Education Appeals Officer

Overview

We have an excellent opportunity for an Education Appeals Officer to join us on a secondment/fixed-term contract basis for up to 12 months. In this role, you'll provide an administrative service to the Education Appeals Team and support the Clerks and Independent Appeal Panel Members. You will deal with queries from Parents, Schools and the Admissions and Transport Team. Using the Appeals Software system, you will also schedule appeals, arrange Panels for hearings, collate relevant paperwork and circulate evidence.

About us

The Education Appeals Team facilitates over 1,000 school admission appeals a year for parents of primary and secondary school age children who have been refused the school of their choice. Admission appeals are heard by a Panel made up of three volunteer members of the public who consider the parent’s reasons for appeal and the school’s refusal case before deciding to uphold or dismiss the appeal. Our small Team, working within Legal Services, is committed to supporting our customers and colleagues and ensuring education appeal hearings are fair and transparent and administered in compliance with legal procedures.

About the role

The Education Appeals Officer will:

• Provide a specialist, administrative service to the Education Appeals Team
• Support the Independent Appeal Panel members and Clerks
• Undertake assigned work to ensure compliance with legal process and timelines subject to supervision
• Deal with straight-forward process queries from parents, schools and the Admissions & Transport Team and provide client care to all interested parties

• Deal with all people confidently, sensitively and diplomatically, escalating challenging situations appropriately

• Collate, enter and process appeals information using the appropriate processes and systems
• Assist with maintaining the appeals data system and scheduling and arranging hearings
• Assist with preparing and distributing appeals documentation
• Validate and process invoices, expense claims and Clerks’ time sheets

Fixed

As a ‘fixed’ worker, you’ll spend most of your time in the same location, which will likely be a fixed office or location where your role is performed. Typically, you’ll be based in the same location as the rest of your team, because you provide a particular service from that fixed location or need access to information there.

About you

We are looking for someone who is highly motivated and proactive with a positive “can do” attitude and the ability to work, at times, under pressure.  The applicant should:

• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Be IT literate, able to use Microsoft applications and confident about learning to use specialist appeals software
• Be able to deal calmly and politely with difficult situations involving members of the public and staff
• Be organised, numerate and accurate, and maintain attention to detail
• Work well with others as part of a Team.

Please see the attached job summary for further information. 

Other information

The role is predominantly office-based in Aylesbury, with opportunities to work from home.

Number of positions available: 1

Interview date: To be confirmed as soon as possible following the advert closing date. 

If you would like to have an informal conversation with the recruiting manager, please contact: Louise Thompson at [email protected]

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

a fair and inclusive culture

• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

 

About the Business Unit

The Assistant Chief Executive directorate is central to Buckinghamshire Council’s journey to establish itself as one of the best councils in the country. With a clear focus on service improvement through transformation and a drive to build better relationships with the local community, the directorate is fast-paced; but extremely rewarding. Our teams are not only proactively delivering on projects and plans but also reacting to developing situations. If you are ambitious, innovative, and would relish the opportunity to influence change - a role within our service area could be your next career move.

The team includes exciting areas of work, including a brand new localities model – delivering 16 community boards across the county to make it easy for our residents to engage with us as we work together to plan for the future. Other teams include our Policy and Communications and Legal and Democratic Services teams – innovating the way we communicate with our colleagues, Members and the local community, and role-modelling best practice through policy, planning and legal services. If you think you can help us achieve our goals, and want to be a part of this exciting journey, we would love to hear from you!

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/