Marketing and admissions teams sit close to some of the most useful intelligence in a school. They hear the questions families ask before they apply, what they like, their hesitations, the comparisons they are making, and the points in the journey where their interest strengthens or fades.
Many international markets are becoming more and more competitive, making the intelligence coming from marketing and admissions teams ever more valuable. These vital functions can no longer be understood only through the lens of communications, events and administration. Those all remain important, but marketing and admissions can make a wider contribution in helping schools understand demand and make better decisions about student recruitment and retention.
Start with purpose, not structure
No single structure is right for a marketing and admissions team. A start-up school, an established premium school, a school within a group, a bilingual school or a school serving a mobile expatriate community will each need something different. Different markets and market segments will also require different approaches. The more useful starting point is to ask what the school needs the team to be able to do now.
For some schools, the answer may be a stronger strategic marketing voice. For others, it may be better enquiry follow-up, more confident use of data, a slicker visit experience, clearer ownership of admissions, or a closer connection between recruitment and retention. Different needs require different resources, skills and leadership attention.
Too often, team structures reflect history rather than purpose. Roles expand informally, responsibilities blur, and talented people find themselves spending too much time on work that does not make best use of their expertise. Once the work is mapped clearly, it becomes easier to see where changes in resourcing, support or process can have a significant impact.
Use the family journey as intelligence
The admissions journey tells a great deal, if it is looked at carefully. Enquiries, visits, assessments, offers, acceptances and withdrawals each tell part of the story, but the value comes when a school understands the patterns across them all.
In international schools, the journey is often complex. Families may be comparing schools across curricula, countries or cities and looking for a seamless transition from a school elsewhere in the world. Some will be relocating and making decisions from a distance. Others will be weighing the school against local, bilingual or boarding options. Parents may be looking not only for academic confidence, but for reassurance about belonging, transition and how quickly their child will settle. Some may be looking for a school community that can be a hub for the whole family.
If enquiries are strong but visits or virtual meetings are weak, the question is different to that in a school where families engage deeply but do not accept places. If a particular year group is under pressure, the school needs to understand whether the issue is awareness, affordability, timing or confidence. If families are delaying decisions, the school needs to know whether they need reassurance, clearer communication or a different kind of follow-up.
Mapping the family journey can help schools see where ownership is clear and where confidence may be lost. Who responds to the first enquiry? Who follows up after a visit or online meeting? Who understands the child’s needs as well as the parents’ questions? Who keeps in touch between acceptance and joining? How is it different if a family is relocating mid-year?
Mapping should not make admissions feel mechanical: the best experiences are thoughtful and personal. But good processes enable consistency, rather than depending on individual habit or goodwill.
Bring the team closer to strategy
Marketing and admissions teams should not be brought in only after important school decisions have been made. If a school is considering a new programme, reviewing its curriculum, entering a new market, strengthening retention or responding to changing demand, the colleagues closest to families and their decisions should be part of the conversation early enough to shape it.
They will often know where the message is landing well and where it is not. They will know which questions keep coming up, where confidence feels fragile and where the school’s internal assumptions do not match what families are saying.
That does not mean every decision should be led by marketing or admissions, but it does mean that the school loses insight if these teams are treated only as deliverers rather than contributors to strategy.
Support the people doing the work
Like many roles within schools, the expectations and pressures placed on marketing and admissions teams have grown. They are expected to be relational and data-aware, responsive to families and influential with colleagues. They may be working on positioning, digital engagement, enrolment, conversion and retention, often in teams that are small and already stretched.
Admissions colleagues may also be supporting families through relocation and navigating new cultural expectations, explaining curricula or a pedagogical approach that may be unfamiliar, or helping parents understand the practical realities of joining a new school community. Marketing colleagues may be trying to reach families who are not yet in the country, while also strengthening advocacy among current parents and trying to convey a school’s distinctive approach in a market where it is not widely understood.
Schools, therefore, need to think carefully about support and development for these teams. New colleagues may need structured onboarding, particularly if they are joining from another sector or another market. Existing colleagues may need mentoring, system training or clearer priorities. Senior leaders may need to ask whether the team has the capacity and authority to do what is being asked of it.
A question for the year ahead
As international schools prepare for the next academic year, one useful question for senior leaders is whether their marketing and admissions teams are simply busy or whether they are being deployed well.
Marketing and admissions teams cannot carry the enrolment challenge alone, but when they are clear in purpose, properly supported and connected to the strategy, they will be critical in helping a school to meet its targets. They can also make a significant difference to how a school understands its market and builds confidence with families.
RSAcademics has extensive experience of undertaking reviews of marketing and admissions and helping schools to refine and optimise their activity across both areas. If you would like to find out how we can help you, please do get in touch.