Why move admission enquiries online
Paper enquiry slips and phone notes work until the admission season gets busy. Then slips go missing, numbers are written down wrong, and nobody is sure who called which parent. An online enquiry form fixes the first step of admission enquiry management:
- Parents can enquire any time, from the link on your website, a WhatsApp message or a QR code on a banner.
- Every enquiry arrives complete and readable, with the class applied for and a working phone number.
- The office sees one list, can follow up each parent and knows how many enquiries came in this week.
- Parents who prefer paper still can: the same form can be printed and filled in at the front desk.
What to ask on a school admission enquiry form
An enquiry form is not the admission form. Ask only what the office needs to call the parent back and give a useful answer; the documents and full details come later. Ten questions are usually enough:
- Child’s full name
- Class applying for, and the academic year
- Date of birth (to check the age rule for that class)
- Current school, if any
- Parent’s or guardian’s name
- Mobile number, and whether it is on WhatsApp
- Email address
- Area or locality (useful for transport)
- How you heard about the school
- A good time to call, and any question for the school
End the form with a short consent line, for example “I agree that the school may contact me about admissions.” Parents’ phone numbers and children’s details are personal data, so do not ask for more than you need at this stage.
If you want to start with paper, MarvelSoft’s free printable admission enquiry form format lets you choose these fields, add your logo, and download a one-page A4 form and an enquiry register.
Three ways to collect enquiries
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Printed form at the front desk | Walk-in parents; schools just starting to organise enquiries | Only works during office hours; slips must be typed up to follow up or count them |
| A general online form tool (for example Google Forms) | Getting an online form up today at no cost | Enquiries sit in one person’s account; no enquiry number, follow-up status or printed copy for the file; looks like a generic survey rather than your school |
| An enquiry form on your own school website | Schools that want enquiries under their own name and control, shared by the whole office | Needs PHP web hosting and a one-time setup (most cPanel and WordPress hosting already has PHP) |
Where the enquiries should be kept
Choose a place the school controls and the whole admissions office can reach. The simplest is your own website: the enquiry form saves each enquiry on your web hosting, and staff sign in to a private area to see them. Nothing goes to an outside service, and when a staff member leaves, you change one password instead of chasing a personal account.
Follow up every enquiry the same day
Parents usually enquire at three or four schools in the same week. The school that calls first, and answers clearly, is often the one they visit. A simple routine keeps follow-up from slipping:
- Give each enquiry a number and show it to the parent, so both sides can refer to it on the phone.
- Call back the same working day, and send the fee structure or prospectus on WhatsApp after the call.
- Mark a status on each enquiry: new, called, visited, admitted or not joining.
- Print the enquiry register each week for the principal, or download the list in Excel to count enquiries by class and by source.
Share the form where parents look
- An “Admission enquiry” button on your website’s home page and admissions page.
- The form’s link in your WhatsApp status and parent groups, and on Facebook and Instagram.
- A QR code on banners, pamphlets, newspaper ads and the school gate.
- The link on your Google Business Profile, where many parents first find the school.
Put it on your website with MarvelSoft’s enquiry form
MarvelSoft’s online admission enquiry form for school websites does all of the above. Your technical team installs it on your school website in about 20 minutes with the step-by-step guide, or we set it up with you.
- Parents fill in the form online on a phone or computer, or print a blank copy; after sending, they can print their own copy with the enquiry number.
- Enquiries are saved on your school’s website, not sent to MarvelSoft or anyone else.
- An admin login designs the form; one shared staff login lets the whole office see, search and follow up enquiries.
- Download for Excel (CSV), print the register, and print any enquiry on the A4 form.
- Share link with WhatsApp and Facebook buttons, a QR code, and code to show the form inside any page of your website.
- Up to five forms, for example next year’s admissions, an open day and a summer camp.
₹1,900 one-time + 18% GST (₹2,242 in all). No monthly fee and no charge per enquiry.
Try it first: send a test enquiry in the live demo, then open the demo staff area to see it arrive. The demo logins are filled in for you; the demo is shared by everyone and resets every hour.
Checklist
- Ten questions or fewer, plus a consent line
- Enquiries kept where the school controls them, behind a staff login
- An enquiry number for every parent
- Same-day call back and a status on every enquiry
- A weekly register or Excel count for the principal
- The link on your website, WhatsApp, Google Business Profile and a QR code
Questions schools ask
What should a school admission enquiry form ask?
Keep it to what the office needs for the first call: the child’s name, the class applied for, date of birth, the current school, the parent’s name, a mobile number that is on WhatsApp, an email address, the area you live in, how you heard about the school and a good time to call. Add a line asking the parent’s consent to be contacted about admissions.
Is a Google Form good enough for admission enquiries?
It works for a start and it is free. Schools usually outgrow it because the enquiries sit in one person’s Google account, there is no enquiry number to quote to the parent, no follow-up status and no printed form for the file. A form that saves enquiries on the school’s own website, with a staff login, solves those.
Where should admission enquiries be stored?
Somewhere the school controls and the whole admissions office can reach: ideally the school’s own website or server, behind a staff login. Enquiries contain parents’ phone numbers and children’s details, so collect only what you need and keep the list private.
How quickly should the school call back after an online enquiry?
The same working day. Parents enquire at several schools in the same week, and the school that calls first and answers clearly is usually the one they visit.