✉️ chris@standoutschoolmarketing.com
Help your primary school stand out locally and fill your Reception class.
A simple admissions system that increases first-choice applications, without agencies, jargon, or extra workload on your team.
The problem
Reception numbers are dropping. Open days are quieter than they used to be. Local families seem to be choosing other schools, and you're not sure why.
It's almost never that the school isn't good enough. It's that local families can't see what makes you genuinely different from the school down the road.
The S.O.S. system
Three steps. Designed for busy headteachers, not marketers.
Uncover what genuinely makes your school worth choosing.
Get that message in front of local families through a simple promotion system.
Convert visits into first-choice applications with clear follow-up.
Case study
St Augustine's Catholic Primary
Reception intake
15 → 36
In-year transfers
+39
Open days
Fully booked
"Following the structure you offered made me feel I can do this with no background in marketing. If I can do it, anyone can."
Sarah Thompson, Headteacher
Free live training
How to Fix Your Falling Pupil Numbers
A 60-minute session for headteachers and admissions leads. Three things you'll walk away with:
What headteachers say
"All my open day sessions were fully booked. First time it's happened."
Chris Stewart, Hollingwood Primary
"Two new in-year transfers within weeks of joining the programme."
Helen Bruce, Appletree Gardens
"A manageable approach to enhancing the school. Not daunting any more."
Sarah Thompson, St Augustine's
Already know your school needs this?
Skip the training. Answer 5 quick questions and book your Admissions Action Plan call. I'll draft a personalised plan for your school before we meet.
Secure your place →If it's not right for you, just give back your place.
School Success Stories
MEET YOUR COACH
CHRIS NORFIELD
With 15 years of experience in local marketing, I’ve helped small businesses, charities, and sports clubs connect with their communities and build strong local followings.
When it comes to promoting your school, I understand it can be hard to know which marketing activities to focus on and where to spend your time.
I’ve tested all the tactics and identified the quickest, easiest actions that will have the biggest impact for school staff.
I’ll walk you through these simple, effective steps, helping you and your team build confidence and achieve real results.
Frequently asked questions
What headteachers ask before they get started
Short, honest answers to the questions I hear most often on Admissions Action Plan calls.
The biggest driver is demographic. The UK birth rate has fallen significantly over the last decade, which means fewer four-year-olds entering Reception each year. That's the national context every school is dealing with.
The local picture is different. Within a falling national trend, some schools are still filling up and some are emptying. The difference is almost always visibility. Local families can see what makes some schools genuinely worth choosing, and they can't see it at others.
The 90-Day Pupil Numbers Fix is built around the school admissions cycle. We install the system over 90 days so it's ready for autumn open days, which feed into the January 15th application deadline.
Schools see quick wins along the way - in-year transfers from increased visibility, fully booked taster events, and stronger open day attendance. The biggest number, first-choice Reception applications, lands when parents apply at the end of January.
Both. Most schools I work with are state-funded primaries, but the system works for any UK primary school competing for first-choice applications in its local area. Independent schools are part of the current cohort.
The underlying problem is the same in both sectors: local families struggle to see what makes a school genuinely different from the alternatives. The framework for fixing that doesn't change.
An agency does the marketing for you, charges a monthly retainer, and takes its knowledge with it when the contract ends. You stay dependent on them.
This is the opposite. I help you install a simple admissions system inside your own school. You learn what to do, you build the assets, and your team owns the system going forward. One-off investment, no retainer, no agency dependency.
That's exactly who this is built for. The schools I work with are run by educators, not marketers, and most have no formal marketing experience. The whole programme assumes that starting point.
You get step-by-step templates, walkthroughs for everything technical including Facebook setup, and direct support on weekly calls. Sarah Thompson at St Augustine's said it best - if she could do it with no marketing background, anyone can.
Around two to three hours a week during the 90 days. That includes the weekly group call, which most schools say is the most useful part because it carves out protected time to work on the admissions system rather than letting it slip.
You can bring two other staff members into the community, so you don't have to carry it all yourself. Many heads bring a deputy or admissions lead in to share the work.
If you fully participate and implement the system, and we don't increase your first-choice applications, I'll keep working with you until we do. No extra fees, no time limit.
Before you commit, we have an Admissions Action Plan call where I review your school and draft a personalised plan. If it's not the right fit, just give back your place. No awkwardness, no pressure.
Got a question that's not answered here?
Book an Admissions Action Plan call →