Enrolments
We need more of the right students.
How do we attract, convert, and retain more of the right students?
Enrolments are the foundation of both a school's finances and its community. Most schools already convert 40 to 60% of families who enquire, and those families are close to saying yes, so the first opportunity is making sure you convert the families already at your door. The second, and often larger, opportunity is making sure more of the right families consider you in the first place, and aren't ruling you out based on rumour or outdated perceptions. That comes from your brand and reputation, with your existing parent community put to work as your best source of new enquiries, not marketing spend. We build the strategy and the plan: this isn't outsourced marketing.
Enrolments is the lever that moves this need. Revenues and the cost base shape what each additional student is actually worth. The Review benchmarks all three.
The framework
What we examine
Market and position
| Subdriver | What we look at | What excellence looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Market and demographic context | The catchment's demand outlook, demographic trends, and the competitor set you actually face. | Demand trajectory and demographics understood and monitored; competitor set mapped and their moves tracked; forecasts built on real demand signals, not last year's numbers. |
| Brand and reputation | How clearly and distinctively the school is perceived by the families you want, and whether families are ruling you out on outdated perception, misinformation, or rumour. | A differentiated positioning that target families recognise; reputation actively managed so families are not ruling you out on misinformation; your existing parents engaged as advocates and a word-of-mouth engine; expressed consistently across digital, events, and community. |
| Market share | Your share of enrolments locally, and how it is moving. | Local market share known by year level and tracked over time against named competitors; shifts understood and acted on early, not discovered late. |
Market and demographic context
- What we look at
- The catchment's demand outlook, demographic trends, and the competitor set you actually face.
- What excellence looks like
- Demand trajectory and demographics understood and monitored; competitor set mapped and their moves tracked; forecasts built on real demand signals, not last year's numbers.
Brand and reputation
- What we look at
- How clearly and distinctively the school is perceived by the families you want, and whether families are ruling you out on outdated perception, misinformation, or rumour.
- What excellence looks like
- A differentiated positioning that target families recognise; reputation actively managed so families are not ruling you out on misinformation; your existing parents engaged as advocates and a word-of-mouth engine; expressed consistently across digital, events, and community.
Market share
- What we look at
- Your share of enrolments locally, and how it is moving.
- What excellence looks like
- Local market share known by year level and tracked over time against named competitors; shifts understood and acted on early, not discovered late.
Enrolment and conversion
| Subdriver | What we look at | What excellence looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Lead generation | Whether the right families are considering you, through reputation, referrals, existing-parent advocacy, feeder relationships, and paid channels. | The right families actively considering you; reputation, referrals, and existing-parent advocacy doing the heavy lifting, with paid channels used deliberately on top; enquiry volume tracked monthly against targets and forecast forward. |
| Lead conversion | The proportion of enquiring families, who are already close to choosing you, who go on to enrol. | Enquiry-to-enrolment at or above the 40 to 60% norm, the broad Australian benchmark (indicative pending real client data); a structured, personalised, time-bound follow-up process that finishes the job with families already at your door; the tour and enrolment experience deliberately designed; non-conversion reasons captured. |
| Retention | The proportion of students who stay year on year. | Attrition below benchmark (excluding natural transitions); transition-point attrition (e.g. Yr 6 to 7) actively managed; early-warning signals tracked; exit reasons acted on. |
Lead generation
- What we look at
- Whether the right families are considering you, through reputation, referrals, existing-parent advocacy, feeder relationships, and paid channels.
- What excellence looks like
- The right families actively considering you; reputation, referrals, and existing-parent advocacy doing the heavy lifting, with paid channels used deliberately on top; enquiry volume tracked monthly against targets and forecast forward.
Lead conversion
- What we look at
- The proportion of enquiring families, who are already close to choosing you, who go on to enrol.
- What excellence looks like
- Enquiry-to-enrolment at or above the 40 to 60% norm, the broad Australian benchmark (indicative pending real client data); a structured, personalised, time-bound follow-up process that finishes the job with families already at your door; the tour and enrolment experience deliberately designed; non-conversion reasons captured.
Retention
- What we look at
- The proportion of students who stay year on year.
- What excellence looks like
- Attrition below benchmark (excluding natural transitions); transition-point attrition (e.g. Yr 6 to 7) actively managed; early-warning signals tracked; exit reasons acted on.
Data used
Teacher Passport school-profile and vacancy data maps competitor positioning and activity within a catchment. A school advertising heavily for teachers while presenting as stable to families is a signal most advisers cannot see.
Illustrative opportunities
What this looks like in practice
Families ruling the school out on outdated perceptions before they ever enquire.
A reputation and consideration strategy built on current parents, worth $200 to 400k in annual revenue.
Enquiry volume 30% below benchmark on a single passive channel.
A funded, multi-channel growth plan led by reputation and referrals.
One in five students lost at the Yr 6 to 7 transition.
A retention strategy targeted at the specific transition point.
How we help
The Review surfaces and sizes the findings on this need. Where one is worth acting on, the work is a growth strategy across reputation, consideration, conversion, and retention, with an implementation plan your team can execute.
What we stay out of
We build the strategy and plan, and can support execution, but we don't replace your marketing function or touch curriculum or culture.