University Access Officer (West Midlands)

Salary: £26,227.50 per annum

Closing Date: Thursday 21st May, midday

Reporting to: Programme Manager

Contract: Permanent, full‑time.

Job Location: Birmingham, Sandwell & the Black Country. As this job is based in up to 4 schools each week and regular travel is required, a full UK driver's license is advantageous.

Interviews: From Tuesday 2nd June 2026

Start date: Monday 17th August 2026

About the organisation

The Access Project is an education charity; we believe that every young person can make the most of education, unlocking their potential and creating a fairer society. Our mission is to support students from under-resourced backgrounds to access top universities, through a focus on mentoring in combination with tuition and/or coaching. We work with them to make good applications, get the grades and transition to university. The programme combats educational inequality and improves social mobility by raising students’ grades and supporting them to understand the pathway to a top university. Young people on our programme are 50% more likely to place at a top university compared to statistically similar students.

Safeguarding Statement

The Access Project is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Our safeguarding system is underpinned by a range of policies and procedures which encourage and promote safe working practice across the organisation.

Why work at The Access Project

People who work at The Access Project are motivated by the desire to create a fairer society. We all play an active part in achieving the mission to help students from under-resourced backgrounds access top universities. At The Access Project, we’re a friendly, collaborative, supportive and inclusive team, with passionate people working together in Delivery, Sales and Partnerships, Strategy, Finance and Operations to achieve our mission. The vision of our people strategy is to enable and inspire all employees to achieve, grow, succeed and thrive. We regularly have opportunities for people to share their ideas in various working groups, generating strong teamwork across the organisation. We value every individual who works at The Access Project, and we have a wide range of benefits that make this a rewarding place to work. In our last staff engagement survey, over 90% said their ideas and opinions count.

Our values

• Empowerment: We support students and our people to develop the skills and knowledge to accomplish their goals.
• Courage: We encourage our students and our people to be authentic, innovative and ambitious in order to reach their full potential and deliver our mission.
• Impact: We evolve our programmes through an evidence-led approach, supporting our students to achieve their best outcomes.
• Inclusion: We respect and value individuality and engage diverse voices to achieve our mission.
• Ownership: We hold ourselves accountable in all our actions and efforts. We ask “What can I do to improve my results?”

About the role

This vacancy is for a University Access Officer to work in a cluster of up to 4 schools across Birmingham, Sandwell and the Black Country, between Monday to Thursday, and working from home on Fridays. Our schools are shown on a map of The Access Project schools on our website.

The University Access Officer works with school staff at all levels, volunteer tutors and coaches, and with the rest of The Access Project’s team to ensure that the delivery of our programmes is optimised.

Role responsibilities

• Work directly with students, mentoring in an impactful, professional and safe manner.
• Engage with school staff, your Programme Manager, and students in school to ensure that you have fully enrolled cohorts across all programmes.
• Coordinate the delivery of the programmes across allocated schools, acting as the sole on‑site representative of The Access Project.
• Assess student progress towards being able to make successful university applications.
• Upload information onto the Salesforce database in a timely manner (training is provided).
• Work proactively with school staff to ensure their cooperation and timely completion of activities, enabling effective communication to contribute to the smooth running of the programmes.
• Present at termly school meetings with Senior Management to report on our programmes progress.
• Support the wider team by attending university site visits which take place on occasional Saturdays and weekday evenings (paid time off is provided).
• Any other responsibilities reasonably deemed necessary by The Access Project’s Programme Managers or Director.

Schools with tuition and coaching in their model:

• All the above responsibilities, with the addition of:
• Match students for 1:1 tuition with volunteer tutors.
• Monitor student attendance to 1:1 tutorials and/or coaching sessions and devise innovative solutions to encourage attendance.
• Manage volunteer tutor attendance to tutorials through weekly monitoring systems.
• Monitor the impact of tutorials and intervene as appropriate.
• Build and manage relationships with volunteer tutors to ensure they have a positive experience of the programme.
• Manage students’ relationships with volunteer tutors through monitoring of systems, emailing and making phone calls.
• Work collaboratively with Tuition & Coaching team to escalate attendance issues with students and schools and coordinate the effective delivery of coaching and group tuition offers.

