Every September intake is decided in the twelve months before it. The families who arrive in September 2027 will have found you, visited you, compared you and chosen you across the coming year, and most of those moments are already in your diary.
This is a practical school admissions marketing plan for that year, built around the admissions calendar rather than the marketing calendar. It covers what needs to be ready, when, and what tends to slip. It is written with independent schools in mind, but the sequence holds for state schools and trusts too.
The shape of the year
Admissions marketing runs in four phases, each about three months long. Each phase has a job to do and a small set of materials that do it. Get the materials right and on time, and the phases look after themselves.
- Autumn 2026: be found and be visited
- Winter 2026 to 2027: be chosen
- Spring 2027: be confirmed
- Summer 2027: be ready, and start again
Autumn 2026: be found and be visited
This is the busiest quarter and it is happening now. Open days, taster mornings and the first serious searches all land between September and November.
Open days
Families decide a lot in ninety minutes on site. The visit should feel like the school you describe online, which means signage, wayfinding, banners and handouts all speaking the same visual language as the website and prospectus. Print these early. A pull-up banner ordered the week before an open day is a risk you do not need.
Give visitors one thing to take home that does the work after they leave: a prospectus, a short guide to the entry process, or a card with the next date and a QR code to register. The takeaway is the piece most schools under-invest in.
Search and the website
Most families start with a search. Check that the pages for admissions, fees, open days and each entry point (Reception, 7+, 11+, 13+, Sixth Form) are current, fast on a phone and have a clear next step. A Google Business Profile with correct hours, photos and the open day dates costs nothing and often ranks above the website itself for local searches.
If a page is out of date, fix it before spending on ads. Paid search sending families to a page that does not convert is money spent twice.
Social proof
Photograph and film open days and the first weeks of term while they are happening. This is the content bank for the rest of the year, and it is far easier to gather in October than to recreate in March.
Winter 2026 to 2027: be chosen
Registrations close, assessments happen and families shortlist. The marketing job now is to stay visible and reduce doubt.
The prospectus and the follow-up
Every registered family should have received the prospectus, either in the post or in hand. If your prospectus is more than two years old, this is the moment to plan the next one for the 2028 cycle rather than rush a reprint. We covered what to include in a modern prospectus earlier this year; the short version is that it should answer the questions families ask at open days, in the order they ask them.
Email that earns its place
A short sequence of emails between registration and assessment works well: what to expect on the day, a note from the head of the relevant section, a piece on pastoral care or the co-curricular programme. Three or four messages, each with one purpose, written for parents rather than pasted from the website.
Paid and organic search
Keep the admissions pages warm with a modest search budget aimed at the towns you draw from and the entry points with capacity. Review it monthly. Retained SEO on the admissions and entry-point pages builds through this period, so that by spring the school is ranking for the searches that matter without relying on spend.
Spring 2027: be confirmed
Offers go out. Some families hold two or three. The materials that tip the decision are rarely glossy; they are personal and quick.
- An offer pack that feels considered: a printed letter, a welcome booklet, a clear timeline to September.
- A welcome event for offer holders with signage and handouts that match everything they have already seen.
- A short video from the head or the relevant head of section, sent by email within days of the offer.
A side note on budgets. VAT on fees has been discussed at length and it is putting pressure on marketing spend. The practical response is not to cut the materials that convert families; it is to plan print earlier and in one run, so the unit cost drops and the rush jobs disappear.
Summer 2027: be ready, and start again
Induction, new-parent communications and uniform and kit information all need producing before the end of the summer term. This is also the quarter to fix what the year showed you: the page that did not convert, the banner that faded, the prospectus that is due.
Then the cycle restarts. Open day dates for the 2028 intake should be on the website, the Google Business Profile and the social channels before the summer holiday begins.
A checklist to keep to hand
- Open day dates published on the website and Google Business Profile: by early September.
- Signage, banners and handouts printed and checked on site: two weeks before the first open day.
- Admissions and entry-point web pages reviewed on a phone: September.
- Photography and video captured at open days and in the first weeks of term: September to October.
- Prospectus and entry guide with every registered family: by November.
- Registration-to-assessment email sequence live: November.
- Search budget and rankings reviewed: monthly through winter.
- Offer pack, welcome event materials and head’s video ready: before offers go out.
- Induction and new-parent materials produced: before the summer term ends.
- Next year’s dates published: before the summer holiday.
What this means for you
A school admissions year has a lot of moving parts and most of them are deadlines with print attached. Working with one team that handles the design, the print and the digital side means the open day banners, the prospectus, the web pages and the emails come from the same brand thinking and land on the same timeline. We have worked to the school year for over a decade, so the diary above is one we already keep.
FAQs and quick answers
When should a school start marketing for a September intake?
Twelve months before, in the autumn of the previous year, because open days and registrations for the following September happen then.
What matters most at an open day?
Consistency between what families saw online and what they experience on site, and a takeaway that keeps the conversation going after they leave.
How often should a school prospectus be updated?
Every two to three years for a full redesign, with a light annual refresh of dates, fees and staff.
Is paid search worth it for school admissions?
Yes, if the landing pages are current and built to convert. If they are not, fix the pages first.
What should be in an offer pack?
- A personal printed letter
- A welcome booklet covering the first term
- A clear timeline to September
- Contact details for one named person
