Creating an Enquiry
While many enquiries come in through form submissions, phone calls, or emails, you can also create enquiries manually. This is useful when a family walks in, calls, or contacts you through a channel that is not connected to an online form.
Prerequisites
You need the enquiries.create permission to create enquiries. If you do not see the "Create Enquiry" button, contact your administrator to request this permission.
Steps to Create an Enquiry
- Navigate to Rosters > Enquiries in the sidebar.
- Click the Create Enquiry button (green, top-right corner).
- A modal form opens with the following fields:
Parent/Guardian Information
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Parent First Name | Yes | The guardian's first name. |
| Parent Last Name | Yes | The guardian's last name. |
| Parent Email | No | Email address (validated for correct format). |
| Parent Phone | No | Phone number with international format support. |
Student Information
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Student First Name | No | The child's first name. |
| Student Last Name | No | The child's last name. |
| Student Birth Date | No | Date of birth. When set with an enrolment year, the system can auto-select the appropriate year group. |
| Student Country | No | Country of origin (searchable dropdown). |
Admissions Details
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Enrolment Year | No | The academic year the family is enquiring about. |
| Target Year Group | No | Appears after selecting an enrolment year. If the student's birth date is provided, the system attempts to auto-select the matching year group based on cohort rules. |
| Source | No | How the family found your school. Options include: Form Submission, Email, WhatsApp, Phone, Walk-in, Referral, Event, Social Media, Partner, Other. Defaults to "Other". |
| Enquiry Date | No | When the enquiry was received. Defaults to today's date. |
| Engagement Level | No | Initial engagement temperature. Defaults to "Warm". |
| Tags | No | Apply one or more tags for categorization. |
| Notes | No | Free-text notes about the enquiry. |
- Fill in the required fields (Parent First Name and Parent Last Name are mandatory).
- Click Create to save the enquiry.
After Creating
Once created:
- The enquiry appears in the Enquiries table.
- The enquiry stat cards update to reflect the new total.
- If a parent email was provided, the system checks for existing parent records with the same email and links them automatically (deduplication).
- You can open the enquiry detail page to add activities, schedule follow-ups, and add additional notes.
Year Group Auto-Selection
When you provide both a student birth date and an enrolment year, the system attempts to automatically select the correct year group:
- If your school has cohort rules configured (age-based date-of-birth ranges), the system matches the child's age to the appropriate year group.
- A green message appears: "Auto-selected from birthdate" when a match is found.
- An orange message appears: "No match for birthdate" if the child's age does not fall within any configured range.
- You can always override the auto-selection by manually choosing a different year group.
Age at Year Start Hint
Once both the birthdate and enrolment year are filled in, a small hint appears beneath the year picker showing the child's calculated age on the first day of the enrolment year (for example, "Child's age on 01/09/2026: 4y 7m"). This mirrors the hint shown on the public enquiry form so admissions staff and applicants see the exact same age calculation.
Sub-Programs in the Year Group Dropdown
If your school has sub-programs enabled, the "Anticipated Grade of Entry" dropdown shows only sub-programs (the granular level applicants will actually be placed into). The parent program names are hidden to avoid ambiguity -- you pick the specific cohort directly.
Manual Conversion Always Allowed
When you later convert an enquiry into an applicant, the system never blocks the conversion based on cohort capacity. Manual conversions always pass override_capacity: true so admissions staff can place a child even when the chosen cohort is already at capacity. The override is still recorded in the audit log so finance/registrar staff can see which conversions exceeded capacity.
TIP
Even though most fields are optional, providing as much information as possible during enquiry creation makes it easier to track the lead, schedule relevant follow-ups, and convert to an applicant later.
WARNING
The email validation requires a properly formatted email address (e.g., [email protected]). If the email format is invalid, an error message appears and you cannot submit the form until it is corrected or the email field is cleared.