Orbital Software Solutions

What Orbital Software Solutions does

Orbital Software Solutions Ltd is a privately held UK software vendor, founded in 2017, by five co-founders (Janet Leclercq, Huw Jones, Ian Cocks, Peter Murphy, Dave Monks) whose combined decades of experience sit in the UK Education sector. The company is registered in England and Wales (Companies House number 10994354), headquartered at Sycamore House, Sutton Quays Business Park, Sutton Weaver, Cheshire, and operates with a 1–10 employee footprint. Orbital is focused narrowly on the UK Further Education (FE) sector, with a stated 130+ provider customer base.

Name

Orbital Software Solutions

Legal name

Orbital Software Solutions Ltd

Website

https://orbitalgo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Orbital Software Solutions Ltd is a UK-based SaaS vendor that builds Strata, a cloud-hosted performance monitoring and QAR/Ofsted reporting platform for the Further Education sector, serving 130+ providers on Microsoft Azure UK with supplementary development, consultancy and training services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Runcorn

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Strata SaaS Subscription: Cloud-based software-as-a-service subscription model for Strata performance monitoring product. Access via strata.orbitalgo.com login, with cloud hosting and maintenance handled by Orbital.
2. Professional Services: Consultancy, development, training and reporting services. Includes custom software development, system integrations, strategic IT planning, process improvement, technology assessments, data strategy and governance, and bespoke training programmes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Orbital Software Solutions develops and sells Strata, a cloud-based SaaS performance monitoring and reporting application built specifically for UK Further Education providers, featuring DfE/Ofsted compliance reports, QAR reporting, ILR data quality monitoring via the Action Centre, Spotlight reports, and Power BI/API integration. The company complements Strata with professional services covering custom software development, IT consultancy, training programmes, and bespoke reporting and data visualisation work for education and other sector clients.

Product overview

Orbital Software Solutions operates a single-product-plus-services model. Their flagship product is Strata, a cloud-based performance monitoring and reporting platform built specifically for the UK Further Education sector. In addition to Strata, the company offers professional IT services including Development (custom software, web/mobile applications, system integrations, legacy modernisation), Consultancy (strategic IT planning, process improvement, technology assessments, data strategy), Training (product training, technical skills development, bespoke programmes), and Reporting (custom report development, dashboard design, data visualisation, business intelligence solutions). The services are presented as standalone offerings that complement the Strata product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Strata: Performance monitoring solution for the Further Education (FE) sector, featuring dedicated DfE and Ofsted performance reports, spotlight reports, dashboards, Power BI integration, and cloud-based access.

Products and services

• Strata
• Development Services
• Consultancy Services
• Training Services
• Reporting Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 130+ providers using Strata platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers42 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Drake LanecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDrake Lane provides market leading SCORE, 4CAST and SCORE CA software to the education sector and combined authorities. Partnership focuses on quality, curriculum planning, funding, audit and data analysis for FE providers.
• Further Education PartnershipcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerThe Further Education Partnership offers interim MIS and data services, support and consultancy to Further Education colleges, and Training providers across the Post-16 Education Sector. Provides implementation and consulting services.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Capita: Major UK outsourcing and software group whose education business (including SIMS) supplies MIS solutions across the education sector, providing an alternative procurement path for FE colleges.
• OneAdvanced: UK enterprise software provider (formerly IRIS, Advanced) with education and MIS offerings. Competes as a broad incumbent in back-office and student data software for education providers.
• ParentPay Group: UK education payments and software group that acquired Tribal. It bundles payments, MIS and communication products for schools and FE institutions, making it a large incumbent adjacent to Orbital's reporting niche.
• Tribal Group: Established UK and international education software provider with student information systems used across FE and HE. A broad incumbent whose MIS suites could expand into Orbital's performance-reporting niche.
• Civica: Large UK public-sector software group with education division covering schools, FE and HE. Its broader portfolio and procurement relationships make it a potential competitor or alternative vendor for FE customers.

Others

• Qlik: Analytics and data integration vendor used widely in public-sector and education settings. An adjacent BI competitor that FE institutions could consider as an alternative to Strata's reporting layer.
• Tableau: Enterprise BI and visualisation platform (now Salesforce). Competes adjacently as a general-purpose analytics layer that FE colleges could deploy over raw ILR data in place of Orbital's purpose-built reports.
• Microsoft Power BI: Self-service BI platform that Orbital integrates with via out-of-the-box Power BI connectors. As a low-cost general-purpose analytics tool, it is a partial substitute and adjacent ecosystem participant in FE data reporting.

Emerging players

• Juniper Education: UK education-focused software and services provider supporting schools and trusts. Although more school-leaning, it represents an emerging player in the broader UK education data and analytics space Orbital targets.

Direct peers

• Drake Lane: UK education software vendor selling SCORE, 4CAST and SCORE CA for FE colleges and combined authorities. A formal Orbital partner, it competes head-to-head in the same FE performance-monitoring and data-quality category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OrbitalGo

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Orbital Software Solutions