From Applicant to Student: 12 Effective Strategies for Increasing Your School's Admission Rate

"The key to a successful school business lies in continuous improvement, adaptability, and a focus on meeting the evolving needs of students".

 -Unknown

 

In an increasingly competitive educational landscape, schools are constantly seeking ways to improve their admission rates and attract more students. To achieve this goal, it's essential to employ effective strategies that highlight the strengths of your institution and provide a seamless admission process. Let’s explore 12 strategies that can help boost your school's admission rate.

 

1. Enhance your school's reputation:

Schools can prioritize academic excellence by offering rigorous and up-to-date curricula, hiring qualified and passionate teachers, and providing opportunities for professional development. Second, schools can focus on extracurricular achievements by promoting a diverse range of activities such as sports, arts, clubs, and community service initiatives. Third, creating a positive image by showcasing success stories and achievements, and actively engaging in community partnerships and campaigns.

 

2. Use the power of social media

Utilising social media platforms effectively can help schools attract more admissions by promoting their accomplishments, milestones, and unique offerings. Schools can achieve this by sharing student success stories, showcasing faculty expertise, highlighting special programs and facilities, engaging with prospective students and parents, and leveraging user-generated content. By strategically using social media, schools can create a positive image and increase their visibility, ultimately attracting more admissions.

 

3. Create an engaging website:

Schools should focus on creating an engaging school website. The trick to a successful website is making it user-friendly, and adaptable to multiple devices, such as mobiles, along with an appealing design. The content should be clear and compelling, with virtual campus tours, information about admissions, student and parent portals, and a news and events section. The site should contain integrations of student and parent portals.

By incorporating these features, schools can provide a positive online experience, showcase their offerings, and effectively engage prospective students and parents, thus ultimately boosting admission rates.

 

4. Strengthen alumni engagement:

Alumni testimonials, networking events, and mentorship programs allow prospective students to envision the benefits of attending the institution. By organising workshops or open-day events where alumni are invited back to speak about their experiences, schools can create a platform for alumni to share their achievements, career paths, and the impact their education had on their lives. These events provide valuable insights into the practical application of knowledge gained at the school and the opportunities available after graduation. Alumni engagement fosters a sense of pride, strengthens the school community, and serves as a testament to the institution's ability to produce successful individuals.

 

5. Streamline the admission process:

Simplify and streamline your admission procedures to minimise the barriers for prospective students. Invest in school management software that offers online applications, document management, and communication tools to provide a user-friendly experience for applicants and their families.

 

6. Offer financial aid and scholarships:

Financial constraints often play a significant role in the decision-making process of prospective students. Develop robust scholarship programs and offer financial aid options to make your school more accessible to a diverse range of students.

 

7. Develop strong partnerships with the wider community:

Establish partnerships with local businesses, community organisations, and other educational institutions. Collaborative efforts, such as joint programs, internships, and outreach initiatives, can enhance your school's reputation and attract students from different backgrounds.

 

8. Emphasise student achievements:

Highlight the accomplishments and success stories of your current students. Showcase their academic achievements, extracurricular involvement, and community service on Social media, the school Portal or the website to demonstrate the positive impact attending your school can have on students' personal and professional growth.

 

9. Improve campus infrastructure:

Invest in upgrading your school's infrastructure and facilities to create an attractive and conducive learning environment. Modern classrooms, well-equipped labs, sports facilities, and aesthetically pleasing surroundings can make a lasting impression on prospective students and their families.

 

10. Foster strong parent-school relationships:

Develop open lines of communication and build meaningful relationships with parents. Organise parent-teacher conferences, informative workshops, and regular updates on students' progress to create a sense of trust and engagement with your school community.

 

11. Streamline the admission process:

Simplify and streamline your admission procedures to minimise the barriers for prospective students. Invest in school management software that offers online applications, document management, and communication tools to provide a user-friendly experience for applicants and their families.

 

12. Encourage referrals:

Referrals through existing students and staff can significantly help enhance a school's admission rate. When current students and staff members recommend the school to their friends, family, or acquaintances, it creates a strong word-of-mouth effect. Positive experiences and satisfaction with the school's academic programs, extracurricular activities, and overall environment motivate them to advocate for the institution. By actively encouraging and incentivising referrals, schools can tap into their existing community to attract new students.

 

How School Management Software Can Help:

School management software can greatly support your efforts to improve the admission rate by providing the following benefits:

a) Online applications: Simplifies the application process by offering online forms that can be easily filled out and submitted from anywhere.

b) Document management: Efficiently manages and tracks applications, reducing the risk of misplaced or lost paperwork.

c) Communication tools: Use built-in communication features to engage with prospective students and their families, addressing queries promptly and building a personal connection.

d) Analytics and reporting: Get real-time valuable insights into the admission trends, conversion rates, and other metrics to optimise your strategies and make data-driven decisions.

e) Streamlined fee payment: School Management software offers a convenient and secure online platform that allows parents to make fee payments with ease. By providing this service, you can simplify the fee payment process and ensure the utmost convenience for parents..

 

SUMS: All-In-One School management software:

SUMS is the ultimate comprehensive ERP website and desktop software that simplifies daily tasks for educational institutes, admin, teachers, students and parents.

Through SUMS, schools and other educational institutes are able to:

• Save time and reduce administrative processes by uploading and managing admissions, attendance and fees from a central area.
• Organise and plan lessons in advance. Publish timetables and study materials for all to see.
• Keep data secure by uploading all your educational content to the cloud. All content will remain encrypted and within your control. You decide which student, teacher or parent gets access to it.
• Enrich learning with E-class, the virtual classroom that lets teachers continue to teach students wherever they are.
• Improve communication between teachers, parents and students by sending electronic circulars and notifications with a guarantee that they are read by parents.
• Automate exam results, by simply entering marks, and letting SUMS do the calculations for you
• Online Library for you to upload lessons, teaching notes, and additional reading materials to help students excel.
• Streamline admissions with an entire system that tracks, monitors and stores essential documents required to enrol students.

With a variety of features, SUMS allows schools and other educational institutes to focus on what matters the most, delivering high-quality education to the next generation.

 

Smart schools are on the rise and we want to help you join their ranks. Our comprehensive suite of automation tools can take care of all your school’s needs, from attendance tracking to grading and more. So why wait? Contact us today for a free consultation about how we can help you make the switch to becoming a smart school.