Admissions in London's independent sector have become harder work. Since VAT was added to school fees in 2025, families compare more carefully, ask more questions and keep their options open for longer. A bursar in Wandsworth watches registrations for the next Reception intake. A head in Ealing wonders why the sixth form has spare places when the school down the road seems full. And every year the same conversation comes back to the governors' table: how much should we be spending, each month, on making sure families find us?
This guide helps you set that budget with some discipline, and compare it with the alternatives you actually have: hiring someone, or buying advertising. The figures quoted are Traffic Engine's own prices, used here as a reference point for your decision.
Start from what a pupil is worth
A visibility budget should not be set at random or from whatever is left after other spending. It should follow from the value of an enrolled pupil. For most independent schools, a pupil means fees every term, often for many years, and frequently younger siblings later on. That is one of the longest client relationships in any sector.
Work out the margin a pupil leaves after direct costs, multiply by the number of years a typical pupil stays, and compare that figure with the annual cost of each plan below. For most schools, the conclusion is that a very small number of additional pupils covers a full year of visibility, and those pupils stay on. The calculator on the Traffic Engine page runs that sum with your own figures.
Three levels of budget
Traffic Engine's plans map onto three levels of ambition.
- Presence, £940 a month. Steady baseline visibility for a school that first needs to show up when parents search for a school in its area. Over a year, including the setup, £12,580.
- Momentum, £1,600 a month. The most common growth choice, for a school with places to fill across several year groups, or a new sixth form or nursery to launch. Over a year, £20,500.
- Flood, £3,000 a month. Intensive visibility for a group of schools, or a school that also recruits international and relocating families. Over a year, £37,300.
On top of that sits the Visibility Audit at £590, deducted in full from the setup if you go ahead within 30 days. If you want to be the only school in your sector supported in the area, Momentum Exclusive (£3,300 a month) and Flood Exclusive (£5,050 a month) lock the vertical for the length of the commitment, as long as no standard seat has been signed.
Comparing with a hire
Many heads and bursars ask whether the money would be better spent on a marketing or admissions officer. It is a fair comparison if you make it honestly.
A hire costs salary, employer contributions, pension, equipment and management time. They bring something valuable: a human face for families, tours, open mornings, social media, events. But making the school visible when parents search on Google and in AI assistant answers, and measuring the results, is a specialist job. And when that person leaves, the work stops.
In practice the two rarely compete. Your admissions team handles the relationship with families; visibility makes sure the enquiries reach them. Before recruiting, ask one blunt question: is your team short of time to answer parents, or short of parents to answer?
Comparing with advertising
Paid social and search ads can help around open days or a new intake. They have two limits for a school. They stop the moment you stop paying. And they reach plenty of people who are not looking for a school, whereas a parent searching for "co-ed prep school with bus service in south west London" has a real and immediate need.
Lasting visibility keeps working all year, including for families relocating to London mid-year who need a place quickly. We set out the comparison in paid social or lasting visibility.
What you need to decide
To set your budget, answer four questions.
- How many places are typically unfilled at the start of the year, and in which year groups?
- What margin does a pupil leave each year, and how many years does a pupil usually stay?
- How many new families can your admissions team handle well?
- Are you recruiting only locally, or also relocating and international families?
The answers point you towards Presence, Momentum or Flood. Our guide on the cost of being invisible for a London private school helps you answer the first one in money terms.
What Traffic Engine includes
Traffic Engine is Kolonell's service for making your school visible when parents search for a school in London, on Google and in AI assistant answers, so that it receives admissions enquiries. Plans run for 12 months, with a measured review at three months. You receive a dated report every week and follow results in your own Search Console. Whatever your plan includes is live on schedule, or the next month is free. Each sector has only 3 standard seats per area. See the offer and availability for schools in London.
Your next step
Start with the free website score at the top of the Traffic Engine page, then open the calculator with the real margin per pupil. For a school, the right time to start is several months before the main admissions round, not during it: visibility needs to be in place when families begin their research. For the full reasoning on returns, see working out the payback of a visibility investment.