Marketing and communications for education

For Multi-Academy Trusts, schools, colleges, training providers and the businesses that sell into them. From someone who has done the job from the inside.

In education, reputation determines admissions, recruitment, partnerships and increasingly survival. It's also the sector with the least budget to protect it and the most scrutiny applied to it.

I was Director of Communications at the Laurus Trust, where I built the communications infrastructure that supported growth from 8 to 17 schools in three years. I'm a serving trustee at Hulme Grammar School and I chair the Business Development Exchange at the Greater Manchester Learning Provider Network. I hold a Level 3 in Education and Training alongside Chartered Marketer status.

That means I don't need the sector explained to me: Ofsted timelines, admissions cycles, safeguarding constraints on content, DfE expectations, governance sign-off, the politics of a trust board, and the fact that your comms lead is probably also doing three other jobs.

Where I typically help

• Multi-Academy Trusts navigating growth, consolidation, rebrand or reputational challenge

• Schools preparing for inspection, managing admissions pressure or rebuilding community trust

• Colleges and independent training providers strengthening employer partnerships and learner recruitment

• Independent schools responding to fee pressure, policy change and shifting parent expectations — including VAT-driven repositioning

• Alternative provision and specialist settings raising profile with referrers and commissioners

• EdTech and education services businesses marketing into a sector with a long sales cycle and a low tolerance for outsiders