Scheduling education market research

The education sector follows a calendar that's significantly different from the standard business year. Term times, exam periods and holidays all affect when participants are able—and willing—to take part in education market research. For example, if your research involves surveying secondary school pupils, you'll typically need to avoid the holidays and exam periods.

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Education market research throughout the year

September to December

The start of the academic year is often an ideal opportunity for education market research in schools and colleges. Staff and students are refreshed after the summer break, while senior teams are implementing new initiatives for the year ahead. Don't forget, there's a half-term week at the end of October. Busy enrolment times means you may want to avoid conducting research in universities during September and October. Staff and students in higher education are usually more available in November.

 

January and February

The new calendar year is another great time for education market research. Later in February though, schools and colleges start to get busy with mock exams and assessments. It's a similar story in universities too, with academic staff busy with semester 1 exams and the transition into semester 2 teaching.

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March to April

The early spring term can be a good time for conducting education market research in primary schools, though secondary schools become increasingly focused on exam preparation. In higher education, teaching staff are often supervising dissertations and finalising coursework grades. To encourage participation at these times, we can often consider using online research methods as these tend to be more flexible around marking and revision schedules. Our page on education market research methods explains more.

 

May to June

This is the peak exam period, which has both pros and cons for conducting research. Whilst some teaching staff are focused on assessments, you may find that those teaching GCSE and A Levels have students on study leave and so have more time available in their teaching timetable to focus on other priorities and planning.  Senior leaders may be more available as they plan and budget for the year ahead. Primary school exams tend to conclude before the half-term week at the end of May, so it can be easier to conduct education market research with this sector in June. Keep in mind though that there may be school trips taking place.

 

July to August

We try not to conduct research during the summer holidays. With different school holidays in different areas of the UK, and differences between the state and independent sector, most fieldwork starts winding up in the first two weeks of July. We often rely on contacting teachers via their school email addresses, and working closely with the education sector we are aware of the significant stresses and difficult workload of teachers. We don’t want to add to their pressure, so we generally don’t even attempt research in the summer holidays. It can be a great time to do some planning and thinking, however, ready to hit the ground running when schools return in September.
Timing is just one part of the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to recruiting. Read our post on how to encourage participants to take part in education market research for more information.

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Timing is just one part of the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to recruiting. Read our post on how to encourage participants to take part in education market research for more information.

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