Start Date: September 2025 Salary: £40,000 - £47,500 Plus excellent benefits including healthcare, contributory pension scheme, free gym membership and lunch during term time This is an exciting new role featuring two distinct but related areas of responsibility in support of our community. On average, three days per week will be spent supporting bursary holders at King's, with the remaining two days per week spent bolstering King's commitment to broadening access to all independent schools for care experienced and vulnerable children (CEVC) in collaboration with the Royal National Children's Springboard Foundation (RNCSF).
The bursaries and access officer will play a key role in ensuring that every bursary recipient at King's feels integrated into school life, supported in their wellbeing, and able to thrive academically and personally. They will be instrumental in identifying and implementing strategies that help pupils from all backgrounds reach their full potential.
They will also have an important ambassadorial role in representing the school in external environments, including primary and secondary schools in the maintained sector, local authorities, and other independent day and boarding schools.
Job Description King's bursaries - approx. 3 days per week Working closely with tutors, pastoral staff, the admissions team, and the EDI team, the bursaries and access officer will have responsibility for:
Growing the King's bursary applicant pipeline - develop relationships with local primary schools and community organisations to raise awareness of bursary opportunities, identifying pupils who could benefit from an academically ambitious environment and engaging and supporting their families
- support the delivery of outreach programmes such as Connect, helping to foster early engagement with King's among pupils from a wide range of backgrounds
- represent the school at external events and networking forums, acting as an ambassador for King's commitment to widening access and helping families navigate the independent school admissions landscape
- work with colleagues in Admissions and EDI to refine a contextualised admissions framework, ensuring that applications are assessed holistically and that the school can identify potential in pupils from diverse life experiences
Supporting pupils and families directly - act as the primary point of contact for families seeking financial assistance and support them through the admissions and application process
- act as the primary point of contact for families currently at King's receiving fee remission for queries or concerns relating to bursary awards
- provide appropriate administrative and logistical support to families receiving bursaries and other financial aid, ensuring pupil wellbeing is monitored and pupil experience is supported through the school's policies
- liaise with tutors and pastoral staff to address individual and group wellbeing concerns for bursary pupils
- liaise with tutors and other relevant staff to identify and assist bursary holders in need of additional academic support or who are under-engaged with our co-curricular programme
- where needed, ensure there is a safety net for pupils should problems arise during the school holidays
Supporting school processes - working with the EDI team, champion socio-economic diversity within the school and proactively suggest ways to improve the experience of bursary pupils
- work closely with the admissions team to optimise application and bursary processes, improving accessibility for all pupils and a system that enables them to realise their potential
- collaborate with the EDI team to track trends related to bursary holders and implement solutions to enhance the wellbeing of bursary holders with minoritised identities
- collaborate with the higher education and careers teams to support the transition of bursary holders to university or the workplace
- collaborate with the head of alumni engagement to maintain good links with alumni who were bursary recipients and build a programme for their continued engagement with the school
- organise training for tutors and other key pastoral staff on issues connected to the safeguarding and welfare of pupils receiving bursaries
- share necessary information with the Development office about the impact of our bursary programme and support the development of coherent impact assessment metrics
Broadening access to the sector - approx. 2 days per week This externally-facing element of the role will involve working in partnership with the Royal National Children's Springboard Foundation (RNCSF) and, while based at King's, will work to support pathways into all independent day and boarding schools for care experienced and vulnerable children (CEVC).
Primary responsibilities for this component of the role will be: Working with schools - work with independent day and boarding schools in Greater London to build and maintain interest in offering priority access via bursaries to CEVC
- visit schools to maintain contact with care-experienced children who are in receipt of bursaries and liaising with the admissions and pastoral teams of those schools to understand the experiences of CEVC in receipt of bursaries
Working with applicants - support eligible young people with applications, working with local authority and charity referral partners to review potential candidate pack details, arrange for additional information (e.g. from carers, schools etc.) and support initial interviews or home visits as needed
- act in support of all aspects of the pupil/school relationships surrounding each application
Working with Local Authorities - broker funding contributions from LAs towards boarding placements where available
- encourage more LAs to identify eligible children in a systematic way
- collaborate with LA peers to develop models for evaluating use of the scheme in supporting young people
Assessing impact - develop models for evaluating the impact of schools' partnership work in support of RNCSF's aims, such as programmes supporting 11+ success or transitioning CEVC to university.
Person Specification The ideal candidate may have prior experience working in schools, but the role may also suit someone with a background in social or charitable work, community health, local government etc. who is passionate about fostering inclusivity in educational pathways.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS - Start date: September 2025
- Salary: £40,000 - £47,500 per annum
- 40 hours a week, Monday - Friday 8.30am - 5.00pm with 30 mins unpaid lunch break.
- Term time including INSET days only, plus an additional 15 days
- Contributory pension scheme
- Programme of health benefits
- Free lunch in the Dining Hall during term-time
- Membership of the King's Sports Club
- Face-to-face interaction is considered essential to the pastoral nature of this role, with working hours spent either on-site at King's, visiting families or LAs, or - from time to time - at the RNCSF offices in central London.
- Some flexibility will be required to attend events outside usual working hours (e.g. open mornings, admissions events, new parent welcome evenings etc). Note that these might take place on Saturdays or weekday evenings in exchange for time off in lieu.
Closing date: Monday 21st July 2025 at 9am 1st round interviews (online): Monday 28th July 2025 Final round interviews (in school): Wednesday 30th July 2025 This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974.
King's is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. Applicants will be required to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service. King's College School is fully committed to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusivity in its recruitment of teaching and support staff.