The week after offers go out
Offer letters for Year 7 went out on Friday. Each has an acceptance deadline and asks for a signed acceptance form, a signed copy of the parent contract and the acceptance deposit. By the deadline, some parents have done all three. Some have paid but not signed. Some signed and posted the form, which has not arrived. Some are holding an offer from another school and have gone quiet.
The bursar asks how many places are confirmed. The registrar says 'about sixty, I think', and spends the afternoon reconciling the bank statement with a pile of forms.
Three things, three channels, no joined view
An acceptance only counts when the form is signed, the terms are agreed and the deposit is paid. Those arrive through post, email and the bank, and are recorded in different places by different people. The admissions office holds the forms. Finance sees the deposits. Nobody sees both at once without effort.
- Offer letters are mail-merged and tracked in a spreadsheet.
- Acceptance forms arrive by post and email.
- Deposits arrive by bank transfer with inconsistent references.
- Signed parent contracts are filed on paper.
- Deadlines pass without a clear list of who has not replied.
What an unclear picture costs
Without knowing confirmed numbers, the school cannot plan classes, staffing or waiting list offers with confidence. Families who have gone quiet hold places that could go to others. Finance spends time matching deposits. And if a signed contract cannot be found later, it is an uncomfortable conversation.
The terms of your offer, deposit and parent contract are set by the school and its advisers. What we build makes sure each family's position against them is clear.
The offer tracker we build
- Offers are generated from templates for each entry point and type, including any scholarship or bursary wording, and sent to the family by email with a secure link.
- The link takes parents to an acceptance page where they read the terms and contract, confirm acceptance with an electronic signature, and pay the deposit.
- Parents who prefer paper can still post the form, and the admissions team records it against the offer.
- Deposits paid by bank transfer are matched against offers, with unmatched payments listed for finance.
- Each offer shows its status: sent, viewed, accepted, deposit paid, contract signed, declined or expired.
- Families approaching the deadline without responding get a reminder; after the deadline the registrar gets a list to follow up.
- Confirmed places update the year group numbers seen by the head and bursar, and pass into your MIS.
| Status | What it means | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Sent | Offer emailed | None until deadline approaches |
| Viewed | Family opened the offer | Reminder if no response |
| Accepted, deposit unpaid | Signed but not paid | Payment reminder |
| Confirmed | Signed and paid | Welcome process starts |
| Declined or expired | Place free | Waiting list considered |
A confirmed number, any time
The bursar can see confirmed places for each year group at any moment. The registrar follows up the quiet families before the deadline rather than after. Declined places are known the moment the family declines, so waiting list offers can go out quickly. And every signed contract is attached to the child's record.
On a normal day during offer season, the registrar opens the tracker and sees nine families who viewed their offer but have not replied, and three who accepted but have not paid. The reminders have already gone. She rings the two families whose deadline is tomorrow.
Is this your offer season?
- Offer letters are tracked in a spreadsheet.
- Deposits are matched to families by hand.
- Signed contracts arrive by post and are filed on paper.
- Confirmed numbers are an estimate until the deadline passes.
- Declined places are discovered late.