Run an admission cycle

An admission cycle is a defined intake: the period during which families can apply, for a particular target session. Running admissions through the product means every enquiry is captured, families can track their own progress, and your front desk is not fielding the same questions repeatedly.

Before you open applications

• Confirm the target session exists, so applicants can be enrolled into the right year.
• Agree your opening and closing dates.
• Decide whether families may apply online or only in person.
• Decide whether an application fee is required and how much it is.
• Agree who reviews applications and who makes offers.

Step 1 — Enable public applications

1. Open Sessional Activities → Admissions & Enrollment.
2. Turn on public apply if families should be able to apply from your school website.
3. Review what the public application page asks for, so you collect what you need without making the form burdensome.

If you leave public apply off, you can still run the whole pipeline internally by recording applications yourself.

Step 2 — Create the cycle

1. Choose New Admission Cycle.
2. Name it clearly, including the intake year, so it is unmistakable in a list later.
3. Set the opening and closing dates.
4. Select the target session that successful applicants will join.
5. Configure the online-apply options for this cycle.
6. Save and review.

Step 3 — Application fees (optional)

1. Turn on the application fee requirement for the cycle.
2. Set the amount.
3. Choose whether families pay online or upload evidence of payment.
4. Review incoming payments under Admission Fee Payments so you know which applications are cleared to proceed.

Be explicit on your website about whether the fee is refundable — this is the single most common source of admissions complaints.

Step 4 — Walk-in applications

Not every family applies online. Use Record walk-in at the front desk to capture an application taken on paper or in conversation. Walk-ins enter the same pipeline as online applicants, so your reporting stays complete and nobody is tracked separately on a spreadsheet.

What applicants experience

• They complete your school’s Apply page.
• They receive a tracking code.
• They use that code to check their application status later without needing an account or phoning the school.
• Where a fee applies, they are guided to pay or to submit evidence of payment.

Tips

• Test the flow yourself with a dummy application before publicising the link.
• Keep the form short. You can gather more detail at interview or enrolment.
• Publish clear dates and tell families when they can expect to hear back.
• Assign a named owner for the pipeline so applications are reviewed regularly, not in bursts.
• Close the cycle when it ends so late applicants are not left waiting silently.

Common issues

Families say the apply page is not working

Check that public apply is enabled and that the cycle is open — an application page for a closed cycle will not accept submissions.

An applicant lost their tracking code

Look them up in the pipeline and confirm their status directly.

We are receiving applications for the wrong year

Check the target session on the cycle, and confirm you have not left a previous cycle open.

Fee payments are not showing

Evidence uploads require review. Check Admission Fee Payments for items awaiting approval.

What’s next

As applications arrive, work through the pipeline — reviewing, interviewing, offering, and finally enrolling successful applicants.