Essential:

• Demonstrable skills in mentoring groups of students and 1:1.
• Excellent organisation and time management skills, with the ability to deliver multiple programmes and projects at pace and manage administration accurately.
• Able to communicate and influence impactfully at all levels.
• Resilient and adaptable.
• Able to work towards and meet deadlines with a problem-solving mindset.
• Able to effectively time manage and actively prioritise.
• Able to work independently, in busy school environments, with an ownership mindset.
• Skilled in building and maintaining excellent relationships with young people and school staff/leaders.
• Good sense of attention to detail.
• Can demonstrate an ability to take action to keep young people safe and raise concerns.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in a multi-site environment.

Training and Development

You will be provided with regular monthly training so that you can develop your skills and succeed in the role. There is support from your line manager (Programme Manager), as well as guidance from more senior University Access Officers and the wider University Access Officer team across The Access Project. There are opportunities for progression, including several additional responsibility roles which are available for University Access Officers to apply for once they have completed their probationary period successfully.

Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave p.a. (pro rata) plus Bank Holidays and 5 Winter closure days.
• PerkBox – offering shopping discounts, gym memberships, holidays, learning and much more.
• Employee Assistance Programme, a 24-hour helpline for staff.
• Online Medical assistance – access 24/7 to a qualified GP within minutes, with referrals and prescriptions available same-day.
• Interest-free travelcard loans.
• Travel-allowance for expenses over £10 per day, where applicable.
• Cyclescheme loans.
• 2 paid Volunteering Days.
• 1 paid Wellbeing Day.
• Employer’s pensions contributions (3%).

The Access Project welcomes requests for flexible working arrangements.

Learning and Development opportunities.

Equal Opportunities Statement

The Access Project aspires to represent the diversity of communities across the UK at all levels of the organisation and proactively takes steps to support this. We are committed to creating a culture where the experiences and voices of people from marginalised backgrounds are listened to and valued; where their skills are appreciated; and where their talents are nurtured and encouraged. The Access Project is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. If you believe you have most of the skills to fulfil the role we encourage you to apply. Amongst staff at our organisation, there is under-representation of people who are Black, Asian or people from ethnic minority backgrounds, disabled, care-experienced, from low socio-economic backgrounds, and who are LGBTQIA+. We particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience in reference to our mission. We are proud to be a Level 1 Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments, please contact us.

Disclosure of a Criminal Record

The Rehabilitation of Offenders 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order 1986 applies to posts where there is access to children. This means that applicants for employment that involves working with children and young people must disclose anything listed in their criminal record, with the exception of protected cautions and convictions. All Disclosures are carried out in the strictest confidence and are made only in connection with your application for employment and for no other purpose. The application for a DBS check at a level appropriate to the job role will be activated before your first day of work. Members of staff who are not eligible for a standard or enhanced DBS check are required to undertake a basic DBS check only in line with legal requirements. If you are selected for appointment to the role, you will be subject to this procedure.

Present or most recent employment

It is important to give full information, including the organisation you work in, or most recent employment if not currently working, full dates, address and explanation of any gaps in employment.

References

All appointments are subject to verification of employment and suitability of the candidate for the post applied for. We reserve the right to approach any previous employer for a reference and to verify their identity but will request your permission before doing so. If you have experience of working with children, please include this as one of your references.

Education, Qualifications and Training

Ensure you give all the information requested, including dates, establishment where you studied and make clear the level of any examinations e.g., GCSE, GCE 'O' Level or 'A' Level or equivalents etc. and the grades you obtained. Also include any skills training you have had. You will be required to produce original documentary evidence of any qualifications relevant to the job, and these will be detailed on the person specification. Proof of qualification is required before the appointment is confirmed.

Contact information

Please direct any queries to our email via: info@theaccessproject.org.uk For further information about The Access Project, please see our website via: www.theaccessproject.org.uk or contact The Access Project on 020 4513 5999. Please ensure that you complete all the application form questions to enable us to shortlist your application for an interview, otherwise it will be disqualified automatically. Resumes and CVs will not be considered.