Job Description

Location: City Centre Campus/City South Campus
Salary: \xc2\xa336,421 to \xc2\xa339,591 per annum
Post Type: Full Time
Release Date: 08 August 2023
Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Tuesday 22 August 2023
Interview Date: Monday 11 September 2023
Reference: 072023-332

The successful candidate will carry out diagnostic assessments with Birmingham City University students to identify students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs), in accordance with the SpLD Working Group 2005/DfES Guidelines.

Hybrid working is available: 3 days in the office, 2 days from home

Objectives:

• Provide BCU students with a diagnostic report they can use in their application for Disabled Students\xe2\x80\x99 Allowances and as evidence of their support requirements in further learning and employment.
• Provide essential information to enable the University to implement support and adjustments in a timely manner and meet our duties under the Equality Act 2010.
• Work with colleagues in developing and delivering a streamlined diagnostic service for BCU students.
• Support the development and delivery of training across the University.

Responsibilities include:

• To undertake a minimum of 4 SpLD diagnostic assessments per week, in accordance with the SpLD Working Group 2005/DfES Guidelines and all subsequent updates of the Guidance, at our City Centre and City South campuses, and online.
• To analyse test results in accordance with current professional practice and complete written diagnostic reports strictly within 10 working days of each diagnostic assessment. All reports to be written strictly in accordance with the SpLD Working Group 2005/DfES Guidelines and all subsequent updates regarding content and format.
• Staying up-to-date with professional development required of those holding a practising certificate and up-to-date with requirements of funding bodies regarding students\xe2\x80\x99 diagnostic reports.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance as required in developing and improving service delivery, policy, and procedure relating to the assessment and diagnosis of SpLDs.
• To work alongside colleagues in developing and delivering training for colleagues.

Essential requirements:

• Hold and maintain a current Assessment Practising Certificate in assessing specific learning difficulties, issued by a relevant professional association, for example, PATOSS (the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties), Dyslexia Guild or the British Dyslexia Association OR registration with the Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC) as a practitioner psychologist.
• Significant experience of undertaking diagnostic assessments in accordance with the SpLD Working Group 2005/DfES Guidelines and all subsequent updates.
• Confidence in undertaking assessments in-person and online.
• Thorough, recent theoretical and practical knowledge of the impact of SpLDs upon higher education (HE) students.
• A good understanding of the Equality Act 2010 and application in the HE setting, including what inclusive teaching practice looks like.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to build a rapport with students and colleagues.
• Excellent communication (written and verbal), including the ability to revise writing style according to the intended audience.
• Competent use of a range of IT systems; an affinity to learn new or unfamiliar systems.
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision and within a close-knit team.
• Able to work with accuracy under pressure and at speed to manage a challenging caseload.
• Effective prioritisation of a busy caseload and the ability to meet deadlines.
• An understanding of the funding mechanisms for disability support in HE.

We welcome applications from all sections of the community, including disabled people and people who identify as LGBTQ+ Further details:

The appointed candidate will normally be employed through our subsidiary company BCU Support Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Birmingham City University.

OUR VISION

Birmingham City University is growing in quality and standing, with an academic STEAM agenda at the heart of our ambitions. We are transforming the lives of students and their communities, and want outstanding people to join us in taking us on the next stage of our exciting journey.

Our students learn through doing. They are empowered throughout their educational journey, achieving significant educational gain and personal transformation.

There has never been a better time to join us. Come and be part of the next exciting stage of our journey.

ABOUT BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY

At the heart of our 2025 Strategy is our mission is to enable our students to transform their lives and to achieve their potential. Through our education and research, and the roles our graduates go on to play in the world, we not only support individuals to transform their lives, but we also play a part in transforming society.

Located in the centre of the UK\xe2\x80\x99s second city, we are a university with a long heritage of innovation and of making, dating back to our origins in 1843 when we were founded as the Birmingham Government School of Design.

Our heritage of making through innovation and its application through knowledge exchange, and of creative research and practice, today finds it expression in our STEAM agenda, in our research and enterprise, and in our commitment to challenge-based learning. Working across disciplines, and delivering impactful research and enterprise, interdisciplinarity is at the heart of the continuing transformation of our academic portfolio.

