Admissions Manager in Buckingham

Join a community where relationships drive success.

Location: Akeley Wood School, Akeley, Buckingham

Salary: £45,000

Hours: 40 hours per week | Monday to Friday | 8am - 5pm | There will be a requirement to work some evenings and 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.

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 driven 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 the school leadership and admission teams. Ensure the whole school understand their 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 with a view to optimising conversion at every stage of the pipeline, whilst supporting school teams to ensure retention levels are as high as possible.
• Ensure a retention approach exists for all 'transition points' within the school.
• Regular reporting & forecasting of data with accompanying insights and actions.
• Ensure the digital admissions experience is complemented by excellent follow up to provide a first-class service for prospective parents.
• Take the lead on conversion events including personal tours, open mornings.
• Ensure our global minimum standards for admissions are met (or exceeded).
• Act as a key brand ambassador for the school, understanding the local market, the school's value proposition, 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).
• Regularly monitor feedback generated through various mediums (mystery shop, online chat, WhatsApp, Voice of the Parent admissions surveys, et al); and take action to improve the admissions service based on customer insight.
• Ensure a fast and quality response to individual parent feedback is given and in line with our 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 and ensure compliance on visas and immigration, regulatory inspections and reporting to the local authority.

People Management

• Support the Admissions & Marketing team to deliver first class customer experience to internal and external customers/colleagues.
• Lead the relationship with external agency's (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

Essential Skills

• Be a nice person who is immediately likeable and can relate easily to others.
• Enjoys and is energised by interacting with others.
• Able to operate with autonomy and authority - should have good gravitas.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills including the ability to deal with people on all levels with sensitivity, tact and diplomacy.
• High level of numeracy and the ability to understand, manipulate and interrogate data to understand patterns, trends and gain commercial insight.
• Ability to manage multiple stakeholders and work well within a team.
• First class organisational and administrative skills.
• Ability to remain calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines; systematic approach to tasks, with attention to detail.
• Confident and adept in use of Microsoft applications e.g. Word, Excel and various database systems.
• Good levels of accuracy & attention to detail with own and other tasks.

Experience

• Overall successful track record but with failures along the way.
• Prior experience of managing direct customer contact ideally in sales and customer service.
• Previous experience of working in a complex, busy, service-driven environment.
• Experience in use of 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.

Why Join Us?

At Blenheim Schools, you will make a real difference every day, positively impacting the lives of pupils and vulnerable young people. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people. 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 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.