Admissions Manager

Join a community where relationships drive success.

Job Title: Admissions Manager

Location: Akeley Wood School, Akeley, Buckingham

Salary: Up to £44,000 per annum

Hours: 40 hours per week – Monday to Friday – 8am to 5pm (requires evenings & weekends)

Contract: Permanent – 52 weeks per year

Working Pattern: On-site (this role is not hybrid)

Please note, early applications are recommended. We reserve the right to commence interview and offer for this role prior to the role closure date stated within this advertisement.

Join Our School Community as an Admissions Manager

Akeley Wood, part of Blenheim Schools, is a thriving co‑educational independent school set across three beautiful campuses in the Buckinghamshire countryside. We educate pupils from 12 months to 18 years, offering a warm, inclusive, and ambitious environment where every child is known and supported to achieve their best.

Our inspiring learning spaces include woodland outdoor areas, specialist classrooms, creative arts studios, and modern sports facilities. We are proud of our strong pastoral culture, focus on individual strengths, and commitment to helping pupils grow into confident, curious, and compassionate young people.

Joining Akeley Wood School means becoming part of a dedicated, collaborative team who believe in high expectations, meaningful relationships, and the transformative power of education.

The Role

The Admissions Manager will be responsible for growing the number of students in our schools. This will be achieved by delivering a distinctive, market‑leading, and ‘surprising and delightful’ customer experience. They will need to establish and inculcate a sales culture and mindset throughout the school, starting with school leadership and admission teams. Their role is to ensure the whole school understands its part in the organisation’s growth strategy through clear communication and interpersonal relationships. Overall growth requires focus on both enrolments and retention of existing students.

Key Responsibilities

• Take responsibility for all aspects of the school’s admissions process and pipeline management, optimising conversion at every stage and supporting school teams to maintain high retention levels.
• Ensure a retention approach exists for all ‘transition points’ within the school.
• Provide regular reporting and forecasting of data with accompanying insights and actions.
• Complement the digital admissions experience with excellent follow‑up to provide a first‑class service for prospective parents.
• Take the lead on conversion events including personal tours and open mornings.
• Ensure the global minimum standards for admissions are met (or exceeded).
• Act as a key brand ambassador for the school, understanding the local market and the school’s value proposition, and appreciating the needs of parents and pupils.
• Develop stretching annual enrolment targets in conjunction with the Head of Marketing & Admissions and the Head of the school.
• Monitor feedback generated through various mediums (mystery shop, online chat, WhatsApp, Voice of the Parent admissions surveys, etc.) and take action to improve the admissions service based on customer insight.
• Ensure a fast and quality response to individual parent feedback in line with published minimum standards.
• Build relationships with feeder schools, estate agents, relocation agents, key partners, affiliates, and influencers in the local community to support enrolments.
• Work closely with the overseas recruitment team, ensuring compliance on visas and immigration, regulatory inspections, and reporting to the local authority.

People Management

• Support the Admissions & Marketing team to deliver a first‑class customer experience to internal and external customers/colleagues.
• Lead the relationship with external agencies (estate agents, clubs, associations, etc.).
• Ensure that the department is always appropriately resourced.
• Maintain a close and effective working relationship with other key colleagues, including the School Operations Manager and SLT, the teaching community and support staff, as well as the POD team, SSC or SCP.

What We’re Looking For

• Be a nice person who is immediately likeable and can relate easily to others.
• Enjoy interacting with others and be energized by it.
• Able to operate with autonomy and authority, demonstrating good gravitas.
• Exhibit excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to deal with people on all levels with sensitivity, tact, and diplomacy.
• Have a high level of numeracy and the ability to understand, manipulate, and interrogate data to reveal patterns and gain commercial insight.
• Be able to manage multiple stakeholders and work well within a team.
• Possess first‑class organisational and administrative skills.
• Remain calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines, with a systematic approach to tasks and attention to detail.
• Show confidence and adeptness in using Microsoft applications (Word, Excel) and various database systems.
• Maintain good levels of accuracy and attention to detail across tasks.

Experience

• Overall successful track record, including learning from failures.
• Prior experience in managing direct customer contact, ideally in sales and customer service.
• Previous experience working in a complex, busy, service‑driven environment.
• Experience with customer database, customer relationship management tools, and digital/online platforms.
• An understanding of the highly competitive schools marketplace would be an advantage.

Why Join Akeley Wood School?

You will be part of a supportive, high‑performing team who take pride in delivering exceptional experiences for families. This is a rewarding role where your work directly shapes the first impressions and future journeys of our pupils.

Safeguarding Commitment

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All staff are expected to follow safeguarding policies and engage in relevant training. Any safeguarding concerns must be reported in line with school procedures. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Additional Information

All applicants will be subject to social media checks and successful candidates to an enhanced DBS. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Blenheim Schools Recruitment Process

Blenheim Schools are committed to a fair, thorough, and efficient recruitment process in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education. While we aim to keep applicants informed throughout, we do not accept liability for any loss of earnings or other costs incurred as a result of delays or compliance processes.

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