Access and Participation Officer

What You Will Do

• Support teams to promote access to and progression in higher education (HE) through a variety of online and face-to-face activities, working towards the achievement of the objectives set in the Access and Participation Plans.
• Support internal relationships to develop, co-ordinate and monitor in person and online information, advice and guidance to support access and participation in HE.
• Support the HE Student Recruitment team to represent and promote the Luminate Group’s HE pathways to both internal and external UK markets through providing knowledge of access and participation barriers and interventions, and taking a particular lead on community and adult learner engagement.
• Significantly contribute to the design and development of community outreach, identifying potential partners, conducting background research and leading on prospective communications.
• Deliver excellent customer service to both our internal and external customers and stakeholders.
• Contribute to the administration of access and participation activity, including room booking, promotional communications, raising awareness/knowledge exchange, and collation of feedback.
• Contribute to the development and/or updating of required learning resources and providing key Access and Participation updates to colleagues.

  
  

About You

• Degree or equivalent qualification or substantial relevant experience.
• A good understanding of information, advice and guidance issues and barriers to progression to HE for under-represented groups in the UK.
• Experience of working on outreach and/or student support activity.
• Experience of working with students Y7-13, parents, teachers and advisors and other external organisations.
• Knowledge of the schools, further education and higher education sectors, including the variety of qualifications available.
• Excellent interpersonal skills which can be adapted to meet the needs of students, colleagues and other partners.
• Excellent organisation skills such as time management, planning, and goal setting.

Benefits

There are plenty of benefits available to our staff members, here are just a few:

• Generous Annual leave entitlement - If you work full time, you'll get at least 39 days holiday plus bank holidays. This includes closure days at Christmas (pro rata for part time staff).
  • Support Staff 39 days
  • Academic 44 days
  • Senior Management 44 days
• Excellent Pension schemes
  • Teachers’ Pension Scheme 
  • Local Government Pension Scheme 
• Memberships and discounts - employees can sign up to various membership cards and discount schemes such as TOTUM card (formerly NUS card). 
• Travel and commuting - discounted travel available through Metro card, Northern Rail, First Bus, Arriva Bus and Cycle to work schemes.
• Learning and development opportunities -  including staff development days
• Employee wellbeing initiatives
• Flexible and hybrid working opportunities - this will vary depending on role requirements

About Us

Luminate Education Group is a collective of education providers based in Yorkshire with one clear purpose: to make a positive difference to people’s lives through genuinely transformative education and training.

We offer a wide range of job vacancies across our business support functions - Finance, Human Resources, ITSS, Marketing, Communications, Executive Support, Estates and Food Services. Our large size and diverse range of member organisations means there are always exciting opportunities to progress.

As an education provider, we are committed to lifelong learning and investing in our workforce, and you’ll have access to a broad variety of training and professional development designed to help you continually develop and grow.

Join us on the journey to being the best that we can collectively be for our students, apprentices, staff and our stakeholders.

Luminate Education Group consists of; Harrogate College, Keighley College, Leeds City College, Leeds Sixth Form College, Pudsey Sixth Form College, Leeds Conservatoire and University Centre Leeds.

SAFEGUARDING

At Luminate Education Group we are committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all our students including children, young people, and vulnerable adults. We expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow the Safer Recruitment requirements and best practice as set out within Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance. All successful applicants will be required to complete mandatory pre-employment checks which include an enhanced DBS check, online checks and must have two satisfactory references. Please be aware that it is a criminal offence to apply for this post if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity in connection to children.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in recruitment is key to our Group’s values. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace that embraces equality, diversity and inclusion in all its forms, where every candidate is treated with fairness, respect, and equity. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure equal opportunities, remove bias, and promote a diverse talent pool. We continually assess and improve our practices to ensure that every individual, regardless of background, has an equal chance to succeed. By championing EDI, we aim to create a workforce that reflects the richness of our communities and drives innovation through diverse perspectives.  To find out more about what our commitment to EDI means to us please Click here to learn more about our EDI objectives.

RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not forward any unsolicited CVs in relation to any of our advertised roles or speculatively. If we require support with any of our vacancies we will get in touch with agencies directly.

• We do not recognise submissions of unsolicited or speculative CV applications from recruitment agencies.
• We shall not be liable for any fee / commission in the event we employ a candidate that may have been submitted as an unsolicited/speculative application from an uninstructed recruitment agency.