Antony | Product Director

Hello, I’m Antony, Product Director of Applicaa. Before joining Applicaa I taught GCSE and A-Level Physics in a school in West London as a Teach First Graduate.

What led you to a career in teaching?

I really enjoyed my own time at school, particularly days spent in the science lab doing experiments and listening to my subject teachers tell us real-life stories that made what we were learning relevant.

I was always fascinated with how this worked and I wanted to share in this intrigue and discovery experience from the other side of the desk. I always felt that most people would love science if it was presented in the right way and, as a natural problem solver, I was drawn to the challenge of trying to break down apparently complicated concepts into palatable and enjoyable science lessons.

How has Admissions+ Developed over time and where do you see it going?

When we started Admissions+, it was a bit of a side project we were trying with a pilot school that wanted to reduce how much time they spent processing paper forms in the admissions office. 

To begin with, Admissions+ was a relatively simple online form for collecting the same information you would collect on paper but with the added benefit of allowing applications to have a profile that could be tracked as they progressed through the stages of the admissions process. 

Very quickly, we saw that the next key pain point was the amount of time taken to transfer information into the School MIS System. This set us on a path to focus on trying to automate this transfer of key data and student information to help schools save even more time.

Working with Schools

As we developed relationships with new schools and learnt more about the admissions journey, we continued to try and help admissions leaders, students and parents with more and more related jobs like organising meetings, collecting examination grade evidence and managing a smooth enrollment day with the aim of a seamless data transfer into the school MIS.

We have a great working relationship with over 400 schools that use Admissions+ and many of them make excellent suggestions for enhancements they would like to see in the software. We like to be responsive and, as a start-up, we are able to be nimble and make swift decisions, so we can often incorporate new ideas.

What’s Next for School Admissions?

As technology advances, the focus will be more and more on ensuring the best experience for parents, students and staff and delivering an even simpler, more connected and enjoyable experience for all. Schools want to be able to know more about their applicants before they join and to be able to provide personalised experiences based on a child’s interests. The information we collect enables schools to deliver this in conjunction with their excellent personal service.