Education administrator

Education administrators can work in a variety of teams and departments from small schools to large universities

As an education administrator, you'll usually be based in higher or further education (HE or FE) institutions, but there are also opportunities in schools and private colleges.

Your aim will be to manage the administration, support systems, activities and processes that keep the educational institution running efficiently and effectively.

The job itself varies as you could carry out duties in a number of different departments and teams including admissions, quality assurance, data management, examinations, finance, marketing or human resources.

Your required tasks and workload will reflect the needs of your specific department, as well as the size of the team. For example, in a university you may focus solely on admissions, whereas in a school you may need to work across all required administration tasks.

As a result of the variety within the role, job titles can differ and rather than containing 'education' or 'administrator' they may be focused on the relevant department, for example 'quality assurance officer' or 'student recruitment adviser'.

Responsibilities

As an education administrator, you may need to:

• provide administrative support to a team of lecturers, tutors, teachers or specific department
• manage all or parts of the student life cycle from registration/admission to graduation/leaving
• work with academic boards, governing bodies and task groups
• assist with recruitment, public or alumni relations and marketing activities
• draft and interpret regulations
• deal with queries and complaints procedures
• coordinate examination and assessment processes
• maintain high levels of quality assurance, including course evaluation and course approval procedures
• manage communications via the institution’s website or social media channels
• use information systems and prepare reports and statistics for both internal and external use
• participate in the development of future information systems
• carry out policy, planning and project management tasks
• manage budgets and ensure financial systems are followed
• purchase goods and equipment, and process invoices
• supervise other administrative staff
• communicate with partner institutions, other institutions, external agencies, government departments and prospective students
• organise and facilitate a variety of educational or social activities.

Salary

• Salaries vary depending on the role and department you're working in but in general, you can expect a starting salary of around £19,000 to £26,000.
• With experience, you could earn between £27,000 and £40,000, with the upper scale being for roles with increased levels of responsibility.
• At managerial level, your salary may reach well in excess of £50,000.

While universities tend to have set pay scales which you can progress through each year, schools and colleges may not have such a tight pay structure. Salaries vary widely depending on your role and department, level of responsibility, type of institution you're working for and location.

Membership of a pension scheme is usually possible.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours are generally 9am to 5pm, although this can vary slightly, particularly for roles within schools. Some jobs, especially those that are student facing, can include weekend or evening work. You may have to work overtime at certain points in the year, for example if you’re involved in examinations, enrolment or academic quality visits.

Part-time work and job shares are usually offered, and term-time only working is sometimes possible.

What to expect

• Jobs are available in further and higher education institutions, schools and colleges in most towns and cities throughout the UK.
• The work can be challenging, particularly at key points during the academic or school year. Any changes in the education sector impact directly on administrative staff.
• If you're working in a schools liaison role, you may need to travel locally and further afield. More generally, you may need to travel to national conferences and training events on occasions.
• Overseas work or travel is uncommon unless your work involves liaison and collaboration with overseas partners, in which case you may need to visit partner institutions abroad.
• Although freelance work is uncommon, there are occasional opportunities for very experienced administrators to work freelance in specialised areas such as quality assurance, project management, preparing funding bids, marketing and public relations.

Qualifications

You don't tend to need a degree for roles within general education administration. However, having a degree may help you to stand out from other applicants and could help you progress quicker. Subjects such as business management can be useful, especially for senior roles in university administration.

For specialist administration roles, such as human resources officer or marketing executive, you may need a relevant degree or professional qualification.

Some universities run their own graduate trainee schemes, which provide experience of a range of departments and areas of university management.

An alternative route in is to complete a business apprenticeship, available at three levels: intermediate, advanced and higher.

A postgraduate qualification is not required but if you're working within a specialist role, a relevant professional qualification or Masters may be useful. Search for postgraduate courses in education management.

In addition to qualifications, it's important to have some experience of working with word processing and common IT packages.

Skills

You will need:

• strong interpersonal skills to help you relate to students, academic staff, teachers, senior managers and colleagues in other areas
• excellent written communication skills
• teamworking skills and the ability to work alone without supervision
• the ability to deal positively with change
• experience in organising, prioritising and managing your time effectively
• IT skills in areas such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases and the internet as well as using social media
• attention to detail to avoid mistakes
• the ability to cope with a heavy workload and frequent interruptions
• awareness of confidentiality when working with student or staff records
• a flexible approach to work.

Work experience

Some formal office experience is usually required and previous experience in public sector administration can increase your chances of getting a job. Temporary work and work shadowing are excellent ways to develop your skills and experience.

Many educational institutions offer opportunities for casual employment at busy times of the year, which will also give you an insight into the daily activities of administrators. You could also contact your old college or school to find out about possible opportunities.

It's important to show your interest in the education sector through, for example, involvement in university or school life, committee work, work as a sabbatical officer, student recruitment activities and participation in skills development schemes and mentoring.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

You can work as an education administrator within:

• universities
• HE and FE colleges
• private and specialist training colleges
• primary and secondary schools.

Due to the size of the institutions, the majority of roles can be found within universities. With larger employers, you may specialise in one particular area such as communications or examinations. Within schools or small colleges, it's likely your role will be more general covering various tasks.

When searching for vacancies bear in mind that the job title may not include education or administrator. Instead think about the department it may be based in as titles can reflect that, e.g. marketing executive or finance assistant.

Look for job vacancies at:

• Jobs.ac.uk (higher education)
• Local Government Jobs (local council and school positions)
• Times Educational Supplement (TES) Jobs
• Times Higher Education (THE) Jobs

Professional development

On starting your job, you'll usually get an induction to the institution and training in the specific systems they use, such as student records and finance software packages. If you're working in a specialist area, such as finance, marketing or IT, it's likely you'll have additional training.

If you're on a university graduate trainee scheme, you'll usually work across a number of departments on a range of projects to build you experience and knowledge, before becoming permanent in one particular team.

You're encouraged to undertake continuing professional development (CPD) through in-house, regional and national courses and conferences. Many education institutions have a performance and development review system that you can use to identify your training needs.

The Association of Higher Education Professionals (AHEP) offers a range of seminars, conferences, lectures and workshops, as well as the AUA Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Administration, Management and Leadership validated by Nottingham Trent University (NTU). This qualification aims to help you develop your understanding of the UK HE sector, as well as enhancing your skills. Once you've successfully completed the course, you'll be eligible to progress on to NTU’s Postgraduate Diploma or Masters in Higher Education Administration, Management and Leadership.

The ILM offers a range of school business management qualifications aimed at administrators working in schools, looking to move into a leadership role.

Professional qualifications can be useful for gaining promotion and you may be able to negotiate time off to study, especially if you can complete the qualification at your own institution.

Career prospects

Because of the range of jobs within education administration, promotion and career development is rarely linear and instead you may move to opportunities in different areas and teams to expand your skills and knowledge. You may occasionally be able to apply for internal vacancies or move to a different department on secondment.

As you gain experience, you're likely to develop your own personal interests and look for opportunities in that area. Doing this could lead you into specialist areas such as human resources or finance, which you might need further qualifications for.

Because of this, in some cases you'll need to change institutions and/or relocate in order to progress, especially if you're interested in reaching the most senior positions. Senior positions are likely to be in a supervisory, managerial or strategic planning role. Competition for jobs can be fierce.

As there's no formal post-entry qualification or promotion structure in the educational sectors, grades, job titles and salaries may vary across institutions. However, there is generally support and guidance available for staff looking to move to the next level. Getting a formal professional qualification may improve your promotion prospects. Buoyant student or pupil numbers are crucial to every institution's financial health and funding under threat can affect opportunities for career progression.