How to position your school in a competitive market

Using market data to improve admissions

Parents rarely make snap decisions about schools. They piece together a picture over weeks and months, weighing the fit for their child against a handful of real alternatives. Positioning is how you shape that picture. It is the moment a parent thinks, this is the school that gets us. In the article that follows, we will show how to position your school in a competitive market without noise or gimmicks. We start with the market you can genuinely win, move to a promise you can prove, and then carry that promise through every step of the journey. Think of it as clearing a path, so families can find you with confidence and your team knows exactly what to do next.

How to position your school in a competitive market: a simple framework

Begin by seeing your landscape as families do. Where can they reach you within a reasonable travel time, which postcodes are growing, which feeders send pupils who thrive with you. When you look at the map that way, priorities fall into place. Postcode level targeting through Data Research turns hunches into choices, so events, transport and media focus where they matter most.

Then lift your eyes to the comparison parents are already making. It is never just you versus one similar school. Strong local state options, grammars, nearby independents and even online or international routes all play a part. Sketch a quick picture of where you are genuinely distinct and where you must simply keep pace. That clarity makes it easier to say something true and memorable.

Now give that clarity a voice. A single sentence that names who you are for, the outcome you deliver, and the way you deliver it. Support it with three reasons to believe that feel real in a parent’s life, not just on a prospectus. Listen for the questions that surface at open events and answer them in plain language. Short interviews and pupil or parent snippets gathered through Qualitative Insights keep the message grounded and human.

Finally, make sure the experience matches the words. If you promise stretch with care, show it in the timetable, in subject tasters, in how you welcome families at events. Where several schools sit within a trust, coordination matters. MTM 360 helps align a shared narrative with local stories, so the trust sets direction and each school still sounds like itself. When positioning is lived like this, every touchpoint feels like the next natural step, and families move forward because it makes sense to do so.

From position to journeys and measurement

A good position should feel obvious when a family lands on your site or walks through the door. Start with a clear hub for Year 7 and another for Sixth Form, each one a small guided tour rather than a brochure dump. Show the promise you have made, the proof behind it, and a simple way to take the next step. Let open events and subject tasters deepen the story, then follow up with short emails that feel like help, not homework. When the message and the moments line up, parents stop comparing and start picturing their child with you.

Behind the scenes, keep the picture just as clear for your team. Most leaders do not want a data lake. They want one page that tells them what is changing and why. Track the journey from enquiry to acceptance in a single view and add two quality checks so you know you are winning the right places, not just more places. Keep sources tidy, ask “how did you hear about us” everywhere, and pull web, event and MIS data into the Admissions Dashboard. Use Business Strategy to set a steady review rhythm. Each month ends with three decisions only: start, stop, scale. That calm cadence builds momentum.

Market shifts shaping your position

Context has a way of crowding the decision. In some areas, families weighing girls only education are facing tighter availability and higher costs, which changes how they judge value and fit. Recent coverage of girls only education under pressure shows why a school’s promise and proof need to be unmistakable when choice narrows. At the same time, headlines about closures rarely tell the whole story. Finance, capacity, standards and leadership all play a part, with VAT only one factor among many, as this analysis of closures with multiple causes makes clear.

What does that mean for your positioning? Lead with what you can sustain. If your edge is outcomes through breadth, show the link from co curricular depth to results. If your strength is timetable fit and transport, bring those logistics to the foreground and let parents feel the ease. The environment will keep shifting, but a position built on truth, shown consistently in the journey, helps families decide with confidence.

A worked example, with a note for trusts

Imagine an independent day school that wants to grow Year 7 and keep more families through to Sixth Form. The team begins by listening: parents want stretch with care, reliable transport, and room for interests to flourish. Two personas emerge, one focused on academic pace and university pathways, the other on balance and wellbeing. The position becomes clear: serious scholarship supported by a culture that knows every child. Proof sits close to daily life, progress data, co curricular depth, bus routes and journey times, pupil stories that show stretch and support side by side.

From there the plan writes itself. The Year 7 hub opens with the promise and three proofs, answers the real questions parents ask, and invites them to book a visit. Subject tasters and small-group tours let families feel the difference. Sixth Form has its own path: course choices shown by destination stories, teacher videos and a short guide to shaping a timetable that fits. Event locations and creative are chosen with postcode opportunity and travel time in mind, using Data Research so effort lands where demand is real. Each month, the team reviews what moved the numbers and either starts, stops or scales.

For multi-academy trusts, the shape is similar, but the choreography matters more. A simple trust narrative sets direction – what the group stands for, why a family should feel confident in any school they choose – while each school tells its own local story. Shared assets lift quality and save time; school teams keep the human voice. MTM 360 keeps calendars aligned, data tidy and reporting consistent. If you are making the case to trust leaders, the MATs overview gives useful context for how this alignment works in practice.

Tools you can lift and what to do next

Keep three simple tools on your desk. First, a one-page plan that names the objective, personas, position, three proofs, the next steps you want families to take and who owns each action. Second, a compact competitor grid that compares you on the few things parents actually weigh: outcomes, breadth beyond the classroom, timetable fit and logistics. Third, a living list of objections with your best answers, refined by real parent and student voice you gather through short interviews and surveys; if you want help structuring those conversations, tap into Qualitative Insights.

With those in place, you have everything you need to write clearly, show convincingly and measure honestly. If you would like a fresh pair of eyes on your map, your message or your journeys, speak to the team and we will help you shape a plan that fits your context. Start the conversation here: contact MTM Consulting.ptions, or contact our team to scope a project. You can also review outcomes in our case studies.