Senior Admissions Assistant

Newcastle University; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent benefits

Generous holiday package

Pension schemes

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Job summary

Newcastle University is seeking a highly motivated Admissions Assistant to process postgraduate and undergraduate applications, make selection decisions, and maintain records for a busy, internationally focused admissions service.

You will develop expertise in entry requirements and handle enquiries from global applicants, working to deliver excellent customer experiences while meeting peak workload periods, especially August–September.

Qualifications

• Educated to A Level or equivalent.
• Degree level education or equivalent or appropriate combination of relevant qualifications and demonstrable transferrable experience is desirable.
• Experience in student admissions or related HE sector desirable.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and numeracy.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational support in the field of student recruitment and admissions.
• Maintain accurate records relating to prospective students, admissions and student recruitment.
• Communicate with prospective students and their representatives, providing prompt and accurate information, advice and admissions decisions, and delivering an excellent customer experience.
• Contribute to ongoing initiatives in support of continuous improvement in process and policy.
• Maintain knowledge of prospective students, recruitment partners, and HE systems.

Skills

Customer service

Communication

Organisational skills

Attention to detail

IT skills

Teamwork

Education

A Level or equivalent

Degree level or equivalent

Experience in HE admissions desirable

Tools

Digital systems (University databases)

Job description

Salary: £29,588.00 per annum with progression to £31,236.00

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 25 September 2026

The Role

We are seeking to recruit a highly motivated and enthusiastic individuals to work in our Admissions Teams at Newcastle University. There is one full time open ended post and one full time fixed term until 30th July 2027.

The role involves handling enquiries and applications from students from across the globe. You will be processing applications for postgraduate and/or undergraduate programmes - making selection decisions on applications, maintaining admission records, generating appropriate correspondence and responding to applicant and academic selectors’ enquiries.

You will be required to develop an expert understanding of university entry requirements and qualifications from UK and International applicants. Previous experience of student recruitment and admissions is desirable. You will have excellent written and verbal communication skills and a commitment to deliver an outstanding customer experience in an internationally-focused environment. You will be numerate, and possess strong IT skills. You will have experience of working within a busy, high-volume customer focused service, and be able to work accurately with outstanding attention to detail.

Please note that leave may be restricted during periods of peak workload for student recruitment and admissions. The main peak period is August – September.

Key Accountabilities

• Providing operational support in the field of student recruitment and admissions. This will include customer relationship activity and/or admissions decision making and processing
• Developing and maintaining effective working relationships with: prospective students, recruitment partners and other external stakeholders; and with colleagues across recruitment, admissions, academic units and central services
• Communicating with prospective students and their representatives, providing prompt and accurate information, advice and admissions decisions, and delivering an excellent customer experience
• Maintaining accurate records relating to prospective students, admissions and student recruitment
• Contributing to ongoing initiatives in support of continuous improvement in process and policy
• Developing a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of prospective students, recruitment partners, and global higher education systems and qualifications
• Maintaining operational systems and processes and ensuring compliance with policy and procedures
• Provide guidance, training and support to colleagues
• Contribute to the effective and efficient running of the service through a collaborative team approach, providing assistance to colleagues as appropriate

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Ability to work both independently and flexibly as part of a multi-disciplinary team. Ability to use initiative and prioritise own workload in a dynamic environment
• Ability to build and maintain strong internal and external working relationships, and to work in a confidential and discrete manner
• Proven experience of working in a busy, high volume, customer focused environment
• Strong attention to detail with a commitment to data accuracy and integrity. Ability to work quickly and accurately to strict deadlines
• Excellent IT skills and the ability to work with a range of digital systems. Experience of using large digital systems to input data, maintain records, extract information and produce documents and reports
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including those relating to tact and discretion, and the ability to relate to, and interact with, persons with diverse cultural backgrounds
• Ability to assimilate a wide range of, sometimes complex, information and provide support and advice to prospective students, staff and stakeholders as appropriate. This will include the ability to interpret and apply knowledge of a range of policies, procedures, regulatory and legislative matters
• Experience of student admissions or related areas in the HE sector or a comparable business environment is desirable.

Attributes and Behaviour

Communicating

• Is factually correct and gives consistent verbal and non- verbal messages
• Tailors content of communication to the audience, changing style, tone and format appropriately
• Clear and concise

Planning and Organising

• Effective at managing a variable and heavy workload
• Plans workload in and tasks in a systematic way
• Ensures that all activities are completed on time
• Uses own and others’ time effectively

Team Working

• Respects the expertise and contribution of others even if own opinion is different
• Shares relevant and useful information with others
• Keeps other team members up to date with progress
• Willing to help others and share workloads
• Supportive of team decisions
• Asks others’ opinion

Delivering Services

• Demonstrates high energy and commitment to the delivery of excellent service
• Knows and understands customer needs in terms of area output
• Has a positive attitude for doing things better
• Pays attention to detail

Gathering Information

• Gathers relevant information and facts
• Keeps up to date with University issues
• Is wary of assuming things
• Has an eye for detail, spotting errors and ensuring accuracy of information

Qualifications

• Educated to A Level or equivalent
• Educated to Degree level or equivalent or an appropriate combination of relevant qualifications and demonstrable transferrable experience is desirable.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Senior Admissions Assistant • Newcastle, GB