A Modern Independent School with a Rich History

Shrewsbury School is an independent, co-education boarding and day school for pupils aged between 13 and 18. The school was founded in 1552 and has a history of excellence. Alumni include Charles Darwin and Michael Palin, among others.

The school is modern, forward-thinking, and has a warm, welcoming community. The school’s ethos is that learning should be serious fun, both in the classroom and during extracurricular activities. Shrewsbury School is a place that celebrates individuality and where every student can achieve their best.

Understanding Shrewsbury School’s Aims and Objectives

Shrewsbury School had previously relied on photos, videos, and brochures to attract new pupils. The school also invited prospective students and their families to open days to look around the facilities and grounds and meet some of their teachers.

Showcasing the school to international students or those living in distant parts of the UK has never been easy. Potential future pupils would prefer not to travel thousands of miles to visit a school.

The school needed a way to give prospective students the experience of walking around the school from the comfort of their homes. Although photos highlight features of the school, they don’t convey the beauty of the campus buildings and surrounding area.

This need to market specifically to international students, combined with the desire to create a more modern way to present the school, led them to choose a virtual tour. The marketing team researched some options for virtual tours. They were impressed by 360’s virtual tours portfolio of previous work.

Creating The Virtual Tour

Our initial meetings with the Shrewsbury School team involved understanding their vision for the virtual tour. The school has enormous grounds and many different facilities, so it was vital to prioritise which parts to include in the tour. It was essential for the school to showcase its academic, co-curricular, and pastoral life to give prospective students a feel for daily school life at Shrewsbury.

Before we arrived to carry out the photoshoot, the Shrewsbury team had picked out a range of information points to include in their virtual tour. They chose to include historical information about the campus, such as the chapel, library, and boarding houses.

The photoshoot took place over a single day. Many of the photos were taken outside, so we needed to carry out the shoot on a clear and sunny day. Our team advised on photo angles and shooting locations to ensure we showcased the most aesthetic areas of the school.

The entire project was completed in two weeks, from the initial meeting to uploading the finished tour on the school’s website.

Virtual Open Days

Shrewsbury School’s virtual tour has now been online for several months. So far, the school has received a great deal of positive feedback from prospective students who have used the tour.

The finished tour offers users many different viewing options. They can view specific areas of the school relevant to their interests, like the indoor cricket nets, the boat club, or the theatre. Or they can elect to go through the entire tour to see everything the school has to offer.

The school has already successfully used the tour to hold virtual open days in place of live open days. Users found the tour easy to navigate and accessible. The school has reported that its pupil journey is significantly improved from having the tour.

Aspiring Shrewsbury students now have a better understanding of what the school is like before they arrive to begin their studies.