Widening Participation Officer

**WIDENING PARTICIPATION OFFICER**

**General Information**

Churchill College is one of the thirty-one Colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in
1958 as the national memorial to Sir Winston Churchill. Situated just outside the city centre on a superb 42-acre site, it is an academic community of nearly 500 undergraduates, around 400 postgraduates, and more than 200 Fellows. Its foundation specified a particular mission in science, technology and mathematics but it also has many students in the arts and humanities, and academic performance is outstanding across the board. Across the last decade, the College has been ranked fourth for academic performance among the 29 undergraduate-admitting Cambridge Colleges. Its student body is notably diverse. Around 75% of its UK students come from state schools and colleges, and around 30% of undergraduates typically come from outside the UK.

In admissions our central purpose is to recruit and select, in a process that is as professional and valid as possible, the very brightest undergraduate students we can find. We work in something of a national spotlight but, while this makes our task even more challenging, it also heightens its considerable rewards; so too does the ever-changing nature of secondary education.

The recruitment and admissions process is overseen by the Senior Tutor. Assisting the Senior Tutor are the Admissions Officer, a number of Admissions Tutors, and the Widening Participation Officer.
Admissions is part of the College’s wider Tutorial operation and the Widening Participation Officer will also work alongside the Tutorial Officers, who support the Senior Tutor. The post-holder will work in the Admissions Office.

This is a full-time post working 37.5 hours per week on average. Some evening and weekend work will be essential. There will be peaks and troughs in workload across the year with times when additional hours will need to be worked and times where less hours will need to be worked. The College is happy to facilitate flexible working patterns to accommodate this as best suits the needs of the College and the post-holder.
- moderation takes place and the most intensive phase of the admissions process comes to a close. This work is led by the Admissions Officer but the post-holder will be heavily involved in it.

The remainder of working time will focus on outreach, school and college liaison and recruitment, with a particular focus upon regions in the south of England and in Mid
- and South-Wales. The overall strategy for admissions is overseen by the Senior Tutor and Lead Admissions Tutor, but the Widening
Participation Officer has lately had significant strategic, creative, and authorship responsibilities in respect of outreach. Close liaison with academic and non-academic colleagues in Churchill and
Cambridge is required, as well as very good communication with schools and colleges. The post-holder will arrange, make and receive visits in-person and online to and from a range of schools and colleges, will need to travel extensively and is likely to have to stay away from Cambridge on a number of nights.
They will need to help organise and run College open days. They will also take the lead on developing digital outreach content, working in collaboration with our Communications Manager. The rewards - in the shape of response and gratitude, and good outcomes obtained in respect of student success married to increased diversity - will be high.

This is a challenging but rewarding post in a well-resourced and supportive environment with a clear sense of mission and direction. It might appropriately be filled by a highly organised, capable and outgoing graduate with excellent administrative, digital/social media/IT and communication skills. An understanding of university admissions is desirable. Knowledge of Cambridge University may be helpful but is not essential: perspectives from other universities can be equally valuable.

**Equality, Diversity and Inclusion**

**Terms and Conditions**

**Salary**:The Full Time Equivalent salary range for this post is £28,305 to £38,040 per annum.

Churchill College operates a role evaluation system and all posts are assigned a grade, within an incremental pay-scale made up of annual increments at the bottom of the scale and discretionary increments
(accessed through excellence in performance) at the top of the scale.
Please note that the salary range quoted above is the full scale for the grade, including those increments accessed through performance. It is
College practice to advertise the whole salary scale for the grade and an appointment will be made at an appropriate point within the band, dependent on experience.

**Working hours **37.5 hours per week (average) (1.0 FTE) working pattern by agreement, with flexibility required.

**Annual leave**:33.5 days including public holidays (the post holder may be expected to work on some public holidays)

**Pension & Benefits **A generous