Research for Schools
Research lies at the heart of almost all the work we undertake at mtmconsulting. Our research team is the best in the education sector and can focus on all the intricacies of your area.
Mandarin
To inform our strategic consulting work at mtmconsulting we have developed a system of analysing the market for our client schools and colleges, which has been enhanced over many years to produce the third generation version called MANDARIN (Market AND ARea INtelligence).
Precisely tailored to your institution’s circumstances Mandarin catchment area analysis comes as an affordable core unit, with optional bolt-ons. It tells you:
- The socio-economic and income profile in your school or college’s catchment area
- The key family groups represented in your current student profile
- The locations of these families in your catchment area
- The size of your potential pupil market now and in the future
- The precise location of target families for pupil recruitment
- Future demographic changes in the local population
- The relevance and influence of local print and broadcast media
- Key influences within the regional economy and environment
Bolt-ons include:
- Competitor analysis and mapping of their influence
- Transport and potential bus route analysis and mapping
- Strategic implications and applications
Free Schools
One of the requirements for setting up a free school is to demonstrate a strong understanding of your proposed catchment area and evidence that a sufficient level of demand exists. With our deep knowledge of demographics and our great mapping capabilities, mtmconsulting can help you to measure and plot the potential market for a new school and understand how the market may change in the future.
Surveys
mtmconsulting has more than 20 years’ experience of conducting in-depth research for schools, colleges and their associations and representative bodies. Online questionnaires and surveys are conducted with great sensitivity, under the strictest professional standards and in accordance with data protection regulations. We have carried out research in this way with tens of thousands of parents, pupils, teaching and SMT staff, governors and wider stakeholder groups.
All of our surveys are bespoke for your needs and we can benchmark your results against other schools in order to help you understand your true positioning.
Telephone Interviews
Understanding the reasons that parents have, or haven’t chosen your school. Showing that you are aiming to meet their expectations. Asking feeder school Heads about their perceptions of your school. These are all key reasons to carry out qualitative and professional third-party telephone interviews with your stakeholders. Our in-house research team approaches telephone research with professionalism and rigour.
More about telephone interviews
Focus Groups
Sometimes schools need to gain insights into key issues that a survey or telephone interview can’t cover. mtmconsulting follows best practice guidelines to carry out innovative and open focus groups with parents, pupils and staff. Conducted in an open forum and with typical group sizes of 10-12, we can explore the issues that matter most in your school or college.
Mystery Shops
Mystery shops are a great opportunity for schools to understand how prospective parents’ experiences of visiting them might be enhanced. During our mystery shops we pose as a prospective parent and carry out website and prospectus appraisal, request for information, arranging and attending a visit to the school and a meeting with the Head (if appropriate). All our observations and findings are reported back to the school in a full written report and scoring system.
Door-to-Door Research
Schools and colleges often wonder how they are perceived within their catchment area by parents that don’t visit or enrol with them. mtm can answer this question through street or door-to-door research. We often use our Mandarin research to identify key areas of a catchment area and then send professional and experienced interviews to understand perceptions. Door-to-door research is often carried out only in households that meet key criteria, such as having school-age children or household income above a certain threshold.
More about door-do-door research
Seminars
We organise tailor-made seminars for schools, groups of schools and colleges on topics including strategic development, analysis of emerging issues in the sector and how they impact on your business, new marketing methods and customer care.
