University Access Officer (UAO) - London

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Job description

Applications close: 12pm Friday 10th December
Starting salary: £21,000 (plus £2,000 London weighting), rising by £1,000 after 6 months and £1,000 after 12 months subject to performance
Contract: Full time, permanent
Working days: Five days a week.

From Monday -Thursday the University Access Officer will be based in either one or two of our partner schools

The University Access Officer will be based at home or in our London office on Fridays.

Job Location: London
Academic requirements: University degree or significant professional experience
Interview date: w/c 13th December
Start date: Monday 10th January 2022.

The Access Project's mission

We work with high-potential students from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing in-school support and personalised tuition to help them gain access to selective universities.

Our Aim:

The Access Project is an education charity that works with schools in which 30% or more of pupils are on free school meals (50% or more of students receive pupil premium), to pair graduate volunteers with disadvantaged students for weekly one-to-one tutoring and an intensive programme preparing students for university applications.

The programme combats educational inequality and improves social mobility by raising students' grades and supporting them to understand the pathway to a top university.

The Access Project has a network of over 2,000 volunteer tutors and works with more than 1,800 students in 35 schools in London and in the Midlands.

The Access Project's values

Community - We build a community of schools, volunteers and partner organisations that share a common vision.
Motivation - We harness and reward motivation.
Development - We promote a culture of excellence, improvement and innovation.
Academic Excellence - We help students achieve their potential by matching them with tutors who have been given excellent resources and training.

About the role:

University Access Officers manage the day-to-day running of the programme in The Access Project's partner schools. They work closely with students, staff at all levels, tutors, and with the rest of The Access Project's team to ensure that the delivery of the programme is optimised. The programme has been carefully designed with the intention that all interactions have a positive impact on a student's chances of getting into a top university. It is the responsibility of the University Access Officer to deliver all the activities which make up our programme. This includes managing tutor and student pairings as well as delivering and recording in-school activities.

Successful candidates will have the opportunity to work on the front line of addressing educational disadvantage, as well as benefiting from opportunities to become involved in the wider work of The Access Project as it continues to expand.

This is a challenging role, which involves a high level of organisation. It is well-suited to resilient individuals looking to pursue a career in education and/or the social enterprise/charity sectors. UAOs are the sole representative of The Access Project in school and therefore must be comfortable working alone (although they will build relationships and work closely with school staff).

All University Access Officers are line managed by a Programme Manager from The Access Project, who will meet the UAO once per week for line management meetings, as well as being available via email and phone. Each school also nominates a Programme Supervisor, who focuses on the performance of their in-school programme.

Duties and responsibilities of our University Access Officers:

University Access Officers are the case managers for all key stakeholders who interact with the programme including students, tutors, teachers and TAP staff.

Students

Building strong mentoring relationships with students to drive awareness of and enthusiasm for the programme.
Delivering The Access Project's programme of university support activities at the school, including one to one meetings, workshops and assemblies
Assessing student progress towards being able to make successful university applications by uploading all interactions to our CRM system: Salesforce
Recruiting students onto the programme in line with our student enrolment criteria
Matching students with volunteer tutors
Managing difficult conversations
Monitoring student attendance to tutorials and devising innovative solutions to encourage attendance
Using the schools' existing reporting on students' academic and pastoral progress to monitor the impact of tutorials, and intervene as appropriate
Collecting and uploading various data sets relating to a student's eligibility or performance on the programme. This ranges from consent forms to individual UCAS applications.

Tutors

Building and managing relationships with tutors to ensure they have a positive experience of the programme, deliver good quality tutorials, and continue volunteering with us year-on-year
Liaising with tutors and managing any day-to-day requests that they have regarding The Access Project or their tutee
Managing tutor attendance to tutorials through weekly monitoring systems
Observing tutorials and giving tutors any necessary feedback

School Staff

Working with school staff to ensure their cooperation and timely completion of activities contributing to the smooth running of the programme.
Chairing and presenting at termly school meetings with Senior Management to report on programme progress.

Other Activities

University Access Officers are based in our partner schools, but they spend every Friday undertaking training, attending meetings, and feeding into internal projects to improve the quality of delivery of the programme.
University Access Officers support the volunteering team by helping to deliver tutor training sessions, which take place on Saturdays and weekday evenings.
University Access Officers will be required to support our Central Provision function including staffing our two annual university trips and our university society events.

Any other responsibilities reasonably deemed necessary by the Access Project's Programme Managers or Directors.

Person specification

We are seeking applications from individuals who are:

Essential

Able to communicate and influence with impact at all levels. The role involves building relationships with staff, students and tutors on a one-to-one basis and presenting information to/running workshops with groups of students and teachers: The University Access Officer will need to be professional, articulate and credible in a range of situations.
Able to deliver projects and manage administration. The University Access Officer will need to be able to maintain accurate and up-to-date records.
Able to effectively time manage. The role has a complex and varied workload, involving autonomous working and teamworking, and managing tasks over different periods of time. The University Access Officer will need to be able to plan their time effectively to complete all tasks to pre-set deadlines.
Able to lead and manage change. The University Access Officer will be the key representative of the programme in school and will need enthusiasm and vision to make this a success.
Passionate about educational disadvantage. This is a demanding role which requires University Access Officers to be committed to our mission and values (see below) and motivated by and engaged with the work of The Access Project and our partner schools.
Resilient and adaptable. The University Access Officer will need to adapt to a fast-moving environment in school, and react to challenges and requests from students, staff and tutors.
Skilled in stakeholder management. The University Access Officer will need to be able to build and maintain excellent relationships with school staff as well as our volunteer tutors.
Able to work some Saturdays and evenings. The University Access Officers run training sessions for our volunteer tutors as well as staff our university society events, many of these take place on Saturdays and evenings. The University Access Officers are compensated for their time through an additional holiday allowance. There are some periods of the year where no Saturday or evening work is required.

Desirable

Knowledge/experience of working and/or volunteering in schools or the education sector.

Please note, as a minimum requirement, applicants will:

Have a university degree or significant professional experience
Have the right to work in the UK

Covid 19: Please note: University Access Officers are currently working in schools and at home on Fridays. This is constantly reviewed, and all government guidance is followed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff.

Further Information

Equal Opportunities Statement

The Access Project is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. We are working towards improvements with equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Notice period

University Access Officers can terminate their employment by giving written notice at least two months before the end of term in the autumn and spring terms, and at least three months before the end of the summer term. We highlight this as it is a standard notice period in schools but more unusual in the charity sector.

Safeguarding Statement

The Access Project is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people..... click apply for full job details