Every enquiry is a family imagining their child at your school.

Before a tour is booked, before an application is submitted and long before an enrolment decision is made, there is a moment where a prospective family reaches out for the very first time.

And in those early moments, the enquiry experience starts shaping how they feel about your school.

In 2025, Edified's Enquiry Experience Tracker for Schools (EET Schools) examined what that experience actually looks like from a family's perspective.

Using real families submitting enquiries via webform, email, phone and social media, the research covered 56 international schools across 11 countries, with five different family personas testing the journey from first contact.

The findings were clear.

When schools responded with warmth, genuine helpfulness and a clear next step, families stayed engaged. When they didn't, families quietly moved on.

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Five things the research revealed:

1. Warmth matters more than speed

The strongest enquiry experiences in the benchmark were not always the fastest. They were the ones that made families feel understood.

When communication felt warm and personalised, more than 90% of prospective families said they were likely to continue engaging with the school.

Speed without substance rarely achieved the same result. A reply that simply redirected families back to the website, or asked them to complete another form, created little confidence - regardless of how quickly it arrived.

The highest-performing schools treated the enquiry as the beginning of a relationship.

Families are not simply looking for information. They are looking for reassurance that a school understands what matters to them.

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2. One in four enquiries went unanswered

Response quality and consistency varied significantly across the benchmark. Some schools created immediate confidence. Others never replied at all.

Across the global sample, only three in four enquiries received any response.

For families comparing multiple schools, silence rarely invites a second attempt. Most simply move on.

For schools investing in marketing and recruitment, this is one of the biggest hidden gaps in the family journey.
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3. Schools are missing opportunities to start conversations

One of the clearest patterns in the research was how rarely schools showed genuine curiosity about the family in front of them. Only 39% of schools asked a question in their initial response.

The strongest enquiry experiences did.

They asked about the student, the family's priorities, what they were hoping to find.

Even a single well-placed question shifted the tone of the interaction from transaction to conversation.

"Have you lived in Malaysia before?” "What does your child enjoy most at school right now?"

Strong enquiry experiences feel like a two-way conversation – and that starts with asking one good question.

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4. Too many conversations stop too early

Fewer than one in five schools followed up beyond the initial response.

This is significant, because follow-up is often where confidence is actually built.

A single reply rarely does all the work. Families are comparing schools, talking things over, taking their time.

The schools that continued the conversation did so in ways that felt purposeful rather than automated. They shared relevant information. They answered questions the family hadn't yet thought to ask. They checked back in.

Strong enquiry experiences do not end after one reply.

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5. Families expect flexibility in how they engage

Families increasingly expect to engage with schools the same way they communicate in the rest of their lives: quickly, across multiple channels and on their own terms.

Channel availability across the benchmark told a mixed story.

Fewer than one in three schools offered live chat. Only 11% provided WhatsApp. And while social media was available at all schools, 40% of Instagram enquiries received no response.

The schools creating the strongest experiences were making it easier for families to communicate in ways that felt natural, responsive and convenient.

One school that stood out in this year’s research was The Alice Smith School, which received the highest score globally for WhatsApp enquiries in 2025.

The school’s investment in AI-supported communication, combined with strong oversight from the Family Experience team, created an experience that balanced efficiency with warmth and reassurance – resulting in some of the highest levels of family satisfaction seen across the benchmark.

Commenting on the achievement, Dr Andrea Grassby, Chief Marketing Officer at The Alice Smith School said:

“The Alice Smith School is delighted to be recognised as Top Performer for WhatsApp Enquiries. This award reflects the commitment of our Family Experience team to meeting prospective families and students where they already are, communicating in the way that works best for them.

Central to this has been Alice, our AI Agent, whom we have invested significant time in training to respond immediately with accurate information, while ensuring our team remains on hand to provide the personalised attention every family deserves.

Participating in the Edified Enquiry Experience Tracker has provided us with invaluable insight into the experience we deliver, and the confidence to continue integrating new technologies where they make a real difference.”

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What this means for schools

For families, the first response is often the first real experience of a school's culture. Those early interactions carry more weight than they are often given credit for.

Many of the opportunities identified in the research are not complex or expensive to address.

Small changes in communication quality, follow-up and responsiveness can make a significant difference to whether families continue the journey or quietly disengage.

That is what EET Schools is designed to help uncover.

Participating schools receive a detailed analysis of their enquiry experience – strengths, friction points, and how their experience compares globally.

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Get a copy of the 2025 global research report

Download the report, using the form below, to see the full results along with global and regional benchmarks. The report includes analysis of responsiveness, enquiry channels, communication quality, follow-up practices and impact.

Registrations for the 2026 EET Schools are now open, with early bird pricing available until 30 June.

Learn more and sign up for the 2026 benchmark: edified.com.au/eet-for-schools

For any questions or to get help with optimising the prospective parent experience at your school, reach out to Carly Puncher at carly@edified.com.au

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