Student Interest Board member

Location  

Remote working – attendance of committee meetings in person (London, Bristol, UK) and online   

Salary  

An attendance fee of £300 is paid for meetings (including preparation time).   

Closing date  

5 December 2024

Contract  

Fixed term until 31 December 2027 

Hours  

Part time  

Industry  

Higher education  

Job level  

Member of committee of the board  

About the OfS 

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England. Our primary aim is delivering positive outcomes for students – past, present, and future.  

Our objectives are to ensure that all students, from all backgrounds: 

• Are supported to access, succeed in, and progress from, higher education 

• Receive high quality academic experience and their interests are protected while they study or in the event of provider, campus or course closure 

• Are able to progress into employment, further study, and lead fulfilling lives, in which their qualifications hold their value over time. 

• Receive value for money 

About the board 

The Office for Students (OfS) Student Interest Board is a committee of the OfS board which will promote the student voice within the OfS and its governance arrangements.  The Student Interest Board provides a mechanism for students and their representatives to be directly involved in the governance of the OfS and to be able to feed advice around the student interest directly to the OfS board. 

The Student Interest Board will include representation from students, student unions and professionals working on student issues or who professionally represent students’ interests contributing to greater continuity of the student interest in the OfS’s work. The Student Interest Board will consider strategic issues and decisions, and feed intelligence around current themes and issues which matter to students directly to the board OfS and to the wider OfS.  

The Student Interest Board will be chaired by the student representative member of the OfS board, with the Director for Fair Access and Participation also in attendance. Both will represent the Student Interest Board’s perspectives and share their views directly with the wider OfS board to ensure the student interest is embedded in our governance and work.

About you  

This a fantastic opportunity for students to work with us to help make a difference to students’ experience in higher education.  

• You will have experience and understanding of advocating for and making a difference to, students in higher education.  

• You will have the ability to think strategically about issues that might affect students in higher education on a national level using evidence and research to inform views.  

• You will be an excellent communicator and have the ability to articulate and present views to the Board and challenge ideas and decisions effectively, ensuring the student voice is heard.  

• You will have the ability to ensure the student voice is heard without bias with the ability to act impartially and dispassionately. 

Skills and experience  

Essential   

1. Recent experience, within the last two years, as a student in higher education including higher or degree apprenticeship, foundation degree, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate levels. This includes student union sabbatical officers.  

2. Demonstrable experience and understanding of advocating for, and making a difference to, students in higher education. 

3. Proven experience of:   

• thinking strategically about issues that might affect students in higher education on a national level 
• using evidence and research to inform views  
• articulating and presenting views to groups or meetings which may include senior staff  
• challenging ideas and decisions effectively, ensuring the student voice is heard   
• considering complex information and provide thoughtful feedback
• acting impartially, dispassionately and without bias 
• working effectively as part of a team, constructively influencing work and accepting collective decisions.    

Desirable  

Experience of understanding of the barriers that some students may face including issues around access, success and progression, for students from disadvantaged backgrounds or historically excluded groups.  

Other factors 

The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. 

Availability  

Able to prepare for, attend and participate in five meetings a year. The meeting schedule for successful candidates is expected (subject to change) to be: 

• Wednesday 12 February 2025 9.00 – 12.00 in London 
• Thursday 15 May 2025 9.00 – 12.00
• Thursday 17 July 2025 9.00 – 12.00
• Thursday 9 October 9.00 – 12.00 
• Thursday 11 December 2025 9.00 – 12.00  

Able to take an active part in the work of the Student Interest Board, both in meetings and by online means, and able to attend other relevant events on an ad hoc basis.   

Terms of appointment 

We are appointing members to Student Interest Board for the duration of the initial term of three years (until December 2027). Members are appointed as individuals and, if they are unable to attend, representatives may not stand in. 

Members are expected to conform to the standards set out in the OfS members’ code of conduct: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/about/how-we-are-run/who-we-are/our-board-and-committees/ Members must also register any relevant personal interests. 

Meeting arrangements and remuneration  

Members are expected to attend five meetings of the Student Interest board during a year.  These will be a combination of online and in-person meetings. In-person meetings may be in London, Bristol or at a higher education institution.  

Scheduled committee meetings are expected to last approximately four hours and up to half a day per meeting will also be required for reading and preparation.  

A £300 fee for attendance at meetings will be paid. 

Travel and subsistence expenses may be claimed in accordance with OfS policies. 

Working with us  

The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do.  

We encourage and value difference in people and thought and seek to foster equality of opportunity. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition.  

Application process  

As part of the application process, you will be asked to answer four short questions that will allow us to assess your suitability for the role. We will also consider other information that you submit as part of the process so that we can ensure we have a range of experience in the board.  

If you think you might have difficulty with any part of the process, and will need reasonable adjustment to help you succeed, please let us know. 

Closing date for applications is 5 December.

We plan that interviews will take place online during weeks commencing 6 and 13 January (subject to change).  

For further information contact: student.engagement@officeforstudents.org.uk

or email your queries to: recruitmentteam@officeforstudents.org.uk