College Tutor- Art and Design in City of London

Company: William College

Location: ON-SITE, Stratford, London, UK

Reports to: Student Experience Manager

Department: Student Experience

Working Schedule: 9AM to 5PM, Monday to Friday

Employment Type: Full-Time, On Campus

Salary: £30,000 - £36,000 per annum

About the Role: The Student Success Tutor is a specialist academic support and progression role. The postholder helps students understand academic expectations, navigate assessment processes, interpret feedback and build the independent learning skills that higher education requires. The role is the College's first line of identification for academic performance risk: the postholder monitors submission and outcome data, intervenes early with students who are falling behind, agrees structured development plans with them, and reports emerging patterns to managers, the Data Working Group and academic committees.

Responsibilities:

• Direct Student Mentorship & Engagement
• Provide structured one-to-one academic support, in person and remotely, guiding students on the support available and how to use it.
• Engage with students' interests and enthusiasm, building academic confidence in students who may have been out of formal education for some years.
• Support students to build relationships with peers and staff, fostering a sense of belonging in the College community.
• Enable students to take responsibility for, and become partners in, their learning, academic progression and achievement, working towards independence.
• Deliver group workshops, assessment clinics and skills sessions tailored to programme requirements and to the assessment calendar.
• Support transition into higher education study at induction and particularly through the early weeks.
• Academic & Learning Support
• Help students understand assessment briefs, marking criteria, rubrics and academic conventions, and plan their approach to a piece of work.
• Support students through the submission cycle, including proactive contact ahead of deadlines by telephone, email, SMS and VLE notification, to maximise first submission and resit submission rates.
• Follow up promptly with students who have not submitted, establish the reason, and agree the practical next step (i.e. resubmission, extenuating circumstances, or referral).
• Support students to read, interpret and act on feedback from module tutors, converting general comments into specific changes the student can make in their next piece of work.
• Provide resubmission and resit support, focused on the student's understanding of where the work fell short and how to approach it differently.
• Provide advice on study skills, academic writing, reading and workload management, particularly across bunched assessment deadlines.
• Help students locate and use appropriate learning resources, referring to the Learning Resources Co-ordinator where needed.
• Develop appropriate methods and resources for teaching and learning support in relation to lectures, tutorials, and seminars, including online classes.
• Help students find appropriate learning resources.
• Intervention & Progress Monitoring
• Act as the first point of identification for risk to a student's academic performance, using submission data, results, engagement indicators and direct contact.
• Analyse the underlying reason for a student's difficulty and agree proportionate action; resolving what sits within the role and referring promptly where it does not.
• Agree and maintain Academic Development Plans with students whose academic engagement or performance needs to improve: specific, time-bound, owned by the student, reviewed at agreed intervals, and recorded.
• Work with academic colleagues and Registry to identify and contact all students who have not submitted assessments, and support them back into the assessment cycle.
• Apply working knowledge of partner academic regulations including extenuating circumstances, deferral, resubmission, appeals and progression regulations so that students receive accurate advice on their options and deadlines.
• Support students returning from interruption, deferral or extended absence to re-engage with their studies.
• Contribute the academic perspective to student support meetings and intervention processes led by other teams.
• Operations, Administration & Risk Management
• Maintain accurate, current records of all interactions, plans and outcomes, handling personal and sensitive information in accordance with the College's Data Protection Policy and UK GDPR.
• Analyse submission, pass, fail, resit and progression data at student, cohort and module level, identifying patterns, gaps and emerging risks.
• Produce regular and ad hoc reports for the Student Experience Manager, the Data Working Group and academic committees, presenting findings clearly and drawing out what should change as a result.
• Maintain records of SST activity, reach and take-up sufficient to evidence the impact of the support model, including for partner university and regulatory reporting.
• Recognise and report unusual academic, administrative or IT matters that would benefit from a preventative fix.
• Work closely with Registry, the Wellbeing Team, Student Support and the Attendance and Intervention Team to deliver a coordinated support system rather than parallel conversations.
• Be proactive in identifying and escalating risks to the student experience, to academic outcomes, or to the College's reputation, through the appropriate line management route.
• Undertake other duties commensurate with the grade and purpose of the post, as may reasonably be requested by the line manager.

Education and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree

Experience & Knowledge:

• Essential
• Experience of providing academic, learning or study skills support to students in higher education, further education, or a comparable educational setting.
• Working knowledge of higher education academic processes, including assessment, submission, resubmission, extenuating circumstances, progression and appeals.
• Experience delivering academic skills workshops or group support sessions.
• Ability to explain assessment criteria, academic conventions and tutor feedback in plain language, and to help students turn feedback into specific action.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build rapport and trust.
• Ability to monitor student progress and provide tailored academic advice or interventions.
• Experience maintaining accurate records in line with data protection regulations.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively across academic and professional services teams.
• Proficiency in using Microsoft Office and digital tools for online teaching or student engagement.
• Desirable
• Experience in a tutoring, academic adviser or personal academic support role in higher education.
• Experience of supporting Foundation Year students, or others entering higher education without formal qualifications.
• Understanding barriers to student engagement, such as mental health, disability, or financial pressures.

Benefits:

• Annual leave (7.2 weeks)
• Workplace pension scheme.
• Company Sick Pay.
• Statutory maternity and paternity pay.
• Employee Assistance Programme (HA Wisdom Wellbeing)
• Virtual GP access (Livi)
• 'Speak Up Service' - confidential support service to report any workplace concerns
• Specialist physical and mental wellbeing support services with 24/7 confidential counselling support (Wisdom)
• Specialist menopause support, including online CBT (Wisdom)
• Financial, legal and medical advice services provided (Wisdom)
• Life & Leadership coaching (Wisdom)
• Financial coaching (MUNNY)
• Discounts and perks, offering savings on shopping, activities and more (Bright Exchange)
• Career development and training opportunities.
• Training and self-development opportunities.