Student Experience Manager - Apprenticeships in Bedford

Location: Bedford College – Bedford or Corby Campus

Salary/Benefits: Salary is between £41,086 and £47,971 per annum DOE and Qualifications, 27 days annual leave plus Bank holidays, People’s pension, Retail and Leisure Discounts, excellent professional and personal development opportunities, accessing college courses.

Hours/Weeks: 37 hours per week – 52 weeks per year

Contract Type: Permanent – Full Time

Right to Work: This is a UK based contract, and you are required to have the Right to Work in the UK. Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer sponsorship and any offer of employment will be subject to evidence of your Right to Work in the UK.

About the role

• Apprentice Journey & Experience Leadership: Lead the design and delivery of a high‑quality, inclusive apprenticeship journey from onboarding to completion, enhancing engagement, retention and learner satisfaction.
• Pastoral, Safeguarding & Wellbeing Oversight: Oversee safeguarding, wellbeing, attendance, behaviour and pastoral support, ensuring effective risk management and a safe, supportive environment for apprentices.
• Careers, Enrichment & Functional Skills Delivery: Manage a cross‑college careers programme, enrichment activities and functional skills provision, promoting personal development and progression aligned to DfE and Ofsted expectations.
• Data Monitoring, Intervention & Continuous Improvement: Analyse learner data, lead progress reviews and intervention strategies for at‑risk apprentices, and contribute to self‑assessment, reporting and quality improvement.
• Leadership, Collaboration & Compliance: Line manage and develop team members, work collaboratively across departments and with employers, and ensure compliance with safeguarding, EDI, health & safety and organisational standards.

About you

• Qualifications, Safeguarding & Sector Knowledge: Degree‑level qualified with GCSE English and maths, safeguarding expertise (including Prevent), and strong understanding of DfE and Ofsted expectations for behaviour, personal development and safeguarding.
• Apprenticeship Journey & Learner Support Expertise: Significant experience managing learner journeys, tracking attendance and progress, identifying barriers to learning and delivering effective pastoral support and tutorial provision.
• Safeguarding Leadership & Cross‑College Practice: Proven experience leading safeguarding activity across college settings, developing policies and procedures, delivering training and working with external agencies.
• Data, Monitoring & Continuous Improvement: Strong analytical and IT skills, able to monitor learner data, identify trends, manage “at risk” learners and ensure compliance with audit and reporting requirements.
• Communication, Professionalism & Flexibility: Excellent interpersonal skills to engage learners, staff and employers, with a professional, organised and proactive approach, committed to safeguarding, EDI, CPD and flexible working across sites.

Values

• Valuing Teamwork: We are one team who by working together can achieve great things, respecting the opinion and valuing the contribution each of us makes.
• Improving Continuously: We challenge ourselves to always do better by trying new things, sharing knowledge, reflecting on practice and learning from others.
• Student Centred: At our heart is always doing what is best for our students.
• Inclusive: We celebrate differences and diversity, recognising that we can learn from each other.
• Open and Caring: We care about the wellbeing of our staff, our students, our community and wider society, creating an environment built on trust where we listen, engage with and support each other.
• Nurturing Education Excellence: We promote educational excellence by delivering programmes that challenge our students to achieve their ambitions.

About The Bedford College Group

The Bedford College Group was formed in 2017 following the merger of Bedford College and Tresham College and is now the largest provider of education in the South East Midlands, with over 15,000 students passing through our doors each year. Today, the Group is made up of a family of colleges across Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire: Bedford College, Central Bedfordshire College and Tresham College in the towns of Bedford, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough; Shuttleworth College, a specialist land‑based college; The Bedford Sixth Form, (the only dedicated sixth form in Bedford); The Corby Sixth Form, (opened in September 2023); and the National College for Motorport alongside Silverstone race circuit. To widen accessibility to education and training, the Group also has community‑based Learning Centres in Bedford, Corby and Kettering which offer IT training.

Safeguarding

The Bedford College Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to a thorough vetting process which includes an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide. The Bedford College Group's policy on Employment of Ex‑Offenders is attached to this vacancy. Candidates who are barred from working with children are reminded it is a criminal offence to apply for this post.

Interviews to be held: 17 June 2026

For a more detailed breakdown of the job role and the requirements, please see the Job Description attached to this vacancy.