As a school, you are in the fortunate position that your audience is already invested in your offering; they are prospective parents who will ultimately need to decide on a school for their child(ren). But how do you ensure they decide to choose your school over your competitors?

Having a beautifully designed, well-written and high-quality printed prospectus provides the perfect opportunity to showcase your school to potential parents and students.

A good prospectus combines all the required information such as your ethos, values, curriculum, facilities and individual strengths into one package. This can then be added as a digital copy to the school website or sent out in the post for prospective parents to read and digest at their leisure.

When creating your perfect prospectus, the most important things to consider are:

Message & Tone

Consider the overarching message you want to send to parents and how you wish to be perceived by them. Do you want to be seen as formal and traditional, or perhaps more modern and creative?

Design & Style

 The message and tone will set the scene for the rest of the document, as you will then be able to choose a style that complements your decisions.

If you’re looking for a formal, more traditional approach then you may choose to go for a A4 prospectus with natural looking photography, a more neutral colour palette and lots of information and pages.

If you’re thinking of a more modern take, you might choose to go for bright imagery, bold colours and a quirky square design with less writing and more photography-led pages.

Of course, these are just two ends of the spectrum – there are many options available, especially when it comes to page quantity, imagery, print size and text-to-image ratios.

If you choose to go for a professionally designed prospectus, the designer will be able to explore these avenues and more during the creative process.

Photography

As they always say, a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s why it’s important that any photography you choose for your prospectus are engaging, clear and of a high pixel density and resolution. This is so that they can be enlarged, cropped and printed without losing their quality or becoming blurry.

Low quality imagery unfortunately does not print well and can reduce the overall effect of your prospectus.

Content

This is perhaps the most important element of the process as it will contain the words that may well convince a prospective family to choose your school over another.

Your content should be authentic and engaging to portray your school in the best possible way. An introduction from the headteacher is a great place to start – it adds an instant touch of personality, sets the scene and will speak directly to the prospective parent.

Quotes and testimonials from happy students and parents are also a great way to showcase your school and your curriculum – plus it offers social proof that your school is a great place to attend.

Print & Finish

Many prospectuses are shared online via email or the school website for eco and practical reasons, but print can still be a popular medium for some schools.

If you’re considering a printed prospectus, think about the impression you want to make and how you’d like the document to feel in your hands. You may also wish to add a pocket, for additional paper and handouts.

Prospectus Design at e4education

If you’re considering a new prospectus design, contact e4education for a free consultation. With years of experience, they will work with you to create the perfect prospectus for your school or trust.