Widening Participation Coordinator (GEP Academies)
Widening Participation and Outreach Department
An opportunity has arisen for a full-time appointment in The Widening Participation and Outreach Department (WP & OR) in partnership with Kings College, Guildford and the Guildford Education Partnership Academies (GEP). The role will be based in Kings College, Guildford, four days a week and in the WP & O Department one day a week.
The post holder will be responsible for delivering a sustained programme of information advice and guidance, and aspiration raising activities for students, and their families, from the GEP Academies, who meet widening participation criteria. The post holder will work under the overall direction of the Head of Widening Participation and Outreach at the University of Surreyto ensure that the Institution’s Widening Participation and Outreach Strategy and Access Agreement targets are met.
In addition to the key responsibilities outlined in the Job Purpose, there will be a number of objectives that the role will be expected to meet including, but not limited to, the below:
- Identify students from the GEP who meet WP criteria, with a particular focus on planning support for harder to reach groups such as young carers, children in local authority care, refugees, asylum seekers, and white working class males.
- Work closely with parents and carers of WP students in GEP schools to provide guidance around progression opportunities and to develop initiatives that will help to raise their expectations and aspiration. This may include planning and delivering a sustained programme of information advice and guidance for the parents/carers of WP students from GEP schools.
- Seek to understand the external and internal barriers for students, parents and carers that do not see university as a desirable destination for their children, and find innovative ways of engaging them to find solutions which will help to reduce these barriers.
- Work to build close working relationships with WP GEP students and their parents and carers, in order to foster trust and belief in the support mechanisms offered by the GEP and the University of Surrey.
- Design and deliver widening participation workshops for GEP primary school students, focused on introducing the concept of higher education to a young audience.
- Embed sustained engagement widening participation initiatives across the GEP, using programmes that are already available through the University of Surrey’s WP&O Department as well as developing new initiatives based on research and professional knowledge.
- Plan and deliver support for WP students who are making the transition to university from GEP sixth forms.
- Work with the University of Surrey’s Student Union to develop volunteering opportunities.
- Work with local large employers of graduates to deliver new mentoring schemes
- Develop the use of GEP schools as a community hub for outreach activity.
More information on Kings College Guildford and the GEP Academies can be found by visiting their websites; and