£12.21 per hour + £1.47 holiday pay
Advertising End Date
05 Oct 2025

Role & Department Overview

Strengthening Lancaster University’s commitment to widening participation (WP) and communities underrepresented in higher education, the WP team are looking for current LU students with an interest in and enthusiasm for working with young people, to share insights into university life and support pupils to make informed decisions at every stage of their educational journey.  

You will have the opportunity to work with young people of primary age through to secondary and sixth form, taking a supporting role in delivering widening access projects and initiatives. For example, this may include on campus events; in school workshops; overnight residentials and online activities.  

The WP team deliver the following programmes:

WP Project

Age Range

Lancaster Access Programme (LAP)

Years 12 and 13

Access to Medicine (A2M)

Year 12

Role Model Ambassadors (RMA)*

Years 9-12

Uncover Progress (UP)*

Year 12

Children and Young People’s Partnership (CYPP)

Years 5 and 6

Discover

Years 8-10

For more information, please visit the WP webpages: Widening Participation - Lancaster University 

Please note: Roles marked with an * are recruited separately due to diversity and lived experience.  

Diversity and lived experience  

The Widening Participation (WP) team promotes equality of opportunity within higher education, and we welcome applications from students from diverse backgrounds.

Start Date: 27th October 2025

End Date: 31st July 2026

Location: On campus

Working Pattern: Varied

Job Description

 Event delivery

  • To work with the WP Project Lead and designated WP Team Leader(s) to deliver Lancaster’s widening access projects on campus.
  • To support pre-event preparation and set up i.e. packing resources or setting up rooms for session delivery. 
  • To supervise the travel arrangements of young people attending WP events at Lancaster University (i.e. by coach, train or taxi).
  • To work with your WP Team Leader(s) and WP Team Members to deliver pre-written session plans in accordance with the risk assessment.
  • To work with a range of stakeholders including visiting teachers and pastoral staff and other internal LU staff to successfully deliver WP activities.

Working with young people

  • To emphasise the benefits of higher education and encourage young people (of all ages) to identify their strengths and personal qualities.
  • To give an authentic insight into the Lancaster University experience, including accurate information, advice and guidance on a