Over the next decade, school pupil numbers are set to fall in both primary and secondary settings, with primary numbers falling more dramatically.
Projections show a drop of around 30,000 primary school pupils between 2020 and 2026, plus a decline in the number of secondary school students from 2025 onwards. The population of children in primary schools peaked in 2019 but has been declining ever since due to a falling birth rate.
Schools will find it increasingly difficult to fill their spaces and this has a corresponding impact on finances for schools that are already struggling with the increase in costs for energy, food, and maintenance.
Is there anything that can be done to mitigate the fall in numbers and the corresponding drop in income for schools?
Ramp UpSchool Marketing
Schools should start to think about how they can effectively market to and engage with current and prospective parents. Here are some top tips we have seen from our customer schools.
- Your school website is a great marketing tool, design it based on what you would like to see if you were a prospective parent
- Keep your website up to date and add new and interesting content regularly
- Use your school’s social media accounts to showcase activities and achievements at your school
- Make sure you post regular, interesting and targeted content
- Use lead capture forms to ensure you store interest from your website
- Start advertising and marketing in the Autumn Term. Parents are likely to be looking for suitable schools well in advance of making their decision and they now do considerably more research online than previously.
Remove Any Barriers in the Admissions Process
The first point of contact you have with your parents should be professional, warm, and engaging. This sets the scene for the parent’s expectations for the rest of their child’s time at school. The admissions process should be easy and efficient and parents should feel that their child has been prioritised and that their individual needs are being recognised.
- Early and efficient communication with parents is key to attracting and engaging them with your school
- Show your parents that you have a professional, sleek data collection process where all details of their child are securely recorded
- Ensure you know each child in advance of September, especially those with specific medical or educational needs
- Remove all paper forms from your admissions process, parents don’t have time to complete forms, find an envelope and a stamp and go to the post office
- Make the signing of contracts, permissions forms and other forms easy and online
- Provide a process for online payments if possible, this removes admin and is the preferred option for most families
- Remove these and other barriers and delight prospects with an easy and quick system, preferably one that can be accessed from a mobile phone.
Get Prepared for Census Day
Ensure you have accurate data in your school MIS (SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom, etc). This is crucial because it leads to getting the correct funding for your school.
It should be a priority at the admissions stage to get accurate and clean data for your new pupils and families.
Have You Considered Digital Admissions?
Admissions+ is an online system that digitises the whole process of school admissions, enrolment and timetable management. It also enables easy and fast communication with parents and prospective parents making keep warm engagement simpler.
Schools have told us that they have seen a 20% increase in student numbers within 1-2 years of using our system, a potential lifeline of income in challenging economic times.
The cost of the system is outweighed by the benefits it brings to a school and many of our customer schools have described it as a ‘game-changer!’
Want to Know More?
Join us at a local event, we have these coming up in-person events, all free!
-
Gloucester – Wed 12th October at Mercure Bowden Hall Hotel, Gloucester BOOK HEREÂ
-
Scotland – IAPS/HMC Conference for Independent Schools INFO HEREÂ