Case studies / Education
Case studyAn admissions and enquiry application for a school group
A multi-campus school group replaced separate enquiry spreadsheets with a custom admissions application, following up enquiries faster and tracking conversion for the first time.
Overview
An international school group with several campuses in the Middle East, teaching British and international curricula to families from dozens of nationalities. Admissions is competitive, and families typically compare several schools before deciding.
Scale. Thousands of enquiries each year across four campuses, from the website, phone, walk-ins, events and agents, handled by admissions teams on every campus.
The challenge
A family that enquires at three schools on a Sunday evening will usually visit the one that replies first and most helpfully. This group knew that, but its admissions process was not built to act on it.
Enquiries were handled in separate sheets on each campus. Website forms arrived by email, phone enquiries were noted on paper or in a spreadsheet and event sign-ups were kept in yet another list. No one could see all the enquiries for a campus in one place, let alone for the group.
Follow-up was inconsistent. Some families heard back within hours, others after several days, and some not at all when an email was missed. Tours and assessments were booked by phone and email, with frequent back-and-forth.
Reporting was laborious. At the end of each month, admissions teams combined their sheets to report enquiries and enrolments, and the definitions differed by campus. Leadership could not say which marketing channels produced enrolments or where families dropped out.
Admissions staff were sceptical of new systems. A previous off-the-shelf product had been configured once, at length, and then abandoned because it did not fit the way they worked.
Agents who referred international families had no simple way to see what had happened to their referrals, so they chased admissions staff by phone and email, adding to the workload at the busiest times of year.
The solution
Every enquiry, whether from a website form, phone call, walk-in, event or agent, is captured in one application. Website forms create records automatically, and staff can log phone and walk-in enquiries in seconds.
Workflows guide each enquiry through the stages the group agreed, from first contact to tour, assessment, offer and enrolment. Tasks remind staff when a follow-up is due, and managers see overdue tasks across their team.
Communications are sent from the application using templates for each stage and language, and every email and call is logged against the family. Families can book tours and assessments through links rather than by phone.
Reports show enquiries, conversion and drop-off by campus, year group, source and stage. Leadership can see which channels produce enrolments and where families are lost.
When a family accepts an offer, their details pass to the student information system, and registration and deposit payments are taken online, avoiding re-keying and delay.
Campus admissions teams can adjust their own templates, tour slots and event lists without developer help, while the stages, definitions and reports stay common across the group so that figures remain comparable.
The engagement
- Six months
- Five specialists
- Admissions journey mapping, design and build of an enquiry and admissions application with workflows, tasks, communications and reporting, integration with student records and website forms, a one-campus pilot and group rollout.
Integrations
- Website forms
- Student information system
- Payments
- Analytics
How we delivered it
- 01
Map the admissions journey
Four weeks
We mapped the admissions journey from first enquiry to enrolment with admissions teams on every campus, including the informal steps that made the difference, such as the follow-up call after a tour.
- 02
Build workflows and reports
Twelve weeks
We built enquiry capture, workflows, tasks, communications and reports in small, regular releases every two weeks. Admissions staff tried each release and their feedback shaped the next.
- 03
Pilot one campus
Five weeks
One campus used the application for its full admissions workload during a busy period. We fixed issues quickly and added the improvements its team asked for.
- 04
Roll out to all campuses
Five weeks
The remaining campuses joined one at a time, trained by the pilot team, with regular releases continuing throughout.
Results
- Faster follow-up of every enquiry
- Simple, consistent admissions reporting
- Conversion tracked from enquiry to enrolment
- Marketing spend directed by enrolment data
Enquiries are followed up faster. New enquiries reach the right campus team immediately, tasks make sure nothing is missed and families hear back promptly, often the same day.
Reporting has become simple. Monthly figures come straight from the application, with consistent definitions across campuses, and admissions teams no longer spend days combining spreadsheets.
Conversion can now be tracked from enquiry to enrolment. The marketing team has moved budget towards channels that produce enrolments, and campuses have improved the stages where families were dropping out.
Small, regular releases kept staff engaged. Admissions teams saw their suggestions appear within weeks, and the application became something they shaped rather than something done to them.
Every fortnight something we had asked for appeared. After a couple of months, my team stopped asking whether this one would last.
What made the difference
Small, regular releases kept staff engaged.
