Admissions Officer in Manchester

Department: Admissions

Location: Manchester

Type of Contract: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full-Time, 40hrs per week

Salary Range: £28,000-£30,000pa

Our Vision: Changing lives through education

GBS is a higher education provider offering a range of sector-relevant courses across ten campuses in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. Working in partnership with several of the UK’s leading higher education providers, we deliver vocational, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in finance, accounting, business, construction, tourism, healthcare, and more.

What We Do: The Admissions Department supports the business by evaluating and enrolling qualified students. It manages processes applications, advising prospective students, and ensures that enrolment targets are met in line with company strategy.

The role: Join our admissions team and play a key role in shaping the student experience from the very first interaction. This is your opportunity to support aspiring students, uphold academic standards, and help turn ambition into achievement. Reporting to the Admissions Manager, the Admissions Officer will facilitate the admissions assessment process while ensuring a connected and seamless approach to the service for applicants across the admissions service. The Admissions Officer will be expected to contribute to the overall effective service delivery of providing information and support to ensure a high-quality admissions service is provided to applicants and other stakeholders.

Please note, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this position.

What The Role Involves:

• To support and co-operate with the wider admission team to ensure the provision of an effective and efficient admissions service for GBS.
• Support GBS in meeting its targets for recruitment across all programmes.
• Manage time effectively, prioritising work to meet demands and recruitment deadlines.
• To maintain accurate records in accordance with GBS requirements, ensuring compliance and maintenance of relevant systems.
• Ensure accurate input of applicant related data by the team and correction of applicant data to support statutory reporting requirements e.g. HESA Data Futures.
• Provide advice and guidance on course options to applicants and potential applicants verbally and in writing.
• Deal with internal and external queries concerning the progress and status of an application.
• Provide a quality, customer focussed first line, advisory and information service, giving initial support and guidance on admissions policies and procedures.
• Carry out initial checks on applications for a portfolio of courses, including but not limited to minimum entry requirements, multiple application identification and immigration checks.
• Monitor the responses of applicants to decisions and update the information on the institutions student record system.
• Invigilate all assessments taking place in the assessment centre and offering support to applicants if required and support the staff member conducting interviews.
• Booking interviews with prospective applicants via phone, e-mail and SMS.
• Handle telephone and email enquiries from prospective students, independently and in a timely and professional manner.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Degree, or relevant professional qualification, or equivalent similar experience.
• Experience of dealing with a wide range of demanding individuals and resolving problems quickly and calmly.
• Experience of being administratively self-sufficient and accustomed to exercising initiative.
• Confident user of the Microsoft Office package.
• Experience of prioritising and ability to balance a diverse workload while working with precision.
• Good organisational and time management skills; scheduling and prioritising multiple projects and tasks with varying deadlines.
• Excellent customer service ethos to enable effective delivery of services to internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Able to establish and maintain productive professional relationships with colleagues and stakeholder groups.
• Ability to manage change and respond positively to new challenges.
• Pro-active, responsive, motivated, and approachable.
• Ability to work under pressure and a flexible and adaptable attitude, including occasional evening and weekend working and off-site.
• A methodical and organised approach to work with a high level of accuracy and an eye for detail.
• Committed to working as part of a team.
• Demonstrate a high level of integrity and honesty, and an ability to manage information confidentially and sensitively.

Desirable Skills and Experience:

• Degree, relevant professional qualification, or equivalent experience in relevant roles.
• Good understanding of the full student lifecycle from enquiry to enrolment and understanding of the importance of admissions processes in maintaining student records and contribution to overall student experience.
• Demonstrable experience of the workings of an Admissions or related team.
• Experience in a course advisory role.
• Experience with Zoho CRM system.
• Knowledge of two or more languages.

What We Offer:

• 25 days annual leave, plus 8 public holidays.
• 1-day extra leave per year of service, up to a maximum of 5 days.
• Workplace pension scheme.
• Tuition reimbursement for career development courses.
• Flexible Benefits: Cycle to Work, Workplace Nursery, Techscheme and much more.
• Perks@Work discounts platform, wellbeing centre and much more.
• Reward and recognition programme.
• £500 award employee referral scheme.
• Discretionary annual performance bonus.

One of my proudest achievements at GBS is being part of the Admissions department's growth and improvement. Over the past three years, I've seen the team expand from 30 to 90 employees. Being involved in shaping processes and ensuring admissions are robust and high-quality has been incredibly rewarding. It’s exciting to see how much we’ve accomplished as a team and how far we’ve come. — Barbara Vargas (Professional Services Employee)