Careers Lead
The Swan School, Oxford, OX2 7WPThis job expired on 30 June 2025 – see similar jobs
Start date details
1st September 2025
Closing date
30 June 2025 at 8am
Date listed
13 June 2025
Job details
Job role
- Other support roles
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Part time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £21,127.00 - £22,807.00 Annually (Actual) 22 hours per week, 39 weeks per year; term time + summer results days
Careers Lead job summary
This is a rare and exciting opportunity to be part of starting an exceptional comprehensive school. As a member of The Swan’s team, you will help to build the foundations of an outstanding school from the ground up.
The Careers Lead is responsible and accountable for the school’s programme of career advice and guidance. It is a senior role that requires the person doing it to have a clear overview of the school’s careers provision and to make sure that the school meets the Gatsby Benchmarks by the end of each academic year.
The careers programme is an essential element of our curriculum, the aims of which are to enable all students to achieve more than they ever believed possible, with equal emphasis on academic success and personal development. The Careers Lead will be crucial in ensuring that this programme addresses the needs of each student and supports them to be successful and expand their horizons.
The Careers Lead will liaise with external partners, such as employers, learning providers and career guidance services, as well as ensuring that the school’s careers provision are coordinated and managed through a stable and embedded programme.
This is a part time role (0.6 FTE) and the exact working pattern can be negotiated to suit the needs of the school and the successful candidate.
What we are looking for
The successful candidate will share our ambitions for our students - you will believe that ALL students have the the right and ability to thrive within a highly academic and well structured school environment. You will relish the challenge of creating a new school that will be different to other comprehensive schools in the city, bringing your ideas about how to make students' experience of school exceptional. You will be a highly motivated team player who is keen to get involved in all aspects of school life and learn new skills. Development opportunities will arise as the school grows.
We are looking for candidates who have experience of delivering careers education in schools and have a clear vision of what excellence looks like. You should have a good knowledge of different careers, education and training pathways including what is required to access them. The successful candidate will be able to interact well with students and to engage proactively with a range of different internal and external stakeholders, including employers, Personal Development Curriculum Lead, universities, etc.
About The Swan School
The Swan School opened in September 2019 as part of the River Learning Trust (RLT). When fully subscribed it will have approximately 1200 students on the roll, of whom around 300 will be in the Sixth Form.
Learning from the most successful approaches at the best schools, The Swan School provides a uniquely challenging and structured experience in a caring and disciplined environment. The ethos is academic; we regard an excellent academic education as the entitlement of all young people, no matter what their background or previous experiences of learning. Students will be inspired and nurtured, acquiring the knowledge and skills to think critically and creatively. They will learn to be confident, resilient and ambitious, and will have high expectations in terms of their own achievements and their contribution to wider society.
Student outcomes at The Swan School are exceptional - our first cohort of GCSE students achieved a Progress 8 score of +0.55, placing The Swan in the highest category of schools across the country. In 2023, the school was graded by OFSTED as outstanding for Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, Leadership and Management, and Sixth Form.
How to apply
If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone about this post, please contact us via headteacher@theswanschool.org.uk or on 01865 416070.
Applications for this post should be made through the Swan School website. Please contact us if you have any queries regarding the application process.
The closing date for applications is Monday 30th June at 8am. The school will review applications as they are submitted and reserves the right to withdraw the advert before the closing date if a suitable candidate has been found.
About the River Learning Trust
Education has the power to change lives, communities and society for the better. At RLT we believe that we can achieve more for our pupils, trainees, staff and communities by working together rather than alone. Schools in RLT are united by a common belief in the benefits of working together, and by our commitment to shared principles.
OUR VISION is for our schools and SCITT to improve rapidly, continuously and sustainably: to be better faster together.
OUR ‘WHY?’ is that children and young people ‘only get one go’ in school and therefore as part of RLT we aim to ensure the best possible ‘go’ for our pupils
OUR ‘HOW?’ is through the highest support and challenge for our schools and each other, underpinned by our principles.
Our employees benefit from a wide variety of support including extensive continuing professional learning and development opportunities, wellbeing and staff networks and access to Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (TPS and LGPS) for all staff. For more information on what it is like to work for the Trust, and the benefits you could access, please see our “Working in RLT” guide.
Safeguarding
The River Learning Trust and the Swan School are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. The Trust is required to conduct a variety of checks and online searches about you as part of their recruitment process in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. It is an offence to apply for certain roles within schools if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.
For all RLT Safer Recruitment Documentation candidates should click on the following link RLT Safer Recruitment Documents for Candidates. Please see our website for up to date policies including our Child Protection and Behaviour Policies. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. For further guidance for applicants click on this link List of offences that are not filtered.
The Swan School is a free school managed by The River Learning Trust, which is an exempt charity and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales with a registered company number 7966500. Registered Office: c/o Gosford Hill School, Oxford Road, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, OX5 2NT
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.
Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.
Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children
You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
About The Swan School
- School type
- Free School, ages 11 to 18
- Education phase
- Secondary
- School size
- 952 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 18
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- The Swan School website
School location
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