External Quality Assurer

Starting Salary: £33 per hour

Job Type: Fixed-term (renewed annually) 

Location: London/the South East (please note that visits will be required to Centres in this area)

Contracted hours: Will vary dependant on business needs

About Us

We are proud to be one of the UK’s leading educational charity groups, encompassing an awarding organisation, a provider of dyslexia intervention software and an online training organisation. Our enthusiastic people bring genuine passion and natural energy to everything that they do and through their infectious energy they transform the lives of thousands of people each year through the power of education. It has never been a more exciting time to join The Ascentis Group as we continue our journey of growth across the UK and overseas.

We are market leading in the education sector and the specialist areas we operate within, maintaining the #1 provision for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and Access in the UK. We are based in Lancaster but have a national reach and hold top positions in all areas we operate within and have a dominant market share in London. We recently won two awards at the FAB 2024 Awards - Innovation of the Year and Awarding Organisation of the Year.

The Ascentis Group is made up of brilliant people, unique in terms of background, personality, characteristics, experience and skill. We value our people for the differences they bring to the table and believe this diversity is powerful. We are an equal opportunities employer, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

To find out what our employees have to say about working at Ascentis watch the video found here.

Where would you fit in?

Ascentis are looking for enthusiastic dedicated professionals to join their External Quality Assurance (EQA) team. Working as an EQA, you will play a key role in the quality assurance of Ascentis’ qualifications being delivered in our Centres.

We are currently looking for EQAs in the following subject areas:

• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL Skills for Life) verification (including on-site visits)
• Functional Skills English and Mathematics

Ideally, successful candidates will be available to work a minimum of 30 days per academic year (1st August to 31st July), and this can be discussed as and when you may be asked to work. 

Successful candidates for the Functional Skills role will have experience of delivering, assessing, verifying and marking Functional Skills assessments from Entry Level 1 to Level 2. This includes verification of the Speaking, Listening and Communicating component along with compliance visits to centres, where required. Experience of using the Surpass platform for verification of assessments, along with marking of Level 1/2 Functional Skills assessments would be an advantage.

Successful candidates for the ESOL Skills for Life role will have experience of delivering, assessing and verifying ESOL Skills for life qualifications.

Candidates will also be required to conduct Annual Quality Assurance Review visits to centres.

Candidates must be situated for verification work and visits to centres in London/the South East.

Job duties: 

• To work to and support the Ascentis model of external quality assurance in relation to those qualifications in centres identified within the annual allocation
• To visit centres to monitor and report on compliance with the required standards of resource, staff and systems required to support the delivery, assessment, and award of qualifications
• To plan and deliver centre training within own subject area, as required
• To actively participate in mandatory Ascentis training and standardisation activities, including central events and accompanied visits
• To provide ongoing support, advice and guidance to all allocated centres
• To keep up to date with developments within relevant subject / sector area 

The full job description can be found by clicking here. 

So, what are you waiting for?

If you like the sound of the role and the organisation, and you think the below attributes describe you well, then we would love to hear from you.

• Qualified to degree level or equivalent
• Qualified and experienced in teaching ESOL Skills for Life / Functional Skills
• Demonstrable experience in adult, further or higher education
• Demonstrable knowledge of curriculum content
• Experience of the internal and external quality assurance process for relevant subject area
• Excellent communication, written, verbal, and interpersonal skills
• Excellent IT skills and adaptability to different platforms used in centres and at Head Office (including Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, SharePoint and internal Awarding Organisation databases)
• Ability to meet deadlines
• A customer focused approach

For further information and how to apply

The application deadline is Friday, 30th May 2025. 

Interviews for this position will be held on the 4th and 5th of June (TBC). 

To discuss this post further, please contact Jess Green, Senior Quality Assurance Manager by email at jess.green@ascentis.co.uk. 

Benefits of working as Ascentis

• 25 days annual leave plus 8 public holidays, birthday day off, closure days gifted during the Christmas period, increased annual leave with long service and an Annual Leave Purchase Scheme (up to a maximum of 43 days)
• Competitive pension benefits, including a salary sacrifice scheme
• Access to Informal Flexibility, allowing you to flex your working times and location where viable.
• Incremental service benefits as a family-friendly employer, including enhanced Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental and Adoption Leave and Pay, Sick Pay, Life Insurance, and Compassionate Leave with Pay
• Reward and recognition scheme, regular team building and communication activities.
• Access to state-of-the-art office and break facilities, including pool table, Xbox, outdoor seating, dressing room (with access to hair dryers, straighteners, airers, shower facilities), Harry Potter reading room, employee library and more
• Free parking, paid electricity charging points, locked bike storage shed
• Tailored learning and development opportunities
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Technology purchase scheme
• Discounted gym membership at 3-1-5 Health Club
• 24-hour Employee Helpline and a proactive focus on wellbeing
• Free parking

We reserve the right to close the job vacancy early if we find an appointable candidate or receive a high volume of applicants. 

Do you like the sound of Ascentis, but think your skills might suit another role?

We also have other vacancies available. Take a look at our website for more! www.ascentis.co.uk/jobs