Exceeding School Recruitment Targets for a National Standardisation Trial

Our client is a national education assessment provider of benchmarking and attainment tools used by schools across the UK.

For Spring 2026, they needed to recruit Year 6 pupils for a standardisation trial supporting new assessment content across English, Maths and Reasoning. Blueberry was appointed to reach out to busy primary school headteachers, raise awareness of the trials, encourage registrations and manage follow-up from first contact through to confirmed participation – all within a 4-week timeframe to meet the deadline.

School Recruitment Outcomes and Participation Results:

• More than 91% of conversations with the relevant contacts progressed to the next stage
• Overall, we supported with exceeding recruitment targets of 8,800 pupils

Challenges of Recruiting Schools for National Education Trials

Education trials often see schools drop out between initial sign-up and testing, meaning recruitment must exceed final participation targets from the outset. Our focus was therefore not only generating interest, but sustaining engagement until participation was confirmed and pupil data was shared.

Our School Recruitment Strategy for the Standardisation Trial

The campaign ran within a tight recruitment window of four weeks, requiring schools to be educated, engaged and confirmed quickly. We contacted new schools while reconnecting with previous trial participants, discussing workload, pupil numbers, timelines and the benefits of benchmarking insight.

Generating interest, however, was only part of the process. The final 14 days were critical, focusing on securing expressions of interest, chasing agreements and pupil data uploads before the cut-off. Close coordination with the client and a robust email outreach strategy ensured lead status was continually updated so conversations kept progressing to closure.

Building Value Beyond the Numbers

Schools welcomed the clear communication and straightforward process. By clearly explaining timings, administration, and next steps – supported by concise follow-up email summaries – we helped address practical concerns and build confidence. Beyond immediate engagement, this approach has also created longer-term value by generating a pipeline of schools, including many who were previously unaware of the trials, resulting in a newly developed and engaged pool of data for future outreach and conversion.

Recruiting schools for national trials requires more than outreach – it demands clear communication, structured follow-up and consistent engagement.

Call +44 (0)113 487 7013 or email info@blueberryms.co.uk.

© 2026 Angela Kunawicz & Blueberry Marketing Solutions.