DO SCHOOLS HAVE MORE TO LEARN WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR ONLINE STRATEGY?

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1 DO SCHOOLS HAVE MORE TO LEARN WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR ONLINE STRATEGY? A RESEARCH REPORT INTO PARENTS THOUGHTS ON THE QUALITY OF SCHOOL WEBSITES IN THE UK SEPTEMBER 2016 THIS REPORT WAS CREATED BY DIGITAL AGENCY

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 93% of parents use their child s school website 36% of parents said their child s website was easy to use 20% said the websites are not updated regularly enough Nearly all 93% of the 1,000 parents surveyed for this report use their child s school website. However, currently, over a third of parents rate these websites satisfactory or worse, with a quarter saying that they could be improved. Only 36% of parents think that their child s school website is easy to use, with over one in five saying the layout needs to be better, and 20% stating that information isn t updated regularly enough. 36% of parents said that they would be happier and engage more with the school if its website or online approach was improved. There are numerous pieces of information that parents want to be able to access online regarding their child s experience at school. Some of the most popular being: - Information about school holidays (70%); - 68% wanted to receive urgent notifications (such as if the school is going to be closed for the day); - Information about school events (67%); - Information regarding school trips (55%); - 55% also wanted to access their child s school report; -Almost half (45%) wanted to access information about Ofsted inspections. Parents access their child s school website on a variety of different devices, including laptop (59%) mobile (24%), and ipad (14%). HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK

3 FOREWORD As a parent myself, I know how important it is to select the right school and to ensure my children get the best possible education. There s a wealth of information out there about different schools, such as how well they perform academically, areas of specialism, how they function and operate, and what other parents and alumni have to say. I look at a range of information and buying signals before I make a choice, like everyone else. But as a school, what part does your website play in all this? How does your website present your brand values and ethos? Is the information easy to find, and does it provide what I really need as a parent? School websites notoriously lag behind further and higher education sites in terms of effectiveness, often because the schools lack resources; both financial and human. But is there more to it than this? Like any business website, the objective should be to meet customer needs profitably. This means that your site should take a parent-centric approach. It s not about design whims, technical preferences, or whether it should look like the school or college down the road. It s about what your customers need. And it s your job to find out. However, we know how pressed for time you are and so we set out to answer these questions for you. We commissioned this independent report that surveyed 1,000 parents on the subject of school websites. It was quite an eye-opener. This report gives real insight into what your website should offer. It might not fit with your own perceptions or preferences, but it is valuable information backed by hard data. I encourage you to reassess how you do your online marketing, how you talk to your customers online and in the process how you ensure they have the information they need, packaged in the way they want to consume it. The world is moving on, the challenges for developing a first-class website that represents your school are considerable. But it can be done with the right insights and approach, and even a modest budget can go a long way when you re on the right path. I hope you find this report useful and I personally welcome any comments or questions. Phil Holt Managing Director Web Foundry phil.holt@web-foundry.co.uk 36% OF PARENTS SAID THEY WOULD BE HAPPIER AND ENGAGE MORE WITH THE SCHOOL IF ITS WEBSITE OR ONLINE APPROACH WAS IMPROVED HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK

4 INTRODUCTION The education system has transformed in the last decade. Changes in Government have produced reforms such as academisation and free schools, leaving the UK with an unrecognisable system for a lot of parents. Constant changes mean that parents would be forgiven for feeling confused when trying to choose the right school for their child, or in the dark regarding how their child s current school is being run. What this also means, is that good communication between schools and parents is more important than it has ever been. As we are in a digital world now, attention needs to be given to school websites and how these can be used as a primary communication tool. A report by the Office of National Statistics, released in May 2016, found that over 87% of UK adults had used the internet in the last three months. A breakdown of this statistic showed that nearly 99% of those aged had accessed the internet in this period, and almost 95% of adults aged had, too. These statistics show, as does this report, that schools simply can t ignore the importance of having a good website. In realising the role that a website can play, the Government has provided guidelines for academies, free schools, and colleges regarding what they should publish on their websites. Contact details, admission arrangements, exam results, curriculums, and performance tables all feature, but we wanted to delve further and look at what parents want to be able to access online via their child s school website, and how they want this information to be presented. We aimed to explore the things that weren t on this list. In this report, therefore, we set out to answer the questions below: How do parents rate the performance of their child's school s current website? Is it easy to use? Is it updated with important information often enough? What information do parents want to see on their child s school website? Would parents engage with a school mobile app? To answer these questions, we spoke to 1,000 parents with children of school age. We then compiled the results into this report, which provides school decision makers with information to shape their own strategy. ALMOST 1 IN 4 PARENTS NOW ACCESS THEIR CHILD S SCHOOL WEBSITE VIA MOBILE HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK

