

Higher education (HBO & WO) — Here things run centrally through Studielink, OSIRIS and local variants of these. The packaged student information system covers enrolment, examination administration and grade registration. The pain lies in everything that touches student guidance: study career guidance (SLB), tutor meetings, thesis tracks, placement supervision, alumni monitoring. We build an SLB app in which tutor, student and study adviser share the same timeline, with meeting reports, goals and, where wanted, a dropout-risk indicator that comes transparently from clearly defined rules (and not from a black-box model). For services such as AI support for drop-out prediction, we build the layer on top with explicit AI Act care: bias testing, human review, transparency reporting, opt-out.

Competence register in healthcare Healthcare organisations that train staff (teaching hospitals, mental health providers, elderly care organisations) must keep track, for each employee or student, of which reserved clinical acts they may perform, which learning objectives they still need to achieve, when a qualification expires and which annual reassessment is required. The combination of the Individual Healthcare Professions Act (Wet BIG), the Nursing Care Quality Framework (Kwaliteitskader Verpleegzorg) and NEN 7510 makes this a distinct branch of student tracking systems. We build competence registers that link acts to learning objectives, training records, supervision hours and sign-off moments, with a dashboard for the practice trainer and automatic alerts when a qualification is close to expiring or a reassessment is due. Integrations with Workday, AFAS HRM and Nedap Ons are standard.

Specialist variants Beyond these four main groups, we also build portfolio apps for educational publishers that track teachers and learners across multiple methods, dyslexia tracking systems for special needs education providers, NT2 (Dutch as a second language) tracking systems for civic integration programmes, and performance tracking systems for elite sports academies. In every case: vendor-independent, integrations via open standards, and code ownership stays with the institution.

Compliance is not an afterthought in the student tracking system.

A student tracking system (SVS) collects extremely sensitive data: pupil progress, care indicators, and sometimes medical context in special needs education or healthcare training. From sprint one, we work within the AVG-O, the Privacyconvenant Onderwijs 4.0, NEN 7510 for healthcare variants, and the AI Act for anything involving prediction.

AVG-O & Privacyconvenant Onderwijs 4.0

The stricter GDPR layer for education

The education sector has its own sector-specific elaboration of the general GDPR: the Privacyconvenant Onderwijs (current version 4.0) and the associated assessment by SIVON and SURF. This includes, among other things, additional safeguards for processing pupil data, a standardised data processing agreement with education suppliers, and clear rules on which data may and may not be shared with third-party suppliers. We follow that covenant by design and deliver the corresponding data processing agreement and sub-processor registers as standard.

BSN, ECK iD & pseudonymisation

Identity without BSN wherever possible

The education sector uses the BSN as the legally mandated unique identifier towards DUO and funding. For everything beyond that — exchange with suppliers, links between schools, parent portal — we default to ECK iD: a pseudonymous identifier issued by Kennisnet that keeps the BSN outside the chain. Pseudonymisation is not an option but the default; the BSN is only used where the law requires it.

UWLR, OSO & Edu-iX

Open standards for data exchange

For pupil data exchange between schools we work with OSO (Overstapservice Onderwijs); for exchange with suppliers and methods we use UWLR (Uniforme Webservice voor Leerresultaten); for central identity exchange we use Edu-iX and — in higher education — SURFconext via Entree. All three standards run through a single abstraction layer, so a change of supplier later does not require full recoding and your institution can replace suppliers independently.

EU AI Act — high-risk Annex III

Predictions and assessments under responsible AI

The EU AI Act explicitly classifies education and examination admission as high-risk contexts in Annex III. This means that drop-out prediction, automatic grouping by level, and AI-based admission assessments fall under a stricter regime: governance documentation, bias testing across gender, background and disadvantage criteria, human review before any decision on progression or exit, and transparency reporting to the supervisory authority. We build that layer with the AI Act's requirements in mind, and we advise against building autonomous decisions on pupil progression into the system, even where the technology would allow it.

SaaS-Toets-Convenant

Assessment software under the Education Sector Covenant

Assessment results that end up in the SVS (student tracking system) are subject to the SaaS Assessment Covenant for Education. It sets requirements for audit logs, identity verification, secure storage, and the ability for the educational institution to build in a second-opinion flow in case of doubt or objection. We follow that covenant and deliver the corresponding audit trail as standard.

