University Access Officer

About the role 

This vacancy is for a University Access Officer to work in two of our schools in Hornsey and East Finchley, London. If there is a possibility to extend contract beyond the fixed term, this may include a move to a different school/programme.  

The University Access Officer works with school staff at all levels, volunteer tutors and coaches, and with the rest of The Access Project’s team to ensure that the delivery of our programmes is optimised.  
 

About the organisation 
 
The Access Project is an education charity; we believe that every young person can make the most of education, unlocking their potential and creating a fairer society. 
 
Our mission is to support students from under-resourced backgrounds to access top universities, through a unique combination of tuition and in-school mentoring. We work with them to make good applications, get the grades and transition to university. 
 
The programme combats educational inequality and improves social mobility by raising students’ grades and supporting them to understand the pathway to a top university. Young people on our programme are 50% more likely to place at a top university compared to statistically similar students.

Role responsibilities  

• Work directly with students, mentoring in a professional and safe manner. 
• Engage with school staff, your Programme Manager, and students in school to ensure that you have fully enrolled cohorts across both programmes. 
• Assess student progress towards being able to make successful Key Stage 5 and university applications. 
• Upload information onto the Salesforce database in a timely manner (training is provided). 
• Work with school staff to ensure their cooperation and timely completion of activities contributing to the smooth running of the programmes. 
• Present at termly school meetings with Senior Management to report on our programmes progress. 
• Support the wider team by attending university site visits which take place on occasional Saturdays and weekday evenings (paid time off is provided). 
• Any other responsibilities reasonably deemed necessary by The Access Project’s Programme Managers or Director 

Schools with tuition and coaching in their model: 

• All the above responsibilities, with the addition of: 
• Match students with volunteer tutors. 
• Monitor student attendance to tutorials and/or coaching sessions and devise innovative solutions to encourage attendance. 
• Manage volunteer tutor attendance to tutorials through weekly monitoring systems. 
• Monitor the impact of tutorials and intervene as appropriate. 
• Build and manage relationships with volunteer tutors to ensure they have a positive experience of the programme. 
• Manage students’ relationships with volunteer tutors through monitoring of systems, emailing and making phone calls.   
• Work with the volunteering team to co-ordinate the effective delivery of our coaching programme. 

 Person specification 

• Demonstrable skills in mentoring groups of people and 1:1. 
• Excellent organisation and time management skills, with the ability to deliver multiple programmes and projects at pace and manage administration accurately.    
• Able to communicate and influence with impact at all levels. 
• Resilient and adaptable. 
• Able to work towards and meet deadlines with a problem-solving mindset. 
• Able to effectively time manage and actively prioritise. 
• Able to work independently with an ownership mindset. 
• Skilled in building and maintaining excellent relationships  
• Able to manage upwards and advocate for own needs. 
• Able to lead and manage change.  
• Good sense of attention to detail  
• Can demonstrate an ability to take action to keep young people safe and raise concerns. 

Training and Development   

You will be provided with regular monthly training so that you can develop your skills and succeed in the role. There is support from your line manager (Programme Manager), as well as guidance from more senior University Access Officers and the wider University Access Officer team across The Access Project. There are opportunities for progression, including several additional responsibility roles which are available for University Access Officers to apply for once they have completed their probationary period successfully.