Last week I was invited to take part in the All-Party Group for Education debate – ‘The changing schools landscape: what can maintained schools, free schools and academies learn from one another?’ It looked like a great opportunity to identify ways in which educationalists could co-operate and exchange expertise, but sadly it turned into an argument between those who want to give comprehensive education more time to succeed and those who run free schools.

The battle between 'comprehensive' and 'free' education continues. . .

Fiona Millar, co-founder (with Melissa Benn and others) of the Local Schools Network, led the attack on free schools, and Adam Dawson, co-founder of the Etz Jewish Primary Free School, responded. Fiona presented the usual arguments questioning the balance of intake into free schools, what she sees as a secretive process of application and lack of accountability.  She wants to see a middle tier, and perhaps a move back towards School Boards, as advocated by Melissa Benn in her recent book ‘School Wars’. Adam Dawson responded, saying that application is a carefully structured process laid down by Government, that free schools have to adhere to the admissions process, and that they are responding to demand for more school places.

Sadly, free schools are political. There are real concerns on the part of those who think that market forces are detrimental, and would prefer some form of control and see free schools as a threat. But there are indications that free schools are raising the game and prompting improvements in areas where they are being established. 

In our region alone, innovative new free schools have started, like the Norwich Free School, which is open 51 weeks of the year with PE facilities provided by Norwich City Football Club. There are also dynamic new schools that have approval to open in Saxmundham and Beccles in 2012, with the aim of raising standards in an area of low aspirations and mediocre academic outcomes.  The free school debate has turned into a battle, but there is an element of detractors protesting too much. However, there is evidence of a groundswell of support for free schools on the part of parents, teachers and pupils. One London free school Head tells me that 5,000 people came to his open day last month, and that he has 400 applications for every teaching post advertised.

The new market in education is here to stay and it looks as if there is no going back. There is certainly much debate, but as Lady Howe said on Wednesday, these are exciting times, and she is much encouraged by the greater involvement by parents, teachers and pupils.

For more information on how mtmconsulting can help your free school, contact us. 

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1. An Oscar for Andrew – Dick Davison attends the Independent School Awards
2. mtm/vwv Autumn Conference Report 2011 – Practical Strategies for a New Education Market
3. “State school pupils ‘do better at university’”? Independents shouldn’t panic!

You can read a summary of Sir Ewan Harper’s remarkable account of how the United Learning Trust was transformed from a small and struggling independent school group into a thriving organisation, with more than double the pupil numbers, and went on to become the nation’s biggest sponsor of Academies.

Other topics covered include the opportunities and pitfalls of extending your school age range, a summary of the mtmconsulting UK Education Sector Report 2012 – 2020: Forecasts, Challenges and Opportunities and Tom Packer’s account of his white knuckle ride through the process of opening the West London Free School.

Alternatively, download the full report here.

Date for your diary – the 2012 Practical Strategies Conference will be held on 18 September, once again at the Institute of Directors, London, W1.

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3. Headlines from mtm’s Practical Strategies Annual Conference,

The number of boarders in independent schools has fallen dramatically over the last 30 years, from 120,000 in 1981 to just under 72,000 in 2011. As a proportion of all independent school pupils this represents a fall from 22% to 12%. One of the causes of this long-term decline was the fact that robust boarding regimes (especially for boys) came to be regarded with both distaste and suspicion by many mothers. Negative media comment, particularly during the 1980s, did not help and this has continued, on and off, since (such as the references to ‘Boarding School Syndrome’ during the summer of 2011).

Since 2007 rolls have been on the rise thanks to growing numbers of boarders from overseas and whose parents serve in HM Forces. In fact, since 2007 the number from these sources has grown by an estimated 8,000 and this has more than made up for the estimated loss of 6,000 boarders who live in the UK. In 2011 compared to a year earlier we estimate that there were 500 more boarders from HM Forces families and there was a rise of 1,400 non-British boarders whose parents live overseas. But the biggest rise was the estimated 1,800 increase in the number of British boarders whose parents live overseas.

These trends mean that pupils whose parents live in the UK now account for 38% of boarders, down from 51% in 2001. Non-British pupils whose parents live overseas have risen from a 29% share a decade ago to 36% in 2011.

mtmconsulting’s latest report “The UK Education Sector; Forecasts, Challenges & Opportunities 2012-2020” due to be released in September, delivers essential information outlining the strategic development of UK boarders market. Details include, sector forecast to 2020, opportunities of growth from the overseas market and what the potential impact may be following changes to HM Forces’ Continuity of Education Allowance.

Gavin Humphries, Head of Research at mtmconsulting will be presenting findings from the report at the “Practical Strategies for the New Education Market” one day conference on Tuesday 13th September, Institute of Directors, Pall Mall, London.

Pre order the report today by calling +44 (0)1502 722 787.

