Whole School Careers and Higher Education Lead

**Salary**:
Oakwood Scheme

**Job type**:
Full Time, Permanent

**Start date**:
September 2025

19 May 2025

**Job overview**:

- ‘Aspirational for its pupils.’ Ofsted, 2024_

**Whole School Careers and Higher Education Lead**

**Full time, term time only (plus 4 additional weeks)**

**OPGS Band 9 - (£32,933-37,188 FTE)**

**Start Date: September 2025**

We’re looking for a motivated and experienced Careers and Higher Education Lead to drive our whole-school CEIAG strategy and support students through UCAS, Oxbridge, apprenticeships, and beyond.

**Key responsibilities include**:

- Organising student finance support and HE visits
- Coordinating work experience, enrichment activities, and external careers services
- Managing platforms like Unifrog and running the annual Careers Fair
- Supporting the transition from Year 11 to Sixth Form

**What We’re Looking For**

We’re looking for someone who is:

- Knowledgeable in post-16 and post-18 pathways including UCAS and apprenticeships
- Experienced in working with secondary or post-16 students
- An excellent communicator with strong organisational skills
- Student-focused and inspiring
- Familiarity with Unifrog and the Gatsby Benchmarks
- Experience supporting Oxbridge/early entry applicants

**What we offer**:

- A supportive, collaborative, and forward-thinking staff team
- Opportunities for ongoing professional development
- Flexible working when required
- A generous pension scheme
- The chance to make a real impact in students’ futures

by the closing date of 19th May 2025.**About**Oakwood Park Grammar School**:
**Oakwood Park Grammar School**
- Oakwood Park, Maidstone
- Kent
- ME16 8AH
- United Kingdom

+44 1622 726683

Oakwood Park Grammar School is a five-form entry (usually 160 in each year) Boys’ Grammar School of approximately 1100 students, including the Sixth Form. We have a co-educational Sixth Form with a pan of 180 in each year group. Entry at 11 to the school is through the Kent Test (11+) where students sit three papers in Mathematics, English and Reasoning.

We have been on the site since 1959 and we share an attractive campus with two schools (St Augustine Academy and St Simon Stock) and a college of Further Education (Mid-Kent College). We remain committed to improving school facilities and providing high quality learning environments for our students. Our teaching and support staff are dedicated and hardworking and very loyal to the school.

Oakwood Park Grammar School has a wealth of extra-curricular activities for its students. Sport is very strong with national success in football, alongside rugby, cricket, basketball and athletics. We also cater for rowing, fencing, table tennis and climbing. Music and Drama are also popular with an annual production and brand new facilities which opened in October 2023. Other extra-curricular opportunities include robotics, debating and chess.

In 2024, an ungraded inspection made clear the school continues to be ‘Good’ overall by Ofsted. However, our grading of Outstanding for our Behaviour and our Sixth Form provision remains.

We are a welcoming, open school with a clear focus on developing staff, with teaching and learning at the heart of our professional development.

**Headteacher**

Mrs Sarah Craig

**Values and vision**

At OPGS, we hold firm on our responsibility to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum, an exceptional standard of teaching and learning and a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. We have high standards of behaviour and our pupils are ‘polite and courteous,’ contributing significantly to our consistently positive learning environment.