Guide
School open day follow-up: turning visits into applications
Published 2026-10-11 · Updated 2026-10-11 · By the EduRolia team
Open days and open mornings bring more prospective families through the door than any other moment of the admissions year. They are also where most opportunities are lost: names are collected, the event goes well and, a week later, nobody is sure who to call or what each family asked. This guide covers what to do before, during and after the event.
Before the open day
- Online registration with only the essentials: name, contact, year group of interest, planned start date and how they heard about the school.
- Automatic confirmation and a reminder one or two days before.
- A clear programme: welcome, head's talk, tour, Q&A and a close that explains the next step.
- Roles: who welcomes families, who leads tours, who answers questions about places, fees and transport.
- Material to send afterwards: prospectus, admissions timeline and how to book an individual visit or taster day.
During the event: what to record
- Whether the family attended, to separate attendees from no-shows.
- Year group and planned start date.
- Questions or concerns raised: places, fees, curriculum, languages, boarding, transport.
- Level of interest and any specific request: individual visit, assessment, meeting with a teacher.
- Which member of staff owns the follow-up.
After the event: follow-up by day
| When | Who | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Same day or next day | All attendees | Thank-you message with the promised material and how to book a visit. |
| Days 2–3 | Families with high interest or a specific request | Personal call or message to answer questions and offer a visit, taster day or assessment. |
| First week | Registered families who did not attend | Offer another date or an individual visit. |
| Second week | Families with no reply | One last contact, and record the reason if they do not continue. |
| Before the application deadline | Active families | Remind them of deadlines, fees and documents. |
How to measure whether it worked
| Metric | How to calculate it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance rate | Attendees / registrations | Tests registration and reminders. |
| Visit or assessment rate | Individual visits or assessments / attendees | Shows real interest generated. |
| Application rate | Applications / attendees | Compares events and year groups. |
| Time to first contact | Days between the event and the first follow-up | Delays cool families down. |
| Families without a next action | Attendees with no pending task | Tells the team who to call this week. |
How an admissions CRM helps
With an admissions CRM, each registration becomes a family record with its source, year group and what happened at the event, and the team sees in one place who needs to do what. On EduRolia's Pro plan, an events page handles open day registrations, a website form feeds the CRM and families can book individual visits from the school's website. Follow-up is managed with tasks, owners and next steps on each family record.
Frequently asked questions
How soon should we follow up after an open day?
Send a thank-you message the same day or the next, and make personal contact within two or three days with the families who showed most interest.
What should we ask when families register?
Only what you need for the follow-up: name, contact details, year group, planned start date and how they heard about the school. Asking for more reduces registrations and means processing data you do not use.
Should no-shows get the same message as attendees?
No. Offer them another date or an individual visit instead.
Ready for the next step?
Try a real demo or book a call, and see how your admissions process can become easier to follow for your team and for every family.