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1. Sector Report 2012 trend 1: Academies, free schools and independents
2. Sector Report 2012 trend 2: recession and the flight to quality
3. The decline of the British boarder?

mtm’s Head of Marketing and Business Development, Joe Faulkner, said “everybody at mtm works extremely hard, not just on client project work but also in giving huge amounts of resource in terms of time and ‘brainspace’ to our groundbreaking sector-wide research work – such as our forthcoming 2012 Education Sector Report. Everybody here is very much committed to the education sector. To have our efforts recognised in this way is a great boost for the team”.   

To learn more about our work, please do contact mtm.

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Last week The Chartered Institute of Marketing published a really interesting white paper on mobile marketing, which provokes some interesting thoughts for schools…

Did you know that globally more people now have a mobile phone than have a bank account? Research indicates that the number of people in the UK owning smartphones has risen from 9 to 24% in the last year – and as smartphones become cheaper, this figure is set to rise even more sharply over the coming years. The CIM claim that smartphones could become ubiquitous in the next 3 or 4 years in the developed world and that they will become the default communications tool.

Everything OK? Mobile phones might represent a fantastic opportunity for school marketers

The CIM believe that the mobile is not going to kill the computer, TV or newspaper but that it will supersede them and become the preferred medium for almost every activity. You only switch a computer and a TV on when you want to use it and once you have read a newspaper you close it. A phone, however, is always with you and is always on.

The rise of smartphones must be seen as a huge opportunity by educational marketeers as they provide another medium to get a school’s messages across to current and prospective parents. So:

• ensure your website has a mobile friendly version, not simply that it works on mobiles
• look at creating an app for your school which can be downloaded onto a smartphone and allows current parents, in particular, to keep up to date with your school news
• consider the increased opportunities smartphones create for social media marketing of your school as they are frequently used by Facebook and Twitter users

Contact mtmconsulting if you would like more advice on making your school’s marketing campaign more mobile.

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mtmconsulting’s UK Education Sector; Forecasts, Challenges & Opportunities 2012 – 2020 is the authoritative independent commentary for the charitable, for profit and state-funded independent education markets. Pre-order today.

Produced by mtmconsulting biannually,  this is an objective review of these fast-changing sectors. It includes statistics, trends, forecasts and scenarios, providing a valuable information source for decision makers or those wishing to enter the sectors.

The report is essential reading for Heads, Chief Executives and Governors who need to have an objective review of the sector to inform their strategy and for the increasing number of individuals and organisations who are seeking to enter the market or build on their existing portfolio.

The report is based on qualitative and quantitative surveys and opinion from our panels of experts. It forecasts the prospects for the sector for the next 10 years and presents some visionary scenarios for 2030.

Areas covered include:

Sector overview

• Pupil trends
• Income and expenditure
• Structural trends
• Impact of Government legislation
• Analysis by segment
• Trends in demand for the next ten years
• Analysis of who buys by family type and income
• Demand by age
• Identification of the services that are subject to most significant change
• Coverage of the fast-growing Academies sector (including free schools), school numbers, pupil numbers and current trends.

Forecasts on future demand

• The impact of recession
• Government policy
• Public sector unrest
• Falling affordability
• Impact of independent state-funded Academies, demography & social trends
• Forecasts to 2020 and scenarios to 2030
• Updates on chains and their impact on the sector and school groups to watch.

To view more details on the report, and to take advantage of our early booking discount, please click here: Education Sector Report 2012.

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1. The 2012 Education Sector Report
2. Independent Education Sector Report 2007/08
3. mtmconsulting’s Independent Education Sector Report 2010 in the TES

Joe’s talk is titled Practical Modern Marketing Methods for Best Use of Budget. In it he will explore some of the best practical marketing methods for schools to use their marketing budget effectively and make full use of the range of online – and offline – resources to engage with their marketplace.

For more details on the conference please visit the AMDIS website, or to learn about how our schools marketing services may help you, please contact mtm.

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Just before last year’s general election 1-in-16 state secondary schools were independent academies. According to The Spectator it is now 1-in-6 – putting the number on a par with what the Conservatives’ previous grant maintained schools programme had achieved by its peak in 1998.

What does this mean to the independent, fee-paying sector? Will academies be more dangerous to the independent sector than grant maintained schools?

I think undoubtedly, and for a number of reasons.

