Description
The Admissions Manager is of central importance to the recruitment of domestic and international students for both the Prep and the Senior Schools, and in maintaining and meeting target numbers. Under the direction of the Head of Admissions, the role of the Admissions Manager is to lead student enrolment functions, advise on maximizing engagement with all stakeholders, and to deliver exceptional customer service. This role is crucial to the sustained growth of the schools and of Boarding, promoting Claremont as the school of choice in the local area, and delivering the Amazing Learning message that is at the centre of all that we do.
The Admissions Manager reports directly to the Head of Admissions and works closely with the Principal, Heads of School, Director of Boarding and Head of Marketing to ensure maximum recruitment and retention of students. The post holder will be expected to build a close working relationship with prospective parents, agents, teaching, administrative and other support staff in order to fully engage and involve the whole school community in the promotion of the Schools.
Depending on experience, the Admissions Manager is expected to be or to become the UKVI authorizing officer for Claremont, the Key Contact.
Key Responsibilities
Admissions, supporting proactive recruitment activities and achieve student recruitment targets
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Be responsible for the effective management of the whole admissions process for domestic and international students at the Prep and Senior Schools.
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Manage all enquiries from the Hubspot CMS database and subsequently track all steps of the admissions procedure.
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In dealing with enquiries from prospective families, respond quickly and with intelligent information relating to students’ specific needs, and ensuring warm, friendly, organised and efficient customer journey at all times.
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Arrange visits and interviews, including tours or online meetings, ensuring that staff are fully aware of expectations and organisation.
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Follow up each enquiry/visit/interview to secure a registration and formal application.
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Respond quickly to any enquiries received from agents who may enquiry on behalf of a particular family.
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Discuss and record the reasons why any family does not wish to proceed to a formal application.
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Ensure that all children wishing to be enrolled have either been assessed with an appropriate academic test or have been interviewed and met by the Head or a qualified member of the academic staff. (This may include a meeting with the Head of Learning Support for children with any learning difficulties).
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Arrange ´Taster Day´ experiences and ensure that all staff involved are fully informed with good notice given.
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Ensure that appropriate administration is completed for all new pupils joining, including signatures of parents on Acceptance Forms, Terms and Conditions, Medical Forms and other permissions slips as required by the School, as well as any CAS, student visa, flights, etc. for international students, and that they are accurately recorded on the MIS system.
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Provide a comprehensive ´Joining Pack´ for each new family prior to their child starting at the School. (To include academic results, summer reading preparation work, information on summer school etc).
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Liaise with the School Office on changes to current pupil numbers – whole school roll and individual classes, and ensure the Heads of School and Director of Boarding are kept informed of all leavers and joiners.
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Coordinate the applications for scholarship assessments, and communicate the details of those applying to the Heads of Schools and their PA, and, once the assessments are complete, to feedback the results to prospective parents and keep accurate records of those accepting, or not.
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Act as the Tier 4 Authorising Officer to ensure compliance for Tier 4 sponsorship and ensure that all UK Visa requirements are in place.
Support maximum student intake and retention
- Assist the Head of Admissions with the completion of regular KPI reports by tracking information and keeping records up to date at all times, providing real-time forecasting numbers for registered and prospective students.
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Liaise with the Heads of Key Stages and/or Schools to arrange transition events for parents, working closely with teaching staff in order to monitor movement, and with the Heads of School in arranging personal meetings with families in order to help with retention of non-natural leavers.
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Establish and grow relationships with educational agents globally, ensuring you maintain a good level of knowledge of the international student offer at all times.
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Be aware of market conditions, recruitment trends, emerging markets etc; keep relevant school staff updated and feed these into strategy and activities.
Engagement through brand awareness and external partnerships
- In consultation with the Head of Admissions and working closely with the Director of Boarding and Head of Marketing, devise and embed an effective international student recruitment strategy and action plan, including the identification of new markets and the brokering and developing of new agent relationships.
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Work closely with the Head of Marketing to ensure relevance of messages to various international and domestic markets. Advise on the marketing collateral, translated materials, social media messages etc.
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Work closely with Heads of Schools and the Head of Marketing to best share Amazing Learning successes and progress with parents and the wider community to influence new leads retention.
- Assist with the organisation of Open Events and any corporate events involving local businesses with which the School is associated for pupil recruitment or retention purposes.
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Work with the Head of Admissions to organise Familiarisation Agent visits to the School, and attend fairs and events nationally and globally as required.
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Support the Heads of Schools in creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with feeder schools, universities, local businesses, government entities, education agents and other organisations to maximise student recruitment and retention.
Other Responsibilities
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Undertake such other reasonable responsibilities and tasks that may be assigned by the Principal, Head of Admissions and the Regional Managing Director.
Candidate Profile
Person specification
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Excellent organisation skills
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High proficiency with all Microsoft software packages including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, HubSpot and Engage would be preferable
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Strong customer service ethos and excellent problem-solving ability
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Cultural sensitivity and awareness
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A team player
Competencies
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High attention to detail
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Ability to multi-task
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Prioritises tasks and organises own time effectively
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Ability to communicate with all levels of seniority confidently
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Ability to deliver practical solutions to problems
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Reporting and analysing data
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Coaching and training
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Being able to lead a team
Qualifications
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Degree, professional qualifications or relevant work-related experience
Experience
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A minimum of 4 years’ experience working within a school as an Admissions Manager would be preferable.
Safeguarding & Safer Recruitment
Claremont School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All post holders are subject to appropriate vetting procedures and satisfactory Criminal Background Checks or equivalent covering the previous 10 years employment history.
About Claremont
Claremont School is an independent day and boarding school. The Nursery and the Prep School are based in St Leonards on Sea, and the Senior School is located in Bodiam, East Sussex. The school is non selective and welcomes children and young people from a large catchment area spanning 25 miles. In addition, one third of the students in the Senior School are international boarders.
Children join Claremont aged 1, and the school offers a British curriculum throughout with GCSEs and iGCSEs at KS4, and A Level and BTechs at KS5. In addition, the school delivers outstanding programmes in Performing Arts (winning an award for outstanding School for Performing Arts in 2021) and in football where students can join the Football academy and look to become professional players.
Results and Value-Added at Claremont are outstanding, with Senior School results beating national averages year on year, as well as more local independent selective schools. We believe that successful schools are the ones that put learning at the heart of everything they do, always aiming to create rounded individuals that can forge successful careers and lives, in a rapidly changing world. Claremont aims to be the School of Choice for the local area, and supports its young people to excel in all that they do in a safe and inspiring environment.
Claremont School is also part of the International Schools Partnership (ISP) group, comprising committed colleagues in financially responsible schools around the world, where learning is at the heart of everything we do for our students, colleagues, and parents. We are committed to getting better, all the time.
ISP was founded by an experienced team of committed educationalists and operators who have worked together over many years. ISP’s growing group of private schools are located in the UK, the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Switzerland Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, educating children and students from 2–18 years of age. ISP has expanded to 63 schools that employ over 8,000 staff and deliver multiple curricula to over 56,000 students located across the globe