16+ Admissions Officer

Highgate School; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

Highgate School is seeking an Admissions Lead to oversee the admissions process for Sixth Form applicants. The ideal candidate will possess strong administrative, communication, and customer service skills, ensuring families have a positive experience. This role offers a hybrid working model and a competitive salary.

Benefits

Generous holiday allowance of 33 days

Complimentary lunch provided

Access to sports facilities

AVIVA workplace pension scheme

Support for family commitments

Qualifications

• Excellent administrative, communication and customer service skills.
• Highly digitally literate and able to embrace new technologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead Admissions to the Sixth Form at Highgate.
• Guide families of 16+ applicants through the admissions process.
• Ensure a positive and inclusive experience for all prospective families.

Skills

Administrative skills

Communication skills

Customer service skills

Digital literacy

Job description

• Job Type: Full time or 4 days per week, permanent, 8am-5pm, hybrid working model
• Salary: £32,000 (£37,120 if full pension flex benefit is utilised)

This is an exciting role as you will be leading Admissions to the Sixth Form at Highgate, working closely with families of 16+ applicants, guiding them through the process.

You will have excellent administrative, communication and customer service skills that will enable all prospective families to enjoy a positive and inclusive experience of the school whether their applications are successful or not. As a supportive and reflective practitioner, you will work closely with colleagues across the team and ensure that customer service standards are continually improved. Calm and organised, you will be a people-person with a flexible, pro-active and can-do approach.

In addition, you will be highly digitally literate, embrace the benefits of new technologies, and enjoy further developing your skills.

The Department

The fast-paced and dynamic Admissions team is responsible for leading and co-ordinating the admission of pupils to Highgate’s over-subscribed Pre-Prep, Junior and Senior Schools, work which is crucial for the ongoing success of the school. Led by the Head of Admissions, the team consists of six members who each have clear responsibilities yet work collaboratively as a team. With four formal entry points, the team’s primary focus is to develop positive relationships with prospective parents and pupils through designing and running a comprehensive admissions and induction process. We work closely with the Communications team as well as the leadership teams across all three schools.

I really enjoy working in an environment which is focused on education and wellbeing. And the kids are great!”

I really enjoy working in an environment which is focused on education and wellbeing. And the kids are great!”

— New member of support staff

Job Description

Person Specification

Location |Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.

Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered – 26% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 16% of this as additional non-pensionable salary, employees contribute a minimum of 5%.

Personal development |Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.

Leisure facilities |Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).

Holidays | Generous holiday allowance of 33 days (including bank holidays) for full-time staff. Most holidays will be taken during school holiday periods.

Lunch |A complimentary lunch including hot meals, sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit and dessert.

Help with sustainable travel |Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.

Family-friendly policies |Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.

Working at Highgate

A culture of community, kindness and belonging

Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.

Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.

Following a visit from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in September 2024 to assess Highgate’s regulatory compliance and school standards, we are pleased to share the inspection findings, which reports compliance in all five areas and a ‘significant strength’ in our teaching expertise.

Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.

The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.

We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.

More details about working at Highgate can be found here:

As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.

Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.

As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.

Application procedure

• Closing Date: 2nd June 2025
• First round interviews: w/c 9th June 2025
• Second round interviews: w/c 16th June 2025

Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.

We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams,and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staffand pupilswillfeel a sense of belonging and willthrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.

Safeguarding

As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. Ifin the course ofcarrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment.Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.

Please read before you apply

Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of childrenand applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities. DBS Privacy Policy

Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e.filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not befiltered,prior to the date of the interview. DBS Code of Practice

In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.