The first week of September is one of the biggest moments in the education calendar.
New students arrive. Campuses come back to life. Timetables begin; freshers find their feet and teams across colleges and universities focus on giving learners the best possible start.
But while one intake is just beginning, the recruitment journey for the next is already underway.
That makes the start of the academic year a particularly fitting time for us to announce our latest education partnership: Sowden & Sowden has been appointed by Kendal College following a competitive tender process, securing the contract to support student recruitment, digital marketing and PR.
The appointment comes as Kendal College builds on the momentum of a positive Ofsted inspection and delivers an ambitious strategic plan focused on learners, employers and communities across Cumbria.
For us, it also reflects something we are seeing more widely across education: student recruitment can no longer be treated as a short campaign that switches on a few months before applications open.
For years, student recruitment followed a fairly predictable pattern.
Promote the prospectus. Push the Open Events. Turn up the campaign activity as application deadlines approach.
That model is changing.
Prospective students are forming opinions about institutions much earlier. They are seeing social content, searching online, hearing recommendations, reading news stories and encountering brands long before they ever book an Open Event or start an application.
By the time someone walks onto a campus for the first time, their perception of that institution may already be well developed.
That means recruitment activity needs to start earlier and work harder across the whole year.
As Kendal College Principal and CEO Jason Turton explains:
“We were looking for a partner with a proven track record in education marketing and a genuine understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.”
That understanding matters because education marketing is no longer simply about promoting courses.
It is about building confidence.
Prospective learners have more choice, but they also have more noise.
Colleges and universities are competing not only with neighbouring providers but with everything else demanding attention across social feeds, search results, video platforms and increasingly complex digital journeys.
Simply telling students what courses are available is not enough.
The institutions that stand out are those able to communicate a clear sense of who they are, what makes their experience different and where studying with them could lead.
That requires recruitment, brand, content, PR and digital activity to work together rather than operating as separate campaigns.
It is a key part of the brief we will be delivering with Kendal College over the next 12 months, including targeted student recruitment campaigns, digital advertising, content and PR designed to strengthen awareness and support applications across priority areas.
Jason added:
“Sowden & Sowden demonstrated both strategic expertise and significant experience in student recruitment campaigns. Their understanding of education, combined with their creative and digital capabilities, made them the standout choice.”
One of the biggest shifts we have seen across education marketing is the growing connection between reputation and recruitment.
A prospective learner might discover an institution through a paid campaign.
But what happens next matters just as much.
What do they find when they search for it? What stories are being told? What do current students say? What does the institution stand for? What do employers think of it? What evidence is there that learners go on to succeed?
All of those things build, or weaken, confidence in the decision.
That is one reason Kendal College’s current position is particularly interesting. The college is entering the new academic year following a positive Ofsted inspection, which recognised progress across leadership, curriculum quality and learner experience, while at the same time investing in the next stage of its recruitment and communications strategy.
For education marketers, the lesson is simple: recruitment activity works harder when it is supported by a strong reputation.
After more than four decades working across schools, colleges, universities and UTCs, one thing has remained remarkably consistent.
The organisations getting the strongest results are not necessarily those spending the most.
They are usually the ones with the clearest strategy.
They understand who they need to reach. They know what they want those audiences to think and do. And they create a joined-up journey from first awareness through to enquiry, Open Event, application and enrolment.
That is what we are looking forward to building with Kendal College.
Our Managing Director here at Sowden & Sowden, Polly, said:
“What stood out throughout the tender process was the college’s ambition, its commitment to learners and its clear vision for the future.
“We’re delighted to have been appointed and are looking forward to helping the team tell their story, engage new audiences and support their recruitment objectives over the next 12 months.”
As campuses fill up again this September, attention naturally turns to the students who have just arrived.
But the smartest education marketing teams are thinking about both today and tomorrow.
The next prospective student is already searching. Already scrolling. Already forming opinions.
And the institutions that start building familiarity, trust and relevance now will be in a far stronger position when that student is ready to make a decision.
Our new partnership with Kendal College is an exciting addition to more than four decades of education marketing experience at Sowden & Sowden — and another opportunity to put that thinking into practice.
Planning your next student recruitment campaign?
From positioning and strategy to creative campaigns, digital activation, content and PR, we help education providers build recruitment activities that work across the whole student journey.
Explore our education marketing experience and see how we can help.
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