Making a school promo video

By James Jones, founder of Granary Digital · Updated 5 November 2026

A school promo video is one short film for one audience, made with pupils and staff who have agreed to appear. Settle the consent and the safeguarding before you choose a shot.

Start with the viewer

Parents, prospective pupils and current families each want different things from a promo. Choose one audience for the film and let the others wait for a second cut. A film that speaks to everyone tends to speak to nobody.

Who appears, and how that is agreed

Choose the people in advance, not on the day. Ask the school to set out who can appear, what permission each person needs and who keeps the records.

Children are involved in school filming, so this is general guidance only. The school's safeguarding lead and data protection lead need to approve the plan. A competent person must assess the actual shoot, including where the cameras will be and who will be in shot. Read filming in schools: consent, safeguarding and data protection before you write the plan.

Plan the shoot

• Use one location if you can. A library, a sports hall or a single classroom is easier to light and quicker to reset than three.
• Ask when the building is quiet enough to film. Ask the school which times suit it, and plan around lessons rather than through them.
• Plan the interview light. Classrooms often have uneven light from ceiling strips and windows. Pick the interview spot in advance, and test it with the camera before the day.
• Keep the sound simple. A lapel microphone on each person who speaks is more reliable than a camera microphone across a room.

Write a shot list

A short promo can use a simple sequence:

1. A wide shot of the school entrance, with the name visible.
2. A short walk through a corridor or classroom, with the people who work there.
3. Two or three pupils talking about something they chose to do.
4. A teacher or head with one clear message about the school.
5. A closing shot with the school's name and the next step.

The shot list template gives a layout you can fill in.

Keep it short and approve it early

Aim for a film short enough that a parent will finish it on a phone. Cut the rest into short pieces for the school's own channels. Agree the number of approval rounds and the name of each approver before the edit starts. The approval rounds template sets out one way to do it.

Common mistakes

• Starting with the shoot and leaving the consent until the edit.
• Filming pupils who have not been through the school's process.
• Choosing a shoot time that disrupts lessons.
• Ending the film with no clear next step, such as a link to the admissions page.
• Forgetting the school's own brand rules for logos and colours.

Where we fit

Our video for independent schools and colleges page covers the kind of work we do with schools. If a school wants a crew for the shoot day, our film crew hire page explains how crews are booked.

Sources

• Information Commissioner's Office, Consent guidance under the UK GDPR, read 5 November 2026

Related guides

• Filming in schools: consent, safeguarding and GDPR
• All guides and tools

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.