School marketers, bursars and heads believe wellbeing and sustainability are the central issues for schools to focus on as they adapt to a post-Covid world, a survey carried out by School Management Plus and MTM Consulting has revealed.
The Confidence Index 2022 annual survey also showed that most of these professionals believes that the possibility of VAT on school fees is the greatest long-term threat to the independent sector. Heads were also concerns about increases to Teachers’ Pension Scheme payments. Staff recruitment was also a major concern.
The survey also asked staff about their future plans, and building a nursery was popular, with 25 per cent saying their school was planning to open one. Around 18 per cent said their school was investigating merging with another school.
In other findings, over half of bursars said their school was no longer in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and 82 per cent of marketers said they used social media to advertise their schools, while two thirds used print media.
The results of the survey will be discussed in a live webinar this week (13th October) at 1.30pm UK time and professionals are being invited to sign up.
Hosts Steve Spriggs, managing director of marketing software providers Kampus24 and Daniel Cohen, head of business development at MTM Consulting, will be joined by guest panellists Dr Helen Wright and Duncan Murphy.
They will look at the key themes from the research, including staff recruitment, the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and the role of the marketer in school among other topics.
*The Teacher Confidence Index 2022 surveyed 157 members of schools throughout the UK. The survey was live in January and February 2022, designed to gauge the confidence of staff in independent schools with their sector.
Schools in the South East were slightly over represented, accounting for 40 per cent of respondents, with 17 per cent in the South West and 16 per cent in the East of England.