OUR STAFF COMMUNITY

Birmingham is home to a rich and diverse range of communities. Our students reflect this rich cultural mix, and we are continuing to work to make sure that this is also reflected in our broader university community.

Birmingham City University values the quality and diversity of our staff. Our staff and student community is defined by our core values, which outline who we are as a University and how we work with each other. Our core values are we create opportunity, we think differently, and we build community.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, continuously reviewing and improving our policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that we are promoting these in all aspects of our operations. We believe that by working together, combining our many different backgrounds and life experiences, we will empower each other to reach our full potential.

We hold an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to improving employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.

Our University is located in one of the most culturally rich and diverse Cities in the UK, and it is our ambition to be the University for Birmingham and the surrounding region. The events of 2020 have highlighted the stark inequalities that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities face and we are committed to removing the institutional barriers that our staff and students face and improve the representation, progression and success of staff and students from all backgrounds within higher education. To demonstrate this, we have signed up to the Race Equality Charter to show our commitment.

Birmingham City University has been recognised for its progress on LGBT+ equality with a Gold award in the Stonewall Index and have entered the Top 100 Employers 2023 for LGBT+ inclusion. Meanwhile, we are Disability Confident (Committed) and are on an exciting journey to advance our University to progress through the Disability Confident scheme.

We are also a Mindful Employer, which means we are committed to supporting the mental health and well-being of our staff, and we have also signed up to the Mental Health Charter led by student mental health charity Student Minds. Furthermore, we are signed up to The Technician Commitment - a university and research institution initiative supported by the Science Council and Gatsby Foundation \xe2\x80\x93 aiming to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research.

WORKING AND LIVING IN BIRMINGHAM

The youngest city in Europe with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of the population, Birmingham is a city full of energy and enthusiasm and is a great place to live and work.

Based in the heart of England, the city is easily accessible by road, rail and air. Birmingham New Street station has recently undergone major redevelopment, while the city is at the heart of the high-speed rail network, HS2. HS2 will provide new rapid rail travel connecting Birmingham City Centre to London and the rest of the network from the new Curzon Street Station \xe2\x80\x93 adjacent to Birmingham City University\xe2\x80\x99s City Centre Campus \xe2\x80\x93 and will be one of the most environmentally friendly stations in the world.

The city\xe2\x80\x99s appetite for progression is boundless, and it has been championing innovation since the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, reflected in Birmingham City University\xe2\x80\x99s new STEAMhouse building which opened in October 2022 and is home to an inter-disciplinary community of entrepreneurs, businesses, academic researchers, and students offering a wealth of support to companies of all sizes to boost growth through innovation to address commercial and societal challenges.

Birmingham is brimming with great theatres, museums, the world-famous Birmingham City University Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as beautiful historical buildings and the iconic Library of Birmingham. It also has amazing concert and sporting venues including Edgbaston Cricket ground, which Birmingham City University has a long-standing partnership with. It is also home to the Alexander Stadium, which is the stunning new home for Birmingham City University\xe2\x80\x99s sport courses. The Stadium was one of the main event spaces for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, which saw the eyes of the world on the city, and Birmingham City University staff and students played pivotal roles - including designing the official medals for winning athletes.

Birmingham\xe2\x80\x99s vibrant dining scene offers something for all tastes, including Michelin star restaurants, Spiceal Street at the Bullring, the Chinese Quarter, and the famous Balti Triangle.

The city also provides a great place to shop, being home the Bullring and Grand Central, the luxurious Mailbox Birmingham and the world-famous home of British bling - the Jewellery Quarter, which is home to Birmingham City University\xe2\x80\x99s School of Jewellery.

From Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and the beautiful arcades and independents, to the city\xe2\x80\x99s historic markets in Digbeth, the shops in Birmingham offer a plethora of choice.

underpin how we work in achieving the ambitions set out in our Strategy and Priorities, and are the principles that unite the way we work together and for our students.

Birmingham City University