SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
Felsted School
Redesigning with Purpose and Clarity
At more than 460 years old, Felsted School, a distinguished UK independent institution and long-time Finalsite partner, certainly has a lot of stories to share. The school had been confident in its website’s design and performance, but after steady growth, its award-winning site actually began to feel a bit too big.
The Felsted marketing team recognized that it needed a slimmed-down, fresh approach that would support how today’s families browse and absorb information, especially on mobile devices.
At a Glance
Felsted School offers children aged four to eighteen a first class all round education, based on a safe, rural 80 acre village campus in stunning North Essex.
“Parents are on the go,” shared Felsted's Marketing Manager Amy Williams. “They’re shopping, booking trips, and managing school admin from their phones. We needed a site that matched those habits — something quick to load, easy to scan, and flexible for different types of users.”
With mobile usage surging, the team saw an opportunity to rethink their site through a modern lens: future-ready, mobile-first, and user-friendly for every visitor. Their goal wasn’t to start from scratch, though. They wanted to keep what worked and build a site that could carry their legacy and strategy forward.
"It was such a rewarding process being involved at every step of the redesign. Watching our ideas come to life through the design team was very exciting, and it was fantastic to have the opportunity to not only incorporate some existing design assets into our new site, but also to come up with something unique to Felsted."
AMY WILLIAMS
MARKETING MANAGER
The Challenge: Managing Growth Without Losing Focus
The older site had performed well, but the volume of content had grown to the point where users could feel overwhelmed. “We felt that the previous Felsted website was standing the test of time, but we wanted to take it to the next level: future-proofing it for the next five years and beyond,” Amy shared.
The team wanted to highlight the school’s vibrant, award-winning boarding culture and its academic offerings, while maintaining a structure that helped visitors move through the site quickly, especially on smaller screens.
They also needed a better way to support the various ways users consume information.
Some parents want quick highlights, while others prefer video or like to read every detail. Felsted needed a site that didn’t force one style of communication but supported all of them.
The Solution: Mobile-First Design Grounded in Strategy
With a clear launch plan and a strong internal team, Felsted worked closely with Finalsite to reimagine their site experience with larger images, mobile-friendly CTAs, and less text to prioritize the mobile experience. They approached the project like a “virtual roundabout,” providing visitors with clear starting points and multiple paths, while always offering a way to circle back and explore further.
“We wanted to focus on storytelling, with a ‘show not tell’ approach on each page, making sure that we had evidence to support each statement we made,” Amy said.
“As a boarding school with day pupils, we were keen to highlight the benefits of our boarding culture on the main navigation and as a clear pathway from the homepage, reinforcing the strong community of the school.”
Having been Finalsite clients for 10+ years, the Felsted team, already comfortable with Finalsite’s content management system, Composer, leaned into new features during training sessions with their implementation consultant. “We all felt confident in using Composer, but we still came away with new tips and tricks that helped us do more.”
They also made strategic use of Finalsite’s Posts module, a versatile online publishing tool for blogs, news, teacher pages, and more. “Having a custom post-grid has been a fantastic way to showcase our academic and co-curricular offerings,” Amy said. “It lets users dive into the areas they care about, rather than clicking through endless pages.”
The Results: A Leaner, Smarter, More Engaging Experience
The redesigned site launched on schedule with a cleaner structure and fewer pages, yet none of the messaging was lost.
- Session time on the site went up 5% year-over-year
- Bounce rate dropped by 4%
- Key pages like Admissions and Open Mornings saw stronger traffic
- Inquiries held steady, and open day attendance remained strong
“Once we had the site map agreed, it was a case of making the most of the space we had allowed ourselves, filling it with key information, engaging imagery, and easy navigation to other areas,” Amy shared. “We’ve significantly reduced the number of pages… but with less noise, the key information is clearer and easier to digest.”
“It was such a rewarding process being involved at every step of the redesign. Watching our ideas come to life through the design team was very exciting, and it was fantastic to have the opportunity to not only incorporate some existing design assets into our new site, but also to come up with something unique to Felsted, like the ivy growing down on our homepage.”
Feedback from families and staff has been encouraging:
- Parents say it’s easier to find what they need.
- Teachers feel a greater sense of ownership over their pages
- Using Posts, staff across departments can contribute content that lives in multiple places simultaneously, saving time and keeping the site up to date.
The site redesign also enabled Felsted to evaluate other areas of its communications. One of the standout outcomes was a new weekly newsletter dashboard, built using Posts. Now, content from across the school is collected, shared, and cross-posted, improving both internal workflows and public engagement.
“It’s always fantastic to see the community taking pride in the site, and showing an interest in improving it, whether that’s providing us with parent feedback to include, or our staff ensuring that their specific area of the site is up to date and working to its full potential.”
“As a school, we know that there isn’t one learning style, so our website mirrors our approach to teaching,” Amy said. “I am proud that we were able to create something where every type of site visitor is considered.”
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