Admissions Manager in Oxford

Main Purpose of Job

The post-holder is responsible for undergraduate and graduate admissions, onboarding and registration. In addition, they act as a Line Manager for the Admissions Assistant (0.6 FTE), and take a leadership role within the Academic Office team. The post-holder will report to the Head of Access and Admissions Support, but will also work closely with the Senior Tutor, Tutor for Graduates, and other members of the Academic Office. The role also involves close contact with academic tutors, subject departments, and central University admissions teams. The structure of the admissions processes are such that Undergraduate Admissions will occupy the majority of the post-holder’s time from October through to January. Graduate Admissions processes take place on a rolling basis across the year, for which the busiest periods generally dovetail with when Undergraduate admissions is less busy. This is a full-time post (37.5 hours per week).

Relationships

• Reports to: Head of Access and Admissions Support
• Responsible to: Senior Tutor
• Line Manager for: Admissions Assistant
• Liaison with: Internal: Tutor for Graduates, all College staff and students, External: Central University administration, Faculties and Departments, applicants.

Main Tasks

• Undergraduate Admissions
  • Take day-to-day responsibility for the College’s Undergraduate admissions processes.
  • Organising the circulation of information to tutors, ensuring interviewers are paid where necessary.
  • Liaising with the University’s Admissions Office, other colleges, and departments, and ensuring compliance with the University’s UG admissions procedures through attendance at relevant training, briefings and meetings.
  • Administration of the undergraduate admissions exercise, including coordinating the December online interviews.
  • Coordinating the work of colleagues to support the admissions process, including the delivery of training and maintenance of training materials.
  • Liaising with the Student Support Coordinator to ensure appropriate adjustments for applicants who have declared a disability.
  • Prepare and dispatch correspondence to candidates at all stages of the admissions process, including invitation to interview, offer letters, and processing of feedback requests.
  • Maintain appropriate contact with prospective applicants and offer-holders answering queries concerning the admissions process, finance and student visas, and liaising with the Head of Access and Admissions Support on complex enquiries.
  • Oversight of post-offer administration including tracking conditional offer fulfilment, processing financial declarations, supporting student visa applications and liaising with colleagues regarding freshers’ domestic requirements.
  • On behalf of the Tutor for Admissions, lead investigations into Stage 1 admissions appeals, prepare outcome letters, and support the College’s response to Stage 2 enquiries.
  • Maintain accurate records of applicants and support the Head of Access and Admissions Support in preparing data for reporting.
• Graduate Admissions
  • Take day-to-day responsibility for the College’s Graduate Admissions processes.
  • Ensure compliance with the University’s Graduate admissions procedures through attendance at relevant training, briefings and meetings.
  • With the support of the Admissions Assistant, liaise with Fellows and the Tutor for Graduates to enable them to assess applications for college places, ensuring that decisions are processed in a timely fashion and logged appropriately.
  • Liaise with offer-holders, preparing letters and tracking conditional offer fulfilment.
  • In liaison with the Student Finance Officer, draft, issue and receive graduate financial declarations.
  • Support the Tutor for Graduates with strategic planning of the admissions process, including responsibility for process reviews and numbers monitoring.
  • Assist in the preparation of contributions to College and University committees.
  • Advise the Tutor for Graduates on complex cases arising from the offer-holder cohort.
  • Liaise with the College’s Accommodation Manager, and as necessary the Head of Wellbeing, regarding graduate room allocation and other domestic requirements.
  • As directed by the Tutor for Graduates, provide occasional administrative support in the delivery of LMH-linked scholarship programmes.
  • Maintain accurate records of applicants and prepare data for reporting.
• Line Management and Office Leadership Team
  • Line Manage the Admissions Assistant, including task and performance management, and facilitating their Professional Development Review.
  • When required, sit on the Admissions Assistant recruitment panel; prepare recruitment and interview materials in consultation with the Panel Chair; prepare feedback to unsuccessful applicants on behalf of the panel.
  • Sit on recruitment panels for other roles as directed by the Senior Tutor or Academic Registrar.
  • Act as the responsible person for an online document submission portal (AMS), including chairing the User Group, liaising with the supplier, delivering training, maintaining documentation, and leading internal discussions in preparation for contract renewals.
• Student On-boarding
  • Coordinate the preparation and delivery of pre-arrival information, registration forms and summer packs to incoming undergraduate and graduate students.
  • Arrange set up, logistics and materials for undergraduate and graduate registration, including local IT support.
• Communications and Events
  • Along with colleagues, update information about admissions on the College website, to ensure that it is current, appropriate and accessible.
  • Oversee appropriate offer-holder communication and support.
  • Support, including by delivering presentations, at large College events such as Open Days and the annual Offer Holder Event.

