AddressADMISSIONS ASSISTANT at The Manchester
Grammar School
Information Pack
Completed applications should be emailed to recruitment@mgs.org
Closing date: 9am Friday 22 March 2024
Term-time Admissions Assistant (from September 2024). Gap Year graduates will be
considered. This is initially a 12-month contract for the 2024/25 academic year.
The Admissions Department
The MGS Admissions Department oversees all areas of the admissions process to the school.
This includes liaising with prospective parents and feeder schools, processing applications,
organising and running candidate assessments, managing the results and offer process, and
coordinating candidate transition to the school.
The department consists of three full-time members of staff; the Director of Admissions,
Admissions Manager, and Admissions Officer. In addition, there is a term-time Admissions
Assistant and a part-time Principal Assessor for the Junior School.
The Admissions Assistant is line managed by the Admissions Manager.
Role Overview
Assessments take place throughout the year where up to 22 boys can be assessed each day. A
key part of the Admissions Assistant role is to provide support as required with these
assessment days and other general office and administrative duties.
Good communication skills and the ability to get on with people are essential. In order to fulfil
this role, the successful candidate will need to liaise with current and prospective pupils and
parents, as well as school teaching and non-teaching staff. Attention to detail, ability to
maintain confidentiality and a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office is essential.
Training will be provided on any other systems including the school’s Management
Information System, iSAMS.
Main Responsibilities
The main responsibilities of the role include the following as well as any other reasonable
requests to enhance the day-to-day running of the department:
- Accurate data transfer from applications to the school’s management information
- Preparing and posting bursary application forms.
- Maintaining up-to-date files of application and assessment documents across all year
- Updating school details in the management information system.
- Assisting with greeting candidates before assessments and taking their photographs.
- Completing daily assessment day administration (e.g. sending reminder emails) and
- Preparing the assessment rooms and required equipment.
- Maintaining an up-to-date record of each candidate’s progress through the admissions
- Distributing admissions documentation to other areas of school as required (e.g. bursary
- Assisting assessment staff where necessary.
- Following-up any unreturned documentation.
- Escorting candidates around school (e.g. to the toilet).
- Sending reference requests.
- Posting prospectus requests.
- Franking post.
- Preparing information packs for Open Events.
- Assisting where required on Open Events.
Terms and conditions of service include the following:
The post will be a fixed term contract for the 2024/25 academic year. The position will be
reviewed at the end of the year, depending on the needs of the school.
The post holder will be part of the school non-teaching support staff and will report directly
to the Admissions Manager. In addition, the Bursar has a responsibility for all support staff
and will be the point of contact for any contractual matters.
This is a term time plus 2 weeks post (38 weeks per year). The post holder will work from
8.00am until 4.00pm each day with a one hour (unpaid) lunch break. We are happy to discuss
the flexibility around these hours at interview, subject to the requirements of the role being
met.
Term time staff must not take any holidays during the school term time – they are paid for a
proportion of the school holiday period to account for their holiday pay.
The salary for the post will be based on a full time salary of £22,869, which will be subject to
a pro rata salary calculation.to reflect the hours and weeks worked, resulting in a payable
salary of £19,218.
How to apply
Further information about the School is available on our website.
Applicants should complete an application form: this can be downloaded from the vacancies
section of the School’s website, and emailed to recruitment@mgs.org. The closing date is
9.00am on Friday 22 March 2024, and interviews will be held shortly after.
The Manchester Grammar School is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome
applications from all sections of the community. We are committed to safeguarding and
promoting the welfare of children and successful applicants will be required to undergo child
protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Both our Safer Recruitment policy, and Safeguarding and Child Protection policy may be
viewed on our website (click on ‘our policies’ at the bottom of the homepage).
We would like to thank all applicants for their interest in the School and for taking the
time to apply. However, please note that, because of the high volume of applications we
receive, we regret that we are unable to reply individually to each application.
March 2024
JOINING THE NON-TEACHING STAFF AT MGS
Who works at MGS?
All members of staff at MGS work together to serve the interests of our pupils. The School
does its best to provide a good working environment for its entire staff and we are all
responsible for creating a happy and purposeful working atmosphere.
Our network of around 100 non-teaching staff ranges from administrators, librarians, cleaners,
grounds team, nurses, secretaries, caterers, technicians, etc. The roles of our non-teaching staff
are vital in ensuring the smooth day to day running of our School and each individual enjoys
working as part of a small team which work well together and take part in a number of joint
activities for the benefit of pupils. For example, in recent years several members of the non-
teaching staff have joined teachers in school camps and visits with the pupils. We aim to
encourage professional development for all staff, by providing training in the school or sending
people on courses elsewhere. A number of staff have obtained promotions recently.
Where did MGS come from?
The School was founded in 1515, by Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, to prepare able boys
from the Manchester area, regardless of their background, to go to Oxford or Cambridge. We
take our motto Sapere Aude (Dare to be Wise) as meaningthat we must challenge our pupils,
and expect to be challenged by them. The owl is the symbol of the School – not because of its
association with wisdom, but because those who sought to make a heraldic crest for Bishop
Hugh Oldham made a pun on the old Lancashire pronunciation of “Owldom”.
For most of our life we were situated in the centre of Manchester, in Long Millgate, the site
now occupied by Chetham’s School of Music. In 1931 we moved out to a new, purpose-built
28 acre site in the Fallowfield area of the city, adjacent to the halls of residence of The
University of Manchester.
Where are we going?
The Foundation Bursary Appeal has been the most successful appeal of its kind held by any
school. Its aim is to ensure that a place at MGS is available to any boy who passes our entrance
examination, regardless of his race, colour and creed, and regardless of his social or economic
standing. As a result of the Appeal and other measures, MGS is now independent of
government funding for free places. Our aim is to be a pure meritocracy and our results are
among the best in the country.
Do pupils want to come?
Boys come from a vast area, which can stretch from Sheffield to Blackpool. We are the largest
independent day school in the UK, with around 1500 pupils in the School. Recruitment remains
very healthy despite intense competition locally, and the 200+ boys who join the School each
year come in equal numbers from maintained and independent primary schools.
