Student Welfare Officer

Provide advice, support and information to students regarding safeguarding and welfare issues, developing, implementing and monitoring the health and welfare services for students, acting as a lead professional for safeguarding and actively implement activities and procedures designed to improve the health and well-being of students.

This role will be 37 hours a week during Term Time only. The Salary advertised will be pro rated.

1. Provide individual support, guidance and coaching to students across the College, assisting in the delivery and organisation of drop in services, maintaining accurate and confidential records of disclosures and any cause for concern.

2. Develop, implement and monitor the health and welfare services available for students, providing options for consideration and making recommendations as required, in order to maintain the delivery of a high quality service to students.

3. Act as a lead professional in relation to safeguarding (designated safeguarding lead), acting as a link with external agencies for Safeguarding and Child protection, working with the Director - Student Support and senior managers on the monitoring of at risk students, working with other members of the Student Support Services team on cross College issues.

4. Provide training to new staff and on-going support to existing staff on all aspects of welfare and safeguarding, in order to support other College staff to make appropriate referrals.

5. Signpost students to appropriate advice and assist students on issues relating to finance, accommodation, budgeting and benefits, working closely with student finance, other internal College services and external agencies, liaising with external agencies to organise support and intervention strategies for students across the College when required.

6. Work in conjunction with Student Support staff to establish and run self-help groups in particular stress and anger management and developing peer mentors to provide welfare advice and support to other students.

7. Develop and maintain supportive working relationships with Directors, course teams, Progress & Performance Tutors and other College staff, in order to assist in the development of the welfare services and student information materials.

8. Liaise with relevant external agencies in the community i.e. Health Authority, Social Services, and Housing Associations etc., in order to support students in need of external services assistance.

To ensure compliance with safeguarding guidelines, all applicants must complete the application form in full. This includes providing:

• A full employment history from the time you left full-time education, with details of any gaps in employment explained.
• Information on all relevant education and qualifications.

Please note, incomplete applications will not be considered. Your co-operation helps us maintain the highest standards of safety and care for children and young people.

Click here to view MidKent College benefits.

A GOOD local College for Maidstone and Medway

Every year over 6000 students from Medway, Maidstone and beyond choose MidKent College to continue their studies and prepare for their future career.

Our sparkling campuses in Maidstone and Medway boast some of the best vocational training facilities in the country as well as staff and student social zones and more. Our University Centre Maidstone campus provides a valuable higher education and professional training centre for Maidstone, including South East Institute of Technology and the College's Home Energy Centre. Additionally, in September 2024 we proudly opened Medway School of Arts in Chatham's Historic Dockyard.

All of our campuses benefit from ongoing investment programmes so that we can provide fantastic learning environments for our students.

For over 100 years we've been providing high-quality technical training and apprenticeships in a range of subject areas.

In October 2024 Ofsted rated the College as 'Good'.

Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to the safeguarding of all our students and staff. This means everyone who works here is required to actively protect them from preventable harm. Our recruitment and selection process includes background checks which will be undertaken on the successful applicant, including an enhanced DBS, and in your application you are required to demonstrate how you meet the Colleges requirements on safeguarding.

The background checks will be carried-out in accordance with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Code of Practice. The DBS helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. We operate in accordance with the DBS Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy. You can access both of these documents at

MidKent College is committed to safeguarding and the Prevent Agenda and to promoting the welfare of children and we expect all staff to share this commitment. MKC complies fully with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Code of Practice regarding the correct handling, storage, retention and disposal of Disclosures and Disclosure information, and undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a disclosure on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed.

Since the post for which you are applying may involve unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults, it will be exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. It is an offence to apply for this role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children or young people. Candidates who are preliminarily offered a position for such posts will be required to disclose details, cautions (including final warnings or reprimands), or convictions which are not "protected" as defined by the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020 or any other matters that may be relevant to their suitability to work for the College including sanctions relating to work with children in any country outside of the UK.

Please note that the College is unable to consider an application further if the candidate declines to complete the Disclosure form.

Commitment to Equal Opportunities

As a proud user of the disability confident scheme the College is committed to equal opportunities and celebrates the diversity of staff and students. As part of our commitment to the scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a vacancy.

We welcome applications from anyone wishing to work flexibly and those considering a return to work from a career break.

Important Notice for Applicants: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Requirement

To ensure the security of our college systems and protect personal / sensitive information, all staff are now required to use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) should your application be successful. This mandated security measure helps reduce the risk of unauthorised access aligned to our cyber security requirements.

Should your application be successful, MFA can be enabled using the Microsoft Authenticator app on your personal or college mobile device. Alternatively, you may request a YubiKey, a physical security key that plugs into your allocated laptop or desktop.