Jason Hewer – Customer Care Consultant Admissions Jason Hewer – Customer Care Consultant

Agenda Why manage admissions through SIMS? R&A Module Setups Capturing data Admissions process Reporting & analysis Summary and Questions Benefits of using R&A in SIMS A comprehensive look at how R&A works and get you familiar with using it

Why SIMS?

Why manage admissions through SIMS? Data continuation Automated tools Produce accurate forecasting of pupil numbers for budgeting and resourcing Track success of marketing campaigns Flexibility – customise data capture requirements Accuracy and avoiding duplication Imports, reports, Home Page widget = instant dynamic data display Planning in line with all your other SIMS data Where to target future marketing Fits around your school processes and policies

Registration & Admissions Module

Setups

Setups: Lookups Tools | Lookups | Maintain Look at application status – does anyone use different statuses here? Go in and create a new status e.g. Deposit not paid

Setups: Defaults Tools | Admissions | Defaults Turn on/off default values/fields to be captured Communications – stay on top of your work flow by setting up follow-up reminders (we will cover later)

Setups: Reminders Focus | Alerts | Setup Reminders How to configure reminders

Setups: Next Academic Year Routines | School | Academic Year Routines | School | Promotion Create the academic year using the wizard – define dates etc (you can change them later) Do this nice and early on in the current academic year Then run the pastoral promotion to map current year and reg groups to next years’ Running this allows you to view your next years’ pupil numbers and plan effectively You can always re-run and over-write

Setups: Selection and Testing Tools | Admissions | Criterion Tools | Admissions | Policies Task – set up a criterion Criterion are then used to offer places to pupils if they meet the criteria (usually if the school is oversubscribed!). E.g. entrance exams, siblings in school or anything Talk about aspects – if using test data, better to use an Assessment aspect in order to hold that data in AM for future analysis Discuss weightings and tie-breaks etc

Data Capture

Data Capture: Import from web Routines | Admissions | Import Enquiries Import Applications Show import admissions process – same process as enquiries

Data Capture: Import from web Routines | Admissions | Import Applications Task Avoid duplication – finds matches in the database Also imports contacts alongside the enquiry/application record Choose to add a new record if required

Data Capture: Enquiry Record Focus | Admission | Enquiry Marketing Source Enquirer could be parent/grand-parent/nanny etc Open up first enquirer – Asgeir Abbot Marketing source information key for future target marketing Also capture job details – might be relevant for where to target marketing

Data Capture: Enquiry Record Focus | Admission | Enquiry Prospective Pupil Details Open up prospective pupil Record reasons for enquiry for feedback of the reputation of your school Record when they are looking to join to plan ahead Record what school they’re coming from to build relationships Record withdrawal reasons for feedback

Data Capture: Enquiry Record Focus | Admission | Enquiry Communications Interviews/Visits Communications – set follow-ups so reminders come through on the Home Page Message thread so you can see history Quick letter on the right to send a prospectus, for example Interviews/visits/open days/taster sessions/assessment day Capture attendance of these and use this information for messaging/chasing up absences to reschedule

Data Capture: Application Record Focus | Admission | Application Create application from enquiry Looks very similar to an active pupil record (with interviews/visits and separate communications) Assign to an intake and admission group and assign application status Record all other pupil details at this point, including subject choices if you turn this feature on

Data Capture: Admission Criteria Focus | Admission | Application Focus | Assessment | Marksheet entry Record criteria that you set out in your policy Entrance exams – open marksheet: ‘EE Entrance Exams 2016/2017’ Recording as an aspect in assessment manager allows you to analyse more and in the future look back to see progress You can still use this as part of an admissions policy

Admissions Process

Admissions Process: Offers Routines | Admission | Finalise Offers Task – Finalise offers Open up intake group 2016/2017 Autumn Year 7 Admissions criteria feeds through to inform the process Rank and sort

Admissions Process: Accept Routines | Admission | Accept Applications Task – Accept Applications Open up intake group 2016/2017 Autumn Year 7 Choose whether any offers have been accepted If they have withdrawn or been withdrawn by the school, you can capture why here and report on it Record destination school to build a picture of competition Once applications have been accepted, pupils can begun to be given year groups, reg groups, houses, academic classes etc in SIMS – all of these processes can be completed in SIMS nice and early prior to date of admission

Reporting & Analysis

Reporting: Home Page widget Home Page | Configure Task (if time allows!) How to configure reminders and Home Page widgets Drill-down Compare to last week, month, year, etc to see how the picture has changed Expand widget to see further detail Make decisions on if you need your offers to become accepted, etc

Reporting: Projected Student Numbers Reports | Admissions | Projected Student Numbers Task (if time allows!) Choose criteria – year, intake season, comparison data, filter if you want by application status Many schools are tracking this manually using spreadsheets

Reporting: Discover PreAdmission Menu Task (if we have time!) Drag and drop

Reporting: Discover PreAdmission Menu Task training (if we have time!) Drag and drop Improving our knowledge of the landscape

Reporting: Pre-Defined Reports Catalogue Is everyone aware of the Documentation Centre? There’s a library of admissions reports built around what schools have asked for A huge amount of reports in there (50+) Feeder school analysis, marketing analysis, enquiry conversion rates, enquiry reasons, data collection sheets A guide in the Documentation Centre details them all

Reporting: Conversion Rates Reports | Run Report | Application Visit Conversion Rate See trends over time See how many visits ended up becoming an offer and an eventual admission Target visits, maybe use that to ensure visits are more effective

Reporting: Conversion Rates Reports | Run Report | Application Visit Conversion Rate Pivot tables created to break-down the data You can always access the pupil data behind the numbers too

Summary

Summary We looked at… Setups Capturing data Admissions process Reporting Benefits… Reduce duplication and inaccuracy Planning Gain an understanding of your school Setups – defaults, what to import, lookups, reminders, criterion and policies Capturing data – importing enquiries/application, marketing data, admissions criteria such as entrance exams, visits/events, communications Admissions process – using admissions criteria to inform offers, progressing through the application statuses, withdrawal reasons Reporting – Home Page widget, projected student numbers, pre-defined report catalogue, conversion rates, Discover Manage numbers Resource planning Build a picture of why pupils are attracted to your school and, therefore, where to target marketing

Questions?

jason.hewer@capita.co.uk @capitasimsind +44(0)1285 647459 info@capita-independent.co.uk http://www.capita-independent.co.uk/sims-international SIMS Independent, 5 Mercian Close, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1LT Tel: 01285 647459 | Fax: 01285 647599 | Email: info@capita-independent.co.uk | www.capita-independent.co.uk Keep in touch!