• Firstly because we are now at the point of take-off rather than abolition. By Christmas 2011 the proportion of independent state secondaries is expected to be 1-in-3; and by the next election the majority of state-funded secondary schools will probably be independent. This is what the Conservatives meant when they said that they would put “rocket boosters” under the Academies programme.
• Secondly because there appears to be momentum from heads and teachers. As Fraser Nelson, Editor of The Spectator, puts it, ‘Crucially, this is not Gove’s doing. He simply made the offer of independence. Teachers are doing the rest, and the trajectory of reform is fuelled only by their energy — and behind each of these statistics is the decision to confront the hostile unions, and take a leap into the dark’.
• Thirdly, since 1998 there has been an information revolution such that these teachers can draw upon a wealth of experience from the UK’s existing academy chains, Swedish free schools and US charter schools. Expect to start seeing real innovations, some of which will prove successful and be replicated across the Academies sector.

Palingswick House: The proposed site of the West London Free School

I do not doubt that there will be problems along the way – budgetary and legal to name but two. But consider this… of those that could afford independent school fees for their children but don’t use the sector, 73% are satisfied with their local state school options. If that proportion rose to just 75%, the independent sector would lose 26,000 buyers, or 7% of its total roll.

To speak with us about our consulting work in the independent and state education sectors, please contact mtm.

Related posts:

1. Will increasing numbers of academies lead to rise in demand for effective school marketing?
2. Sector Report 2012 trend 1: Academies, free schools and independents
3. Gove strives for ‘free’ schools but what impact on independents?

mtm attended The Spectator’s ‘Schools Revolution’ conference last week. Now in its second year, the event was designed to consider the impact of freeing schools from local government control, in particular through the coalition’s academies and free schools policies. But what has happened? What are the benefits and the risks, and what impact is reform having on the education market?

In the past year the number of academies has risen to 460, and by April it is feasible that this will have reached 600. 16 free schools will open in September 2011, and there are a further 320 proposals in the pipeline. According to Michael Gove this represents “the fastest rate of school reform in English history”.

This indicates that Gove’s reforms are beginning to shake things up and we are seeing a polarisation of views, with even usually indifferent onlookers taking notice. The academy programme has seen some positive improvements in outcomes for pupils but it’s early days, and we have yet to see what real impact free schools will have, both on pupil recruitment and their levels of achievement.

Parental choice of school is increasingly broad with the government's free school and academies policies. But what are the risks?

In free school projects with which mtm is involved we have seen growing support from parents. This was endorsed by Rachel Wolf director of the New Schools Network who said that she sees “a massive pent up demand for free schools.” This has certainly been the case with the Waveney High School project in Beccles where there has been a strong response from parents who want a first class school that will enable their children to achieve more in rural Suffolk where there is a history of pupil underachievement. 

But these reforms are not without risk and there are some significant barriers to progress, namely the constraints of planning which have not been freed up at the rate the government promised, and the availability of capital to enable groups to move their plans to fruition. There is also evidence of the demands of some local authorities causing delays.

The risk for parents and pupils is that being free does not necessarily guarantee school success, especially if there is a weakness in the quality of commissioning. The risk for stand-alone free schools and academies may be that they will be subject to increasing regulation if the DfE become more concerned about things going wrong. 

As one speaker noted – the academy programme is one of the few things going right for the government and so they are determined it will meet with success.  There is certainly a missionary zeal on the part of the government to see school improvement and to diminish the power of local authorities and unions by the use of market forces to achieve the reforms. But what impact will it have? Two thoughts:

• There will be more of a patchwork of school provision, made up of  academies, CTC’s, technical schools, free schools, and fee-paying independent schools, with different patterns of provision according to where people live.
• Schools will collaborate in clusters, federations, and chains more than before and while this will tie up the market for them it could have a detrimental impact on pupil recruitment for those outside these groups.

And on the issue of enabling profit? At the conference Michael Gove said that he was reluctant to see those who run free schools and academies taking a profit, but it would appear that he has left the door open. In mtm’s Independent Education Sector Report 2010 we said that we could not see the government allowing profit in their first term. Given the nature of the coalition with the Lib-Dems, (ideologically against free schools and certainly against profit taking), this will certainly be the case. But we predict that if Conservatives get in for a second term they will allow profit taking in order to see their reforms through at the desired rate, and respond to parental demand for school improvement.

The upshot? The academy and free school programme will be a real driver of structural change in the schools market, impacting on all education providers. This will be given momentum by parental and public opinion no longer tolerant of “bog standard schools”, particularly given the requirements of universities and employers for qualifications and core skills that will add value to their children’s careers.

To discuss our services in the fee-paying and maintained sectors, please contact mtm.

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1. Gove strives for ‘free’ schools but what impact on independents?
2. Rocket boosters: Academies’ growth and effects on independent schools
3. Gove suggests opportunities for profit-making in free schools

Dick Davison is quoted as saying “Schools must not become complacent. The worst effects of the last recession in the 1990s were not felt until after the recession was over. And whereas the 1990s recession followed years of strong and consistent growth in pupil numbers, the current downturn follows five years of stagnant numbers.”

To discuss how we can help your school enjoy a thriving future, please contact mtm.

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