5 WHAT PARENTS THINK ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF SCHOOL WEBSITES As our research found that the majority of parents (93%) use their child s school website, it s important that they are easy to use and provide the right information, at the right time. We asked parents numerous questions in order to uncover how these websites could improve, such as: How would parents rate their child s school s current website? How often do parents access the website? Do they find the website, as it stands, easy to use? According to the findings, over a third of parents would rate their child s school website satisfactory, poor, or very poor. In addition, only 36% said that the website is easy to use meaning that a huge 64% don t believe it is, which is a worrying statistic. The fact that parents don t find the websites particularly easy to use might explain why only 17% access them on a weekly basis. A quarter of parents also stated that their child s school website could be improved, with one in five suggesting that the layout of them in particular needs some work. On top of this, a fifth said that information isn t updated regularly enough. Overall, the research suggests that there are a number of bugbears for parents when it comes to these websites. However, we should recognise that the results weren t all negative. Some parents find their child s school website good (43%) or very good (23%). But as more services are moving online, and the population becomes even more tech-savvy, schools need to make sure their websites are robust. They should be useful to all parents, and not lagging behind the other websites they use on a daily basis. Parents need to be able to find what they need, and with ease. But what kind of information do parents want to be included on these school websites? A SCHOOL WEBSITE OPTIMISED SOLELY FOR DESKTOP AND LAPTOP DEVICES IS NO LONGER GOOD ENOUGH. SCHOOLS MUST MAKE THEIR WEBSITES USER FRIENDLY ACROSS DIFFERENT MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK

6 INFORMATION ABOUT SCHOOL HOLIDAYS, EVENTS, AND URGENT NOTIFICATIONS TOPS THE LIST OF WHAT PARENTS WANT TO ACCESS ONLINE Next, we wanted to uncover the information that parents want to be able to access easily online from their child s school. For this section we therefore aimed to answer this question: What information should schools be providing on their websites, to give parents what they need? A huge 70% of parents said that they want to access information about their child s school holidays online, 67% said they want to find information about school events, and 55% stated that they want to access information about school trips. Over half (56%) also said that they want to be able to find their child s school report on the web, and almost half mentioned they wanted to browse Ofsted reports. Delving further, 46% of parents want to find information about the school s syllabus online, 66% said they wanted to receive urgent notifications, such as if the school is going to be closed for the day, and almost half (47%) said that they wanted to access their child s attendance records online. A substantial 51% also said they want to be able to view their child s homework online. After discovering the information that is most important for parents to have access to online, next it was important to find out the types of technology parents use to access these websites. Did desktop, mobile, or ipad come out on top? Table of results for what kind of information parents want to access online regarding their child. What information do parents want to access easily online? % Information about school holidays 70% Information about school events 67% Urgent notifications, such as if the school will be closed for a day 66% Child s school report 56% Information and updates regarding school trips 55% Child s school homework 51% Child s attendance record 47% ONLY 36% OF PARENTS THINK THAT THEIR CHILD S SCHOOL WEBSITE IS EASY TO USE Information about the school syllabus 46% Information about Ofsted inspections 45% Exam results 41% A virtual tour of the school 19% HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK

7 SCHOOLS NEED TO INVEST IN A MULTI-DEVICE OFFERING As more services move online, consumers increasingly expect to be able to have a similar experience on mobile or tablet as they would on a laptop or desktop device so that they can do more on the move. For this part of the research we wanted to find out whether parents expect the same from schools. We set out to answer the following questions: Do parents access their child s school website on different devices? Would they use a school mobile app? The research found that 37% of parents access their child s school website via a desktop, 59% do so on laptop, and nearly one in four access it on a mobile device. Finally, 14% said they used an ipad, and 7% said they don t access the website at all. The results suggest a growing expectation from parents to be able to access information and services whilst they are on the move. Table of results for devices. How do parents currently access their child s school website? % Via laptop 59% Via desktop 37% Via mobile phone 24% Via ipad 14% Doesn t access the website 7% An overwhelming majority (79%) of parents also said that they would use a mobile app, which gave them instant notifications such as alerts about the school calendar, reminders about parent evenings, school trips, and upcoming events. The research suggests that a school website optimised solely for desktop and laptop devices is no longer good enough. Schools must make their websites user-friendly across these different mobile technologies. 37% 59% 14% 24% HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK

8 WHAT SHOULD SCHOOLS TAKE FROM THIS REPORT? Numerous research reports have shown that parents being involved in their child s education is critical to a pupil s progression in school. This means that it s in the best interest of schools to make sure that communication with parents is good, particularly considering the regular changes in today s school system. The aim of the research which underpins this report, is to arm schools with the quantitative data they need to inform decisions about their websites. Specifically, we want to explain how a well-designed site that provides the right information can aid communication. As a school decision-maker, we want you to find this report useful. So here we have compiled the key takeaway points that we believe will be beneficial to include in your own online strategy. 1) SIMPLIFYING THE DESIGN OF YOUR WEBSITE One of the glaring pieces of feedback from the parents we spoke to was that a number of schools have websites that aren t easy to use, and in particular have layouts that parents think could be improved. One of the easiest errors that can be made with a website is cluttering the layout with too much content. It s important to note that your website will likely be a parent s first experience of your school, and therefore you want to avoid it being ill-designed as it will leave a negative impression. A streamlined layout will help parents navigate the website with ease and digest information fully. Our research also showed that parents access school websites across different devices from desktop, to mobile, to tablet. This means that being available on these various devices is hugely important for schools wanting to use their website as a communication tool. Schools will be forced to reassess the layout of their website and consider decluttering it, as a website that isn t streamlined could be rendered almost unusable on a device with a small screen. This leads us onto our next point... 2) IMPLEMENTING A MULTI-DEVICE OFFERING We want to point out the importance of making sure your existing website is mobile and tablet friendly. Does it have a responsive or adaptive design, meaning that it changes size depending on the device it is opened on? If the answer is no, you need to address this quickly, as our research suggests that parents are already accessing your website across these different devices. Not only do you want to avoid them having a negative experience, but you want to make sure that the experience they do have is consistent across different devices. 3) BUILDING A FIT-FOR-PURPOSE MOBILE APP A large majority of the parents we spoke to for this report said that they would use a school mobile app. As a school leader, this is a good opportunity to really ramp-up how you communicate with parents. Not only will you be able to create your own bespoke piece of technology, but, amongst other things, you ll be able to use it to send urgent notifications that will reach parents wherever they might be. This might include information on school closures, parents evening dates, or even bad traffic on the school route. These instant notifications direct to a device that a parent is likely to have on them constantly can provide a world of benefits. A report by Ofcom (Office of Communications) released in July 2016 also backs up the importance of being available on mobile. The report found that 36% of UK internet users consider the Smartphone to be the most important device for internet access and the take-up of these devices reached 71% in ) MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM If you re not a tech native, you might be concerned that updating or amending your online strategy could be costly. But it doesn t need to be. If your website is built on a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, you will be able to make some of these changes yourself. Contact the business you outsourced the build of your website to and ask them what CMS system it is built on if you don t know already. A good agency will provide some training on how you can maintain the website yourself with minimal input from them. This would enable you to update information, upload blogs, allow students to share their own content, and make small structural changes yourself - which means you won t have to pay them every time you want to change a few words. HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK

9 A TEACHER S VIEW FIND OUT MORE... This report confirms my own view that an online presence is crucial for any school. Not only is it an essential marketing tool, it is often the initial interface between parents/carers and teachers. This is perhaps especially true in larger secondary schools, when the daily face to face contact experienced by families in primary schools gives way to information filtered through the mind (and bag) of a teenager. A good website will convey immediately the ethos and aims of a school. It will then provide essential information in a reliable and accessible manner, and initiate a two-way relationship with the reader via , Facebook, Twitter etc. Here lies the main problem for a school; the amount of information which needs to be conveyed - often in a rapidly changing form - makes the smooth appearance of the website hard to maintain. It seems there is a compromise to be made between ease of access to lists of information and a clear, corporate image. Some schools have very busy front pages, with a welter of scrolling news and pictures with captions, others have a clean front page with one or two headlines, which can leave the reader to delve into a series of menus and sub menus to find the information they need. In the setting up of these menus what makes sense to a busy teacher, who updates the website as an add-on to a multitude of other responsibilities, might not make sense to a parent. It may be that mobile apps are the way forward, instantly updating parents with key facts, backed up by a well-maintained website. However, these apps, whilst available, are a little pricey at the moment for schools with beleaguered budgets. As they become increasingly essential, we can assume that their price will fall and they will become the normal method of initial communication with parents. Thank you for this research, it reminds all schools that they ignore this area at their peril, but if they manage this window on the school effectively, the rewards are great. Gerard Flowers, Head of School at St Francis Xavier s College We hope that this report has been of use to you. Whether it has confirmed that you are going in the right direction with your online strategy, or highlighted some areas that you think you can improve it, we are here to help with any questions. We are also offering a free website assessment in conjunction with the launch of this report, which will involve: Checking your website for Google and mobile friendliness; Exploring your brand and its message consistency; Examining your engagement and interactions Running a performance review; Inspecting your website s design quality and relevance. Compiling all of this information will allow us to give you an in-depth overview of where you are at with your website, point out ways that it can be improved, and help you understand how this will help your organisation. Thank you for reading our report. The Web Foundry team. HELLO@WEB-FOUNDRY.CO.UK