8 reasons to go paperless with your sixth form applications

Are you, like many schools, still managing your sixth form's admissions using a manual, paper application process? You've done it the same way for years? The process works well but it's very, veeeery time consuming (manually retyping hand written forms or cut/paste, cut/paste from Word files)? You'd love to work smarter but have no time to create a better solution?

Well, we have the answer. Application4 is a completely online, paper-free, streamlined solution with advanced customisations and personalisation that will win you back valuable time to concentrate on other priorities.

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1.png 1. You’ll immediately save a sizeable amount of time for all your staff involved in admissions. You'll know well enough that time of the year when you're handling all the paper applications, seeking referrals, manually inputting to your internal systems, sending interview letters. If your application, referral and interview process was all online and automated, just consider how many weeks of time and effort it would save you…
2.png 2. Being online, the whole process is streamlined. Students complete the bespoke application form on your school website, which you’ll receive confirmation of when it’s completed. Once submitted by the student, they and their parents/guardians receive confirmation of this and the process thereafter. Your feeder schools automatically receive a reference request for the student and they can also complete this online. When you're ready, you can send out invites to interview through our sleek system.
3.png 3. With automated emails associated with every part of Application4, you'll improve communications. Whether it's an acknowledgement of receipt of an application, interview date confirmation or referral request - students, parents and staff will feel well informed and in a much more timely way than the traditional postal communication method.
4.png 4. Your referral requests are automated. This means any student applying from an external school has a referral request sent automatically to their current school straight after they've applied. The nominated contact at the referring school will receive an email and a unique link to add relevant information to the student's application. See, we're making it easy for them, too! This referral then comes right back into your Application4 dashboard for you to continue processing the application.
5.png 5. Save the world. Okay, so this is a little tongue in cheek, but as you're going paperless you don't need to deal with printed forms any more and there's no expense on postage and envelopes - students and parents will really thank you for this. If the thought of no paper fills you with fear, you can wean yourself off it safe in the knowledge that Application4 stores styled, branded print-ready versions of each student's application so you can print out a copy to read over, pass to the Head of Sixth Form and so on.
6.png 6. Save money. Here's the rub. The administration time (staff hours) you’ll save in the first year alone that you use Application4 will mean it's paid for itself. Hard to quantify we know, but schools using our system will testify to this. It's not difficult for us to set up, you’ll already have a paper form or downloadable PDF that contains all the details you want from every student application - we just translate this into an online version that's mobile ready (students will want to complete the application on their phone, right?). You won't need to send out or chase up referrals, you won't need to chase up students for missing information – they'll get automated reminders to finalise any part-completed applications in good time before your submission deadline. You can also set (and amend) interview dates and times through Application4 quickly and efficiently.
7.png 7. Processing and analysis is the cherry on the cake. No doubt you use some form of spreadsheet to manage your applications to see how many students have applied, course popularity, from which referring school, etc. We'll make sure Application4 outputs data in a format that works best for you, customised to your exact needs. We can even create an output for your selected cohort that’s easily imported in to SIMS. What's more, all your data is hosted securely, with a locked down admin. for only approved staff, plus personal information that's encrypted once its captured.
8.png 8. Make things ‘student proof’. When a student applies, they’ve a save and return function, so if they need to complete their application in more than one session, they can do. Their personal statement needs some time and thought, so we give them time to get it right. Importantly, we'll also build the course choice section so that students can only pick the course combinations that work for you (no Further Maths without Maths A Level, subject option block rules to prevent timetable clashes, optional fourth A Level etc.). Then, at the final stage of the online application, we give students the ability to review their entire submission in a print-friendly format, so they can perfect things, or maybe get mum or dad to do an old school proof read.
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So if we've got you this far, we think you must be onside with the idea! So, why not make contact and see if it’s really going to be the life saver we're making it out to be. You've got time on your side now, ahead of sixth form open evenings and the application process, with plenty of opportunity to look into a different (and by different we mean infinitely better) way of doing things. Arrange a demo, ask us some challenging questions and we’re sure you'll be impressed with what you see and hear!