The King’s School (King’s) required a more accurate and convenient means of recording deposit information and making it easier for prospective parents to pay their registration fees.
The King’s School is a prestigious, co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils based in Canterbury, Kent. It is believed to be the oldest continuously operating school in the world, having been founded in 597 AD. In 2011, the school was subject to its latest independent inspection. The inspection team praised the pastoral care system, the high academic achievements of all its pupils – irrespective of their age, aptitude or ability – and the happiness of the pupils.
King’s have been using WisePay’s ‘Smart-Registration’ package since January 2016. It allows new parents, sponsors and agents to register pupils at the school and pay their deposit online. In order to register interest, parents have to click on the WisePay Portal on the website and pay a non-returnable registration fee of £200.
Confirmation of the acceptance offer is required shortly after the offer is made. To secure the place, an acceptance deposit is paid. WisePay’s pre-registration software solution has been customised to vary the fees required: £2,000 for UK students and a term’s fees for foreign students. WisePay is PCI DSS certified so they provide a safe and secure facility for customers to pay their deposits, with all personal data protected.
A huge advantage of using WisePay’s services is that all the student information is now collated in one place together with all the payments. King’s have full visibility of all the information that was previously hand-written on individual forms, in a centralised location.
King’s has 49 different nationalities within the school, with the majority of foreign students originating from China, Russia and Nigeria. WisePay’s intelligent software facilitates multi-currency payment solutions in over 80 currencies, allowing international students to have a transparent payment experience.
WisePay’s registration services have been a huge success: the school has pre-registered over 800 pupils and their registration data has been completed by parents online since King’s started using WisePay’s services in January 2016. They have also processed a total of 240 deposit payments since February 2016. King’s Admissions Department can now consolidate pupils’ records and payments. It is accurate and simple to use, and customers have the convenience of being able to pay by card, from anywhere in the world.
“The pre-registration solution serves its purpose: it is easy to use and intuitive. We are all busy, and it is so much simpler to be able to make payments quickly online, especially when parents are out of the country. Wisepay’s software helps King’s support the parents and sponsors, and it also makes our internal administration processes quicker and more seamless.”
King’s are looking to implement other WisePay software services throughout the school. The transition period will be challenging but WisePay’s team are always available to offer their support and advice.
