About Nudge Education Online
Nudge Education Online (NEO) is a fully online alternative provision for learners aged 11 to 18, launching in September 2026 under Nudge Education Ltd. The first intake in September 2026 is a Year 9 and Year 10 cohort only; further year groups open progressively as the school grows.
NEO is built for young people who have been unable to access mainstream education — learners experiencing emotionally based school non-attendance (EBSNA), managing SEMH difficulties, processing the effects of adverse experiences, or whose neurodivergence has not been met inside the conventional system. NEO serves three placement types: full-time placements, short-term and transitional placements, and catch-up tuition routes.
Pedagogy rests on six Cornerstones: Connection, Movement, Creativity, Reflection, Rest, and Nutrition. Teaching runs toward Pearson Edexcel International GCSEs, but qualification is one outcome among several — belonging, self-understanding, and agency matter at least as much.
NEO is pursuing accreditation through the Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS). NEO is not a DfE-registered independent school and is not subject to ISI inspection.
The Role
We are seeking a Head of Science to join Nudge Education Online at its launch. This role is central to the launch recruitment for the school — alongside the Curriculum Lead, you will build the Science offer from first principles, then teach it, refine it, and train colleagues to deliver parts of it alongside you. You will shape how Science is experienced by young people who often arrive with long histories of academic disengagement, anxiety, and the sense that this subject is not for them.
This is a part-time role at 0.5 FTE, designed to scale with the school. The September 2026 intake is a Year 9 and Year 10 cohort only, with the first GCSE cohort sitting examinations in summer 2028. The role combines teaching, curriculum leadership, and practitioner supervision. You will not be alone: you will co-design the curriculum with the Curriculum Lead during launch, teach the specialist parts yourself, and work alongside Nudge Education's trained practitioner workforce who will deliver one-to-one and small-group sessions under your guidance.
Our model is "infrastructure on top of infrastructure" — we layer a specialist curriculum on top of Nudge Education's established relational practitioner network. You are the bridge: a subject expert who can teach Science with depth and care, and who can hold a training role for practitioners who will extend that teaching across the week.
Key Responsibilities
- Curriculum design and subject leadership
- Teaching
- Practitioner training and supervision
- Assessment, progress and external examinations
- Culture, collaboration and professional life
- Safeguarding, safer working and compliance
Person Specification:
Essential qualifications/ experience:
- Undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in Science or a closely related discipline
- Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or equivalent recognised teaching qualification
- Evidence of recent, relevant, subject-specific professional development
- At least three years' successful teaching of Science to GCSE or equivalent
- Experience of curriculum design- including sequencing, scheme-of-work authorship and assessment design.
- Experience of teaching, supporting or working with learners with SEND, SEMH or attendance difficulties.
- Deep subject knowledge extending beyond GCSE level
- Working understanding of KCSIE 2025, the SEND Code of Practice (0-25) and the Equality Act 2010.
- Digital fluency in Google workspace, video conferencing and at least one learning management system.
What We Offer
- A salary in the range of £39,000 – £54,600 FTE (pro-rata at 0.5 FTE: £19,500 – £27,300), within Nudge Education's published pay band framework (Band 4 to Band 5, depending on experience and scope).
- A part-time 0.5 FTE permanent contract from 1 September 2026, with an agreed pattern of days and hours to be confirmed at interview. Pro-rata entitlements under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 apply.
- Workplace pension scheme under automatic enrolment (minimum 3% employer contribution), with scope to discuss enhanced contribution at offer.
- Fully remote working from the UK, with occasional in-person team days held in Nudge Education's offices.
- A genuine induction, a named mentor, and a peer group of Heads of Department who are building this school together.
- Funded continuing professional development in trauma-informed practice, online pedagogy, and subject specialism.
- Access to reflective supervision and wellbeing support.
- A rare opportunity to shape a school from the inside, in a sector that badly needs better.
The closing date for the role is 1st June 2026, with interviews to be held following this date.
You can find the full job description linked here.
