Blog by James Leggett, Research Manager
When we undertake Mandarin studies as part of our school research and strategy packages, we often ask a school to send us the postcodes of their new starters, or pupils who are due to start at the school in the following September. This allows them to compare the lifestyles of new families against the current parent body, the distances new pupils are prepared to travel, and the towns and villages new starters live in.
Blog by Nicky Adams – School Marketing Consultant
Under the watchful eye of an oil-painted Duke of Wellington, movers and shakers in independent schools met for two seminars hosted by mtmconsulting in the sumptuous Waterloo Room at London’s Cavalry and Guards Club in March. They talked tactics, of course, and armed themselves with some vital intelligence, ready to do battle in the most competitive independent schools sector in British history.
Blog by Jane Davies, Research Analyst
Parental satisfaction surveys are an excellent way of gauging how your school is perceived by your ‘customers’, revealing your strengths and also priorities for improvement. At mtmconsulting we have conducted such surveys in excess of 70 schools, and beyond the major provision issues (teaching quality, academic outcomes, pastoral care etc) we have discovered that it is often the small things which can make all the difference – and it may be that the things which really niggle parents are relatively easy to fix (and for zero cost!). When budgets are tighter than ever, it is essential to optimise your offering, especially as word of mouth recommendation is by far your best marketing tool; we have included some brief suggestions below to get you thinking about where you might be able to score a ‘quick win’.
MANDARIN Market and Area intelligence from mtm
Blog by Melanie Tucker, Principal and Head of Marketing Services
If you are making plans to become a Free School or an Academy you will no doubt be considering the extent of your catchment. Careful definition of your catchment using an accurate analysis tool like mtm’s MANDARIN will be fundamental to your business modelling and not something that you will want to leave to chance.
Blog by James Leggett, Marketing Research Manager
Do you or your school advertise regularly in newspapers and magazines within your local areas? Do you keep a track of the effectiveness of each advertisements? At mtmconsulting, we regularly undertake online satisfaction surveys for schools, asking how parents found out about the school, with interesting results.
Blog by Jane Davies, Research Analyst
We are all aware that the British population is expanding and the fact that we have an increasing population should be good news for all education providers, including the independent education sector. There will indeed be more children but factoring this in to planning your future school strategy should be done with care.
The third edition of mtmconsulting’s groundbreaking Sector Report is available to order now.
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.
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.
Blog by Melanie Tucker, Principal and Head of Marketing Services
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.
Blog by Dick Davison, Head of Strategic Services
With the UK heading inexorably, it seems, for another recession and the economic news unremittingly gloomy, we all need a bit of good news.
So full marks to Andrew Maiden, publisher of Funding for Independent Schools (http://www.fismagazine.co.uk), who had the good idea a couple of years ago of launching the sector’s own awards event to give some recognition to enterprise, imagination, energy and leadership in independent schools.