Marketing and digital for education and training providers
Great courses deserve full classrooms.
Education and training providers change people's careers. But even the best courses struggle when the marketing behind them is patchy: enquiries that never get a reply, a website that's hard to navigate and no clear picture of what brings students in.
We're a small, senior UK team that works with London's largest creative college, training academies and the world's oldest gemmology educator. We build the websites, capture the leads and run the campaigns that fill courses, and we trace every enrolment back to where it came from.
We know how enrolment works. Intakes, entry requirements, accredited centres, open days and the long gap between "interested" and "enrolled".
- We've cut cost per enrolment from £294 to £7.74 for a London college, and grown its enrolments by 305% in a year.
- We've traced around £275k of course revenue to the enquiry forms we built, in just ten months.
- We've helped take courses from half-empty to a waitlist, with uptake up 60% on the year before.
- We've built lead capture that brings in enquiries daily from the UK, the Gulf, Canada, France and Brazil.
- We've run Google Ads that return an estimated 6.6x on every pound of ad spend.
No vanity metrics, no guesswork. Just marketing that puts more learners in your classrooms, and shows you exactly how they got there.
Sound familiar?
- 01
Courses that are hard to fill
You know the course is excellent, but enrolments are patchy, cohorts start half-empty and marketing only happens when numbers look worrying.
- 02
Enquiries that go nowhere
Prospective students register interest and then hear nothing. Without follow-up, warm leads go cold and enrol somewhere else.
- 03
No idea what's working
Applications arrive from search, ads, email and word of mouth, but nobody can say which channel actually produces students.
- 04
A website that's hard to navigate
Course pages, entry requirements, dates and fees are scattered across the site, so applicants give up or email to ask.
- 05
Systems that don't join up
Student records, payments and email live in separate systems, so enrolment involves a lot of manual work and things fall through the gaps.
- 06
International ambitions
Learners come from all over the world, but reaching and nurturing them across countries and time zones takes more than a UK-only campaign.
How we help
- 01
Enrolment campaigns
Paid search and social campaigns that reach people searching for your courses, measured against enrolments and revenue, not clicks.
Reach the buyers you’re after - 02
Register interest and lead capture
Simple forms on every channel that capture prospective students, so you build a pipeline you own rather than rent from a platform.
Reach the buyers you’re after - 03
Nurture that converts
Automated emails that answer questions, share course details and gently move people from enquiry to application.
Reach the buyers you’re after - 04
Course websites
Clear, accessible websites where every course has the dates, fees, requirements and outcomes applicants need to decide.
Build what’s next - 05
CRM, payments and data
Connecting student records, payments and email so enrolment runs smoothly and you can trace revenue back to each channel.
Build what’s next - 06
SEO for course searches
Content and optimisation that put you in front of people searching for the qualifications you teach, at home and abroad.
Get noticed
What that looks like in practice
£7.74
Cost per enrolment
For Big Creative Education, down from £294
+305%
Enrolments
At Big Creative Education in a single year
~£275k
Course revenue
Traced to the enquiry forms we built for Gem-A
+60%
Course uptake
Gem-A went from struggling to fill courses to a waitlist
~6.6x
Return on ad spend
On Gem-A's Google Ads
Education & Training: the work
Education & Training we’ve worked with
However you like to work, we’ll fit around it.
Whichever you choose: senior people, straight answers, and we teach your team as we go.
- Ongoing
Retainer
An ongoing partner in your corner.
Best forProviders that want enrolment campaigns, email and website support running all year round.
- Fixed scope
One-off project
A clear brief and a job done well.
Best forA new course website, a launch campaign for a new qualification or a CRM integration.
- Flexible
Consultancy
Our deep expertise, on tap.
Best forA marketing audit, lead analysis or a plan to fill your next intake.
- Part-time
Fractional
Senior hands when you need them.
Best forAcademies and training providers without a marketing lead that need senior hands a few days a month.
Not sure which fits?Book a Meeting
Questions we often get asked
Can you help us fill a specific intake?
Yes. We can run focused campaigns ahead of an intake, alongside the lead capture and follow-up that turn interest into applications.
Can you show which marketing actually produces students?
Yes. We've traced enquiries through to enrolments by channel, so you can see what each pound of marketing is worth.
Do you work with international learners?
Yes. We've run lead generation that brings in enquiries daily from the UK, the Gulf, Canada, France, Brazil and beyond.
Can you work with our student records system?
Usually, yes. We've connected websites and email to closed, poorly documented systems, and we'll be honest up front about what's realistic.
“Darwin have really helped us stay ahead as a market leader in the highly competitive post-16 education space. It is all now paying dividends and is a great return on investment for us. They really do get it!”