The post-holder will also be expected to contribute where required to the general workings of the busy Academic Office, for example, with general student administration and academic recruitment.

Selection Criteria

Essential Qualifications and Experience

• A good standard of education, at least to A Level and preferably degree level.
• Administrative experience involving computer-based records, preferably in a related field.
• Experience in providing advice to senior colleagues.
• Knowledge of handling casework within a university context, including the application of policies and/or regulations.
• High standard of IT literacy including familiarity with Microsoft Office, particularly Word and Excel. Some experience of maintaining databases. Training will be provided on University-specific databases and Outlook email as necessary.
• Confidence in compiling and presenting numerical data, often drawn from multiple sources, within written reports and day-to-day correspondence.

Personal Qualities and Abilities

• Good organisational skills, complimenting the ability to prioritise and keep track of multiple tasks.
• Good attention to detail, particularly in the preparation and distribution of correspondence, maintenance of spreadsheets, and preparation of numerical information.
• Ability to format documents, emails, and letters, and to conduct mail merges for both letters and emails.
• Good judgement about when to use initiative and when to consult, including the ability to confidently engage with managers and colleagues to establish scope of authority where this is unclear.
• Able to work effectively during occasional periods of high workload, proactively identify and plan for risk, and confidently lead a team when managing unexpected challenges.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including effective discernment between approaches to deal effectively with people at all levels.
• Excellent communication skills, including both written and spoken English.
• Discretion and the ability to maintain confidentiality.
• The ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in a busy office environment.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the UK higher education system and the University of Oxford.
• Previous experience in supervising others or Line Management.

Terms and Conditions

The salary will be c. £36-40k per annum FTE. This role is to be filled from August 2026. Benefits of working for the College include 37 days holiday (including bank holidays), pro rata for part time appointments, the option to join a University pension scheme and one free meal whilst on duty and the kitchens are open, when the kitchens are closed a meal allowance will be paid. Additional benefits include discounted bus/train travel to commute to work or salary sacrifice bicycle scheme, employee assistance programme, annual flu jab and eye examination, regular staff social events, staff parties and wellbeing activities. Working hours – 37.5 hours per week (normally between 8.30am and 5pm with ½ hour lunch break), with exact working hours to be agreed upon appointment. The successful appointee will manage undergraduate admissions during the Admissions period November-December. Therefore, some flexibility is expected to order to cope with fluctuations in workload and unexpected events. The postholder may be required to support the occasional evening or weekend event, most notably the annual Offer Holder Event. For extended periods of out-of-hours working time off in lieu is granted. All Bank holidays during term time are working days and time-off in lieu is granted; annual leave is not usually permitted during busy admissions periods, particularly for the Undergraduate Admissions round in late November and December. There will be an initial probationary period of four months. Applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

To apply for this position, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button and submit a CV and cover letter indicating why you are applying for the role and how you fit the selection criteria. The closing date for applications is midday on Thursday 2nd July 2026. First interviews are expected to take place during week commencing 13th July 2026.

A principal aim of this College’s Equal Opportunities Policy is to ensure that in the recruitment, selection, training, appraisal, development and promotion of employees, the only consideration must be that the individual best meets, or is likely to meet, the requirements of the programme or course or post. Lady Margaret Hall is committed to provide a learning, working and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all its members are respected, and which is free from prejudice, intimidation and all forms of harassment, including bullying. We seek to ensure that no-one suffers, either directly or indirectly, as a result of discrimination. Lady Margaret Hall has a range of family friendly policies.