A prospectus checklist for clearer course enquiries
Organise approved course information, evidence and enquiry steps around the questions prospective students need answered.
Practical checklist · Editorial approach
The useful starting point
Make the course, entry requirements, costs and next step clear. Publish outcomes and recognition only when the institution can substantiate them.
Give each course a reliable information owner
For one course, gather the approved title, delivery format, duration, entry requirements, fee information and contact route. Identify who can confirm each field and when it should be reviewed. Keep optional activities and additional charges distinguishable from the core course so the page is useful for comparison.
- Explain unfamiliar qualification terms.
- Link to current admissions information.
- Identify the period and cohort behind any published outcome statistic.
Illustrative example: a prospective-student journey
A visitor should be able to move from a course summary to entry requirements and then to an appropriate question or application route. Explain whether a form requests information, starts an application or confirms a place. Use clear field labels and actionable error messages. If an application requires documents, explain the approved process separately.
Review clarity with prospective users
Ask a small set of willing reviewers to find the course requirements and describe the next step in their own words. Record unclear language and missing information; this is qualitative feedback, not a representative study. Check the enquiry handoff and distinguish requests for information from eligible applications and confirmed enrolments. Institutional claims and policies require the responsible team’s approval.
Sources & scope
Original practical checklist; sector-specific claims require the responsible business reviewer.
- W3C WAI: Forms Tutorial
Supporting guidance for form labels, instructions and useful success/error feedback. Sector examples above are original illustrative checklists, not findings from this source. Accessed 13 September 2026.
Use this guide to start your brief.
Share your business context, existing materials and what is still unclear. The guide title will be included so the conversation starts with the right problem.
Prefer email? Send a brief with this guide’s context.Related guides
A hospital website enquiry journey that keeps scope clear
A hospital's general enquiry journey should explain approved service information, location and the next contact step without pretending to provide clinical assessment.
Read the guide →
Diagnostic centre pages that explain services and report access
A diagnostic centre page should distinguish approved test information, general enquiries and secure report access.
Read the guide →School admissions pages that answer parents' practical questions
An admissions page should explain the actual programme, relevant eligibility information, process and contact route in clear terms.
Read the guide →