Does Your School Need a Video?

What a film does that photographs can't

A photograph shows a parent what your school looks like. A film puts them inside it for three minutes.

The noise level in a corridor. How a teacher speaks to a child who's stuck. Whether the children sound happy. How the head comes across when they're talking rather than written down. None of that survives into a still image, and all of it is what a family is trying to work out. A school video delivers it.

It also reaches the family who can't visit yet. We've written about why parents arrive at your open morning having already researched you — the film is usually the closest thing they get to being in the building beforehand.

Length: shorter than you'd like

Two to three and a half minutes. We very rarely need more.

Schools consistently want longer, because there's always another thing that deserves a mention. Resist it. Every extra thirty seconds costs you viewers, and the ones you lose are the ones who hadn't decided yet.

The number that matters isn't views, it's retention — how far through people get. A film that a lot of people abandon at forty seconds is worse than useless, because it's told a hundred families that your school couldn't hold their attention. Get most people to the end and enquiries tend to follow.

How a school film is usually built

Most of ours start with a script, read by the head as a voiceover — not to camera. The pictures do the work while the voice carries the thread, and we cut the film to the script.

Then we intercut real voices. Usually a couple of children saying what they like about school, in their own words and with their own odd emphasis. Often a member of staff. Sometimes a parent.

Your head is definitely in it — but they don't have to perform to camera, which is a relief to most of them. Sometimes we film them answering questions instead and cut the questions out, so it plays as though they're talking to you rather than reciting. It depends on the head and on the school.

What all of it is for is the vibe of the place. A film that gets that right does more than any list of achievements, and a film that gets it wrong is three minutes of a school describing itself.

The music, which is worth checking

Most schools assume music is covered, because the DfE pays for their PRS, MCPS and PPL licences centrally. Those cover a great deal — but promotional material generally isn't part of it, which means a film with a chart track under it may not be licensed at all.

It's easy to avoid. We use a paid library whose licence covers client work, so the music in your film is properly cleared and there's nothing extra for you to pay or arrange.

Where the film lives matters

Put your film on YouTube and something happens at the end of it that nobody thinks about: YouTube recommends more videos. Frequently including other schools.

You've spent two thousand pounds persuading a family that your school is warm and well run, and the last thing that happens is a thumbnail of the school down the road.

We host school films on Vimeo, on the school's own account. No recommendations, no advertising, no autoplay into somebody else's marketing. The school owns the account and the film.

That doesn't mean never use YouTube — it's useful for search and for sharing. But the copy on your website, the one a prospective parent watches while deciding, should end on your school and nothing else.

One shoot, several uses

The main film is a portrait of the school, two to three and a half minutes, and it goes at the top of your admissions pages.

Then there are the cut-downs. Fifteen to thirty seconds, one idea each, for social media and for paid advertising — where a short clip almost always outperforms a still image. The advertising post covers how those get used.

The same film also plays on a screen in reception, at your open event, and on a laptop at a nursery open morning. One shoot, several years, most of your marketing.

Consent works exactly as it does for photography

Same lists, same process, same conversation at the start of the day. Children who shouldn't appear, don't.

There's more detail on the data protection side — including the point that a blanket consent form isn't automatically the right answer — in our post on school photography. It applies equally to film.

What it costs, and how long it takes

Most school films start at around £2,000.

Timing depends on the weather more than anything else. We'd rather wait for a good day than shoot your school under a grey sky in a drizzle — the difference between the two is enormous and it's the one thing money can't fix afterwards. So we agree a window and take the day that works.

From the shoot, two to four weeks to a finished film.

Which means the honest advice about timing is: don't commission it in September for an October open evening. Do it in the summer term for the following year, when there's no pressure and the weather is on your side.

Drone

We shoot aerial footage too, usually on the same visit. It does one job very well — showing a parent the site, the grounds, how much outdoor space there is and where the school sits.

It needs a properly qualified and insured operator, and it's normally flown when the site is clear of people. More on that in the photography post. And one other way to reach families who cannot visit is to have us create a virtual 3D school tour.

Who shoots it

Steve or Rafael Bastos, and sometimes Nathan. All of them have filmed in schools for years, which mostly means they're quick, quiet, and unbothered by a class carrying on around them.

Where this sits

The film is part of the visibility and conversion stages of the Fill Your Class Funnel — it lives on the website, it appears in advertising, and it's what a family watches before deciding whether to book a visit.

More about how we make a school film, or if you're not sure whether a film is what your school needs next, the Marketing Health Check will tell you honestly.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a school promotional video be? 

Two to three and a half minutes for the main film, with fifteen to thirty second cut-downs for social media and advertising. Longer films lose the viewers who hadn't yet decided.

How much does a school promotional video cost?

Most school films start at around £2,000, including planning, filming and editing. £4,000 is a reasonabl upper limit.

How long does it take to make?

The shoot usually waits for decent weather, then it's two to four weeks from filming to a finished film. Commission in the summer term for the following admissions season rather than in September for October.

Does the head teacher have to appear on camera? 

No. Most of our films are built on a script read by the head as a voiceover, with the pictures doing the work. Where a head is happy on camera we sometimes film them answering questions and cut the questions out, so it plays naturally rather than as a recital.

Can a school use popular music in its promotional video? 

Usually not without separate permission. The PRS, MCPS and PPL schools licences funded by the DfE cover teaching and school activities, but promotional material generally isn't included. Use a properly licensed music library instead, and ask your supplier to show you the licence.

Should a school film go on YouTube or Vimeo?

Vimeo, for the copy on your own website — YouTube recommends other videos when yours ends, often including other schools. Hosting on the school's own Vimeo account keeps the viewer with you.

What makes a good school video? 

Real voices cut into it. Children explaining what they like in their own words, teachers talking about their classes, parents saying why they chose you — carried by a script the head reads, rather than three minutes of a school describing itself.

What's the most important number to measure? 

Retention — how far through the film people get — rather than views. A film most people finish is doing its job; a film most people abandon is telling families something you didn't intend.

Ian Clifford is the co-founder of School Marketing Works and has been running admissions campaigns for UK schools since 2018, including the one documented in our published falling school roll case study.