WCAG 2.2 / EAA

Accessibility for pupils, parents and teachers

Since the European Accessibility Act of 2025, WCAG 2.2 AA is mandatory for public education apps and for the parent portal. We test with JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver, build full keyboard navigation, and deliver an accessibility statement that can be accepted by Stichting Drempelvrij or a comparable audit partner.

NEN 7510 (healthcare variant)

Information security for competence registers

For competence registers in healthcare, NEN 7510 is the applicable security standard, and the Quality Framework for District Nursing or the Quality Framework for Nursing Care affects the processes to be followed. We build access management that aligns with these standards, with fine-grained role assignment for practice supervisor, supervisor and student, and with audit logs that can be shown during an inspection visit.

Seamlessly connected to your existing student-tracking ecosystem.

We rarely replace your SIS/SVS package; instead we build alongside it and integrate via the open education standards. Below are the parties we routinely work with.

ParnasSys

SVS · Primary education

Magister

SVS · Secondary education

SOMtoday

SVS · Secondary & vocational education

Eduarte

SVS · Vocational education (MBO)

OSIRIS

SIS · Higher professional & university education

Studielink

Central admissions for higher professional & university education

Kennisnet (Entree)

Identity federation

SURFconext

SSO · Higher education & research

Standard integrations, your own specialist app on top.

The integrations mentioned above have been standardised across several education projects. On a new project we set up the integration with the same abstraction layer, which means fewer integration bugs, a working flow within a few sprints, and functional management that can maintain it independently once we step away. If your institution later switches package supplier (for example from Magister to SOMtoday), the specialist app keeps working; only the connector needs adjusting.

For institution-specific software (custom middleware, decades-old Java or Oracle extensions to the SIS, custom OSIRIS modules, in-house reporting tools built back in 2003), we build integrations case by case. That adds work in the planning phase, but it prevents integration debt later. For publishers and EdTech start-ups who want to track method-specific progress, we look at a custom LMS in which the SVS component is a first-class part rather than an add-on.

For exchanges with government and quality frameworks, we integrate as standard with DUO (BRON), Inspectorate of Education reporting, Vensters PO/VO, NVAO audits in higher education, and Passend Onderwijs partnerships (Samenwerkingsverbanden). For care competence registers, we integrate with AFAS HRM, Workday, Nedap Ons and the relevant quality registers of the professional associations. You can find a broader view of our education approach on the general education app page.

How a student-tracking system project runs.

An SVS project for an educational institution has its own rhythm. Five phases that are recognisable for every client, although each phase scales with the complexity of your educational context.

01 · Audit

Pedagogy & data mapping

A day with a mentor, an internal support coordinator or care coordinator, and a functional administrator of the package. Outcome: current pupil data mapped out, bottlenecks identified, and pedagogical principles recorded.

02 · Design

Scope & integrations

Which SVS flows go into the app for each target group, which integrations take priority (ParnasSys, Magister, SOMtoday, Eduarte, Osiris), and which flows fit a later release.

03 · Build

Short sprints

Every sprint delivers one working SEN (special educational needs) flow. Teachers, mentors and, where relevant, pupils or parents test it straight away. The first working flow is already live after a few sprints.

04 · Cutover

Pilot & rollout

First one class, one course or one department, then the next. Each rollout includes training for teachers, materials for the helpdesk, a handover to functional management and updates to the existing package integrations.

05 · Maintenance

Ongoing

We adapt with every GDPR-O change, each new version of Magister or SOMtoday, and each update to the Dutch Education Privacy Covenant (Privacyconvenant Onderwijs). Fixed monthly price, with first-line support within the same working day.

Working in a sector that relies heavily on standards.

Kennisnet · Monitor Digitale Leermiddelen

"Schools increasingly choose a specialist app alongside their existing pupil administration system (SVS) — for inclusive education, observations or communication with parents — rather than a complete replacement of the package."

SURF · Trend Report on Education & ICT

"The greatest added value of custom development in higher education lies in the support layer: study career guidance, thesis tracking and internship monitoring, which student information system packages do not, or barely, cover."

Dutch Education Privacy Covenant (SIVON)

"Educational institutions remain the controllers of pupil data. Code ownership and clearly defined processor agreements are almost always a condition for publicly funded contracts."

Fabian van Dijk Business Developer · Education & EdTech at Appfront

fabian.vandijk@appfront.nl

Answers for institutions looking to strengthen their pupil administration system.

The questions we hear most often from board members, ICT managers, care coordinators and course coordinators.

Do you replace ParnasSys, Magister, SOMtoday or Eduarte?

In most projects, no. The packaged SVS covers basic administrative processes (enrolment, funding, examination administration, BRON submissions) that no institution can easily replace. We usually build a specialist SVS layer alongside the package, for example for inclusive education, individual support plan (OPP) management, observation flows, drop-out monitoring or competence registration, and integrate via UWLR, OSO, ECK iD and Edu-iX. For some niche institutions (a small private academy, an international school, a specialist care trainer), a fully custom SVS is sometimes the right route; we establish this during the audit phase.

How do you handle privacy and GDPR-O for pupil data?

From the first sprint we work within GDPR-O and the Education Privacy Covenant 4.0. That means data minimisation limited to what is pedagogically necessary, retention periods per data object, a data register, a DPIA on delivery, and a processor agreement in line with the covenant. We use ECK iD and pseudonymisation as standard; the citizen service number (BSN) is only used where legally required. For institutions with a Data Protection Officer, we align directly with that person.

What about drop-out prediction and the AI Act?

Drop-out risk prediction, automatic placement in ability groups and AI-based admission assessments fall under the high-risk category of Annex III of the EU AI Act in education. We document governance, carry out bias tests across gender, background and disadvantage criteria, build human review in before any decision that affects study progress, and publish a transparency report. We do not build autonomous drop-out decisions — not because the technology cannot, but because the AI Act risk, the pedagogical risk and the reputational risk are too great. See also our page on AI development for our broader approach to AI.

Do we get the source code and data under our own control?

Yes. Code ownership is set out contractually; the institution owns the source code, schemas and data. For publicly funded education contracts, that is almost always a requirement (and, more broadly, a sound safeguard against vendor lock-in). We deliver a runbook, transfer knowledge to functional management, and set up the codebase so that another team can take it over after us.

Do you work with UWLR, OSO and ECK iD?

Yes. UWLR for exchanging learning results with learning methods and suppliers, OSO for pupil transfer between schools, and ECK iD as a pseudonymous identifier in place of the BSN wherever possible. For higher education we work with SURFconext and the Edu-iX chain. All three or four standards run through a single abstraction layer, so a change of supplier later won't require a complete recoding.

What is the difference between your SVS app and a custom LMS?

An LMS focuses on delivering and working through learning material: courses, modules, assignments, tests. An SVS (student tracking system) focuses on following the student as a person: progress over the years, individual development plans (OPP), care indicators, records, parent communication. In practice there is a grey area: we often build an SVS component on top of an existing LMS, or an LMS component alongside an existing SVS. For the choice between package and custom in an LMS context, we wrote a separate guide: custom LMS vs off-the-shelf LMS.

Can you build an SVS for a teaching hospital or care organisation (competency register)?

Yes, this is one of our strongest use cases. A care competence register tracks, alongside the usual progress, procedures, supervision hours, NEN 7510-compliant audit logs and competence deadlines. We build these with granular roles for practice trainer, supervisor and student, with automatic alerts for expiring competences, and with integrations to AFAS HRM, Workday or Nedap Ons. The Kwaliteitskader Verpleegzorg and the Wet BIG guide the setup.

Can you build a multi-tenant SVS for a school board or vocational college group?

Yes. For school boards with multiple schools, ROC groups with multiple colleges, or care organisations with multiple training departments, we build multi-tenant from the start. Each entity gets its own branding, role configuration, integrations and data isolation within a single codebase. That reduces maintenance and still lets each entity operate independently, including its own data processing agreements where needed.

How does this relate to your broader education app service and to training apps?

This page focuses specifically on student tracking systems. You can find a broader view of our education working group on education app development, which also covers student portals, teacher apps, e-learning, language learning apps and proctoring. For a single defined course focused on sharing study material and scheduling, get a course app built is the right service page. Clients often start on a service page, read here for the SVS-specific context, and then move into a project.

Talk to us about your student tracking system.

A half-hour introductory call with our education team. We listen to your educational context, look at how your existing package fits, and identify where a specialist layer adds value. No obligation.

Schedule an introductory call Email fabian.vandijk@appfront.nl