CASE STUDY
St Swithun's School
“We wanted something parents would remember — something different. Not just another school website.”
How St Swithun’s created a bold digital identity and a data-driven admissions tool with Ubiq.
School ProfileSt Swithun’s School is an independent day and boarding school for girls aged 3 to 18, located in Winchester, UK. With a co-educational preschool and a dynamic combination of local day students, weekly boarders, and international full boarders, the school prides itself on academic ambition supported by exceptional pastoral care and a culture of curiosity, character, and fun. Known for its strong outcomes, the school has seen 10% of leavers progress to Oxbridge for four consecutive years. St Swithun’s is celebrated for its co-curricular opportunities, wellbeing initiatives, and an ethos that encourages girls to take risks, develop resilience and enjoy their learning. |
A Website That No Longer Represented the School
The Challenge
A dated website in an increasingly difficult market
By the time Head of Marketing & Communications, Ben Walker joined, the previous site, last redesigned in 2017, had reached the end of its life.
It had become:
- Structurally fragmented after years of one-off page additions
- Slow on mobile, as the site was showing its age
- Confusing for parents, who were abandoning the site without finding what they needed
- Ill-equipped for a market where independent schools must work harder to demonstrate value
“We looked at the analytics and it was clear. People were getting lost, and our old site just couldn’t keep up,”
- Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School.
At the same time, St Swithun’s needed to stand out in a shifting landscape:
- VAT uncertainty was affecting parent behaviour
- Independent schools were beginning to close nationally
- Families had more choice and less patience
“In this climate, blending in is dangerous, you need a website that shows who you are and why you’re worth choosing.”
- Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School.
The Solution
A bold creative idea built on data and supported by a long-term partnership
When St Swithun’s began exploring potential providers, one priority guided their decision: they didn’t want a templated, off-the-shelf solution. They wanted a team who would help them think strategically, understand their audiences and create something that genuinely reflected the school.
After meeting five or six companies, Ubiq stood out for its clear process and strong ongoing support.
“It wasn’t ‘Here’s your site, good luck.’ It was ‘Here’s your site, and here’s how we’ll keep improving it with you.’”
- Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School
Ubiq’s discovery phase arrived at the right moment. It helped the school step back and articulate its identity, values and voice with fresh perspective.
What followed was a collaborative process that reshaped how the school presents itself online.
1. A discovery process that clarified who St Swithun’s is
Ubiq began with a full analysis of the existing site, a review of audience behaviour, and a deep dive into the school’s ethos and goals.
For Ben, who had joined the school only a short time before the project began, this phase became just as valuable internally as it was for the project itself.
“It gave me the space to step back and really think about who we are and how we want to present ourselves.”
- Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School.
2. A creative direction unlike anything in the sector
The design direction was built around a surprising but deeply meaningful idea: rain.
The home page opens with a dramatic rain sequence that directly challenges conceptions of what an independent school website should look like. The concept is rooted in the school’s own history and the legend of St Swithun, whose story is closely linked to rain and weather. It also reflects a deeper message about character and positivity within the school community.
The Ubiq design team felt that, by pulling into the concept of the St Swithun legend, users could experience the school’s heritage in a way that feels confident and memorable.
“It sounds counterintuitive, but that is why it works. It stops people scrolling mindlessly. It makes them look,” - Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School.
Parents often contact the school through the chat box asking why it is raining on the website. That simple question opens the door to the school’s story and sparks instant engagement.
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3. Design that guides rather than overwhelms Once inside, visitors find a structured and intuitive experience:
4. Support that strengthened a small team The website was built and launched within just six months, going live in early November. The timing was deliberate, avoiding the school’s open days and a two-week half-term so the team could introduce the site without unnecessary pressure. Throughout the project, the school’s Ubiq project manager kept everything organised and manageable, even during the busiest stretch of the academic year. Behind the scenes, ease of use mattered as much as the creative concept. The marketing and communications team needed a backend system that they could operate confidently and efficiently. |
Two new team members joined during and shortly after the build, so Ubiq provided hands-on, continuous training across the entire platform. This included:
- Content management and editing
- SEO guidance and tagging
- User-journey analysis
- Persona tracking
- UTM and tag manager reporting
- Integration support for the school’s new CRM, Metis
“The training has been invaluable. If we’d just been handed the website with no support, the team would have had to learn everything the hard way.” Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School.
By launch, the team had a new beautifully designed website, and the confidence, skills and insight needed to manage it day to day. Support continues after go-live, evolving into regular data work and continuous refinement of the site with a Ubiq Experience Director strategically aligned to serve the school’s unique goals.
The Impact
Engagement is up
The creative risk paid off. Rather than turning families away, the new design has encouraged them to explore. Visitors are spending more time on the site and clicking through more pages than before, which has reassured the team that choosing something distinctive was the right call.
“We were taking a risk, but the engagement shows it paid off.”
- Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School
Clear Insight Into Parent Behaviour
For the first time, the school has a detailed view of how prospective families move through the site, including:
- Which pages families read before enquiring
- Which areas of the school (Prep, Senior, Boarding) attract the most attention
- How different persona groups behave
- Where journeys drop off
- Which pages need refining
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Better Admissions ConversationsThe admissions team can now prepare for meetings knowing exactly what a family has already shown interest in. With tighter tracking and clearer user journeys, the website has become a meaningful part of their admissions strategy, not just their communications.
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CRM integration that closes the loop
With the move to Metis, the school can now track:
- Year on year behaviour from key feeder prep schools
- Open Day performance at a glance
- Conversion from first website visit to attendance and then to application
“It gives us a finger on the pulse. And right now, every school needs that,”
- Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School
Showcasing outcomes with real impact
The Leavers’ Destinations section has quickly become one of the standout areas of the website. It is visually rich, easy to explore, and updated in detail.
With 10% of leavers going to Oxbridge for four consecutive years and a wide mix of specialist pathways, the page gives prospective parents a clear sense of what their daughters can go on to achieve.
“If I were choosing a Sixth Form, seeing that variety would excite me,”
- Ben Walker, Head of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School
A website that people remember
Many school websites look and feel the same. St Swithun’s now stands out. Parents comment on the rain, and prospective families arrive already curious about the story behind it. That sense of recognition was exactly what the team hoped to create.
Why Ubiq
When reviewing providers, St Swithun’s looked for more than technical capability. They wanted a team who would work alongside them, bring clarity and structure and continue improving the site after launch. Ubiq was the only provider who offered that level of partnership and support.
“Rosie (Ubiq’s Head of Production) was fantastic. In the middle of an academic year, with a million things happening, that steady project management made all the difference.”
What mattered most was that Ubiq helped the school understand its audiences, sharpen its story and keep building on the foundations long after the site went live.
Looking Ahead
With almost a year since launch, the school continues to refine its strategy with Ubiq through data reviews, persona insights, and CRM integration.
“We needed something distinctive, and we needed a platform that could keep growing with us. The website does that. It’s bold, it’s memorable, and it works.”
- Ben Walker, Hea of Marketing and Communications, St Swithun’s School.
