Admissions and Placement Partner

Compass Associates are proud to be working with a growing specialist education provider seeking an experienced Head of Admissions & Partnerships to support its ambitious expansion plans.

Having recently opened one new school and anticipating a further four over the next year, the organisation is looking for a strategic admissions professional to oversee referrals, strengthen local-authority partnerships and support sustainable growth across its school portfolio.

This is an excellent opportunity to combine strategic leadership with operational oversight, ensuring appropriate placements, effective admissions processes and strong relationships with commissioners

and school leadership teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the admissions process, including referral triage, assessment days, placement decisions and stakeholder communication.
• Ensure timely, consistent admissions decisions, providing clear explanations when referrals cannot be accepted.
• Build and maintain relationships with local authorities, SEND teams, commissioners and referral partners.
• Support schools with placement challenges and develop strategies to improve placement stability and retention.
• Oversee admissions across multiple schools, balancing growth with capacity and quality of provision.
• Lead and support the admissions team, improving processes, reporting and referral management.
• Work collaboratively with school leaders to identify placement opportunities and support organisational expansion.
• Experience in admissions, referrals, placements or commissioning within specialist education.
• Knowledge of SEND, ideally gained within a specialist school, residential education setting or local-authority SEND team.
• Experience managing complex referrals, assessments and placement decisions.
• Proven ability to build relationships with commissioners, local authorities and school leadership teams.
• Strong strategic, organisational and communication skills, with a practical, solutions-focused approach.
• Ability to balance operational demands with longer-term planning. Willingness to travel regularly to school sites and local-authority meetings.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Admissions Manager, SEND Placements Manager, local-authority SEND, Head of Referrals, or Business Development Manager professional to shape admissions strategy and support a rapidly expanding specialist education provider.

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