School Communications Report 2026: 85% of schools believe this one factor matters

When we create our School Communications Report each year, we're looking for what's new, what's different and what surprises us.

This year's report was full of surprises.

One thing that didn't surprise us was how many schools said parent communications influence a school's image or reputation. That's something we've been talking about for a while - and it seems 85% of schools agree with us.

But here's what we didn't expect: in 2026, schools are using communications with a purpose.

In 2026, communications need to be high-quality

Communications has typically been seen as an admin task – one that's slow, repetitive and can eat hours of time that could be spent on other things. However, one of the most significant findings from the new School Communications Report was that the view of communications is shifting.

Schools increasingly see communications as a strategic tool that can be used to increase parental engagement, interest new families and tackle recruitment challenges.

In fact, two-thirds of the 545 schools we surveyed (including nurseries, primaries, secondaries, independent schools and MATs) now have a formal strategy they use to manage their communications.

Independent schools are leading the pack

The amount of schools with a communication strategy wasn't the only surprise in the results. Even more surprising was the kind of schools with one.

Independent schools are more likely than others to have a communication strategy - and in fact, only 19% of the independent schools we surveyed didn't have one.

In fact, one particular type of school made up 71% of the schools without a strategy: primary schools. 

The reason why might lie in the answers to our question about the biggest issue schools face with communications. "Parents don't read the communications we send" was the most popular answer for every type of school with 90% of schools saying it was their biggest communications issue, but primaries appear to be grappling with this problem to a far higher degree. 91% of primaries said this was their biggest communications issue, compared to 83% of independent schools.

And once we filtered independent primary schools out, the number of independent schools saying that parents not reading communications was their biggest issue dropped by 15%.

Are the parents of primary school children just busier? Or is there something else at play here?

Parental engagement is a big issue

Whatever the reason, it's clear that engaging parents is a top priority for schools of every type. "Making communication simpler" for parents and "improving communication with parents" were the top two priorities for schools when choosing a communications system.

Making sure parents understand school communications and are willing to engage is something many schools struggle with - but it's worth the effort, for everyone involved.

For schools, the benefits of engaged parents are clear: less time spent writing emails, making calls or chasing paperwork. When communication takes place through one central platform, it can take hours off an administrator's workload each week. 

But there's a benefit for families too. The research is clear: the children of engaged parents perform better in school. John Hattie's influential 2008 study found that the effect of parental engagement was equivalent to adding two or three years to a student's education.

Parental engagement pays off for parents and children too - so what's stopping parents from taking part? 

When it comes to getting involved, parents feel overwhelmed and time-poor.

For example, when the Scottish government surveyed parents on how their child's school engages with them, six in ten said they were too busy with work to take part more in the life of the school. Others - particularly those from the most deprived areas - said a lack of confidence had an impact on their engagement. Meanwhile, EAL parents said that language barriers prevented them from being more engaged.

Using strategy to target parents

The 2026 report made one thing very clear: schools with a communications strategy engage more parents than those without. Strategy-led schools were more likely to set measurable parental engagement goals, and reported more confidence in the quality of their communications and parent experience.

Communications and a school's reputation amongst parents are intertwined - and as more schools begin adopting strategies that capitalise on that fact, those that don't may be missing an opportunity.

If you enjoyed this blog, there's more where that came from. Download the new School Communications Report 2026 for free to see insights like what communications goals schools are setting, what schools prioritise when choosing their communications platform, and more.

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Want to know more about what schools and Trusts are saying about communications in 2026?

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