Education

Methodist Ladies’ College Perth

Insights to inform planning for the next 10 years of the College.

Many of a school’s important strategic and operational decisions hinge on enrolments.

Methodist Ladies’ College was seeking an insights-based approach to enrolment forecasting that would ensure important decisions about the College’s future could be made on the basis of data-driven information. These insights would guide decisions about master planning, marketing strategy and initiatives, boarding, bus routes and support critical longer-term financial forecasting and assumptions.

The resulting 10-year forecast information was then able to be communicated to a variety of stakeholders including the College Principal and Leadership Team, the College Council and Audit Committee as well as other stakeholders who would use and rely on the insights, such as MLC’s financiers and its internal marketing team.

“McCrindle’s analysis and insights gave the College great confidence in a range of important strategic and financial decisions. Their detailed reporting provided strong independent support for our longer-term forecasting, especially around enrolment assumptions, validating our existing thinking while giving us new ideas.”

－ Richard Haselgrove - Director of Corporate Services

The Solution

MLC engaged McCrindle as a strategic insights partner. Work was delivered in phases to provide timely access to information and regular opportunities to review findings and test assumptions before building the next layer of insights.
Demographic research included an analysis of enrolment data, historical and current population data, population projections and analysis of competitors. McCrindle developed an MLC-specific demographic index to identify potential growth areas and allow enrolment growth targeting to be progressively refined. Enrolment modelling showed the potential opportunities in specific areas based on a variety of factors.

“We approached McCrindle after seeing the exceptional research they produce for the education sector. We wanted a credible insights partner who could not only conduct robust research but also communicate these insights clearly and succinctly. McCrindle delivered on the brief and their additional resources and services have also been a great asset to our College Leadership Team.”

－ Dr Marie Perry - Principal

Deliverables

McCrindle delivered the insights in a variety of formats catering to technical and less-technical audiences. This included:

A series of demographic reports providing written commentary, tables and charts
An online interactive map providing a visual summary of critical information at a glance
Presentations to College executives and the broader Leadership Team