Schools, like most businesses, experience a to-and-fro of power over time between themselves, the suppliers, and parents, the customers. Over the last 10 years market power has shifted to the customer. How schools respond to parental preference today will determine the shape of their business over the next 10 years.
Parental preferences when choosing a prep school
Back in 2016, a Schoolsmith survey of 986 parents of Reception age children told us that the top 5 reasons (of 20) for choosing one prep school over another were;
- Location (distance from home or the commute).
- The breadth of the curriculum; academic, arts, sports, out-of-hours clubs, trips, etc.
- Class sizes and teaching ratios.
- Facilities.
- Pastoral care.
So, they would look more favourably on Prep School A if it had better teaching ratios than Prep School B, however defined. It’s worth bearing in mind that this is why they chose one prep school over another, not a prep school over a state school.
So, an attentive school might have developed a strategy that addressed the curriculum, facilities, teaching ratios and pastoral care. Some enterprising schools introduced bus services to help address location.
Within each of those preferences there were plenty of opportunities to differentiate; after school care within facilities, for example, or oracy within the curriculum, as another. What actually happened was a general mishmash of impulsive and random initiatives across all five preferences which has led to similar offerings and perennial above inflation fee increases. We know that parents consider schools undifferentiated when they are searching.
On the flip side, if you were to ask a teacher what a parent wants, and if they are being honest, they’ll say something like The World, improbable attainment and individual exceptionalism. Which of course informs the way that schools are marketed; facilities, generalised academic and sporting achievement, and a promise of individual attention and care. So, to some extent the two viewpoints converge.
How do parents choose a prep school today?
Now let’s zoom forward to the 2025 and take a look at a snippet of the repeated survey (941 respondents). Parents’ top five reasons for choosing one prep over another were;
- Location.
- Fees/value for money.
- Results; academic, sporting, artistic.
- Facilities.
- Breadth of curriculum.
The first thing to note is the elevation of fees/value for money and results. It may come as a surprise to learn that these two choice factors didn’t suddenly hit the top 5 as a result of the fee shocks of 2025 but they have gradually crept up the rankings over the last 10 years.
The emphasis on results is consistent with the increased use of private tutors. The implication for schools is that if Prep School A gets a similar proportion of pupils into Desirable Senior School A as Prep School B, or even State Primary A, Prep School A is on the back foot.
And the value-for-money criterion is consistent with prep schools’ positioning as a premium brand. Parents are asking ‘what am I actually paying extra for?’ and ‘can I get it elsewhere?’
These are nationwide headline findings. There is, of course, variation by type of prep school and geography. Parents of pupils attending wealthier prep schools in the Home Counties lean more to facilities, breadth of education and their impression of the head teacher. Parents of children in preps that best promote social mobility value results and value for money more.
How are prep schools changing their marketing?
Marketing-savvy schools are edging closer to committing to what a parent’s child will get. Not quite a contract, the shift in approach is away from the generalised ‘our pupils usually go on to XYZ school’ to a more specific ‘we will get your child into XYZ school, subject to these conditions’. It is individualised sell, rather than a generic marketing brochure.
The role of the Head teacher in decision making has also shifted over ten years and it has ranked consistently in the top 10 reasons to choose one prep over another. Ten years ago the impression of the Head was, in effect, a measure of trust. Trust in someone who understood the nuances of education, which parents didn’t but knew it was important. That rationale has evolved, after all, head teachers come and go every 3 to 5 years. Today, parents are looking for authenticity in the head teacher. Why this school? Why now? What are you hoping to achieve? It’s part of the ‘story telling’ that marketers use to great effect in other businesses that sell to the very same parents.
Does this mean that schools will change their priorities? Some schools, with parents who are internationally mobile or employed in London Financial Services careers will continue to upgrade buildings and facilities. Otherwise, most schools will have to focus and reprioritise.
Is financial stability an independent school selling point?
Reflecting the current pattern of school mergers and closures, I’ve read that financial stability is becoming more important in school choice. It’s a concern, it should be addressed, but it’s not a key choice factor, according to Schoolsmith research.
Clearly, no one chooses a school that is likely to fold tomorrow, but financial stability is a given when it comes to choosing one school over another. In the same way as no corporal punishment is.
However, parents are interested in ‘stability’ at a micro level; such as a guaranteed progression from primary to star senior school, or low staff and head teacher turnover. These can be marketed. But being part of a for-profit group or not is a double-edged proposition.
What do parents of independent senior schools want?
For parents of Year 7 children, starting their first year of (independent) senior school the reasons for choosing one independent school over another is similar to Reception parents;
- Results.
- Fees/value for money.
- Pastoral care.
- Breadth of curriculum.
- Facilities.
- Provision for SEN.
Results and value are the clear top priorities, with location dropping from the top 6. Children are older, they can travel further.
Pastoral care’s position reflects parental concerns over the transition to a bigger environment and adolescence. I included provision for SEN at number 6 because it’s a rapid riser up the rankings. Much faster than, say, for remote or blended learning. It may be because of an increase in SEN pupils presenting for admissions to private schools.
Though the rankings don’t show it, the proportion of votes associated with the top 5 preferences for senior schools is significantly higher than that for prep schools. Which means that parents are more like-minded in how they choose a senior school.
Perhaps national exams at age 16 and 18 focus the collective mind, and the perception of what secondary education is for.
Where does parental preference take schools next ?
Given the direction of independent education; higher fees, prioritised subject coverage, and parental pressures for results and value-for-money there has to be a supply side response. Mostly evolutionary but some might be more radical, such as schools offering a more focussed offering at lower cost. Say, dropping extra-curricular and all but the core subjects. Maybe a STEM focus for boosting careers in engineering, technology, biotech or medicine,
In my experience, this is a tricky scenario to model. What customers say they will do and what they actually do can be quite different. It will take a brave head teacher to radically alter their school’s offer. But that’s where the Head’s personal capital from credible ‘story telling’ will pay dividends.
At Schoolsmith we have a good idea of what parents think, want and choose on a local level from 10 years of surveys, tailored help and monthly website traffic.