Back-to-School Print Checklist: Getting Prospectuses, Course Guides and Open Day Materials Ready for September

Back-to-school print materials tend to involve more moving parts than they first appear to. Prospectuses, course guides, open day materials and enrolment packs all draw on the same content, often from several departments, and all need to come together before term starts.

None of this is unusual for colleges and schools. It’s simply worth understanding what each piece involves, so the print side keeps pace with everything else happening over the summer.

Why These Materials Take More Coordination Than They Look Like

Course details tend to go through several rounds of change as departments confirm and reconfirm information. That’s a normal part of the process, not a problem in itself. It just means the print side benefits from knowing where content stands, rather than assuming everything is final until it’s explicitly signed off.

The Core Materials Most Colleges and Schools Need

Prospectuses and course guides
Usually the largest and most detailed job of the year, covering multiple courses, departments and entry requirements. These tend to go through the most revisions before final sign-off, simply because they carry the most content.

Open day materials
A mix of items including guides, maps, course-specific handouts, and sometimes signage or banners. These are tied to a fixed date, which makes clarity on quantities and content particularly useful early on.

Enrolment and induction packs
These typically go out on a rolling basis as places are confirmed, rather than all at once, which changes how they are best planned and produced compared with the prospectus.

Student handbooks and information guides
These provide essential information for current and incoming students, covering areas such as policies, support services, campus information and key contacts. They often require careful updates each year to reflect changes in procedures, regulations and student services.

Marketing and recruitment materials
This includes items such as brochures, campaign leaflets, posters and digital-to-print assets designed to attract prospective students. These materials need to align closely with wider recruitment activity and are often produced around key application periods.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How far in advance should prospectuses and course guides be finalised?
  As early as content allows. Course details tend to keep changing right up until the last responsible moment, but the print process itself, artwork, proofing, production and finishing, still needs a realistic window once content is locked. The later finalisation happens, the less room there is to absorb any last-minute changes or corrections.
• Can open day materials be turned around quickly if the date is close?
  Often yes, but it depends what’s included. A single guide or handout can usually move faster than a full open day package with signage, maps and multiple course-specific materials. The more moving parts, the more useful it is to have clarity early rather than confirming everything in one tight production run.
• What happens if course details change after artwork is finalised?
  This is common enough to plan for rather than treat as an exception. Having a clear process for last-minute corrections, and knowing what’s realistically still possible once a job is in production, makes it much easier to handle a late change from a department.
• Can enrolment packs be printed in smaller batches rather than all at once?
  Yes, and for most institutions this is the more practical approach. Enrolment numbers rarely arrive all at once, so producing and dispatching packs on a rolling basis as places are confirmed tends to work better than estimating a final total upfront.
• Does content need to be fully finished before printing can start?
  Not necessarily. Print production can often begin on the sections that are confirmed, while proofing and sign-off continue on the rest, particularly for longer documents like prospectuses with multiple sections.

One Practical Habit Worth Adopting

The single most useful thing colleges and schools can do is separate the parts of a document that are genuinely still moving from the parts that are already settled, and get the settled sections into production rather than waiting for the whole document to be finished at once.

If prospectuses, course guides or open day materials need sorting this year, our Print Management service covers how we support colleges and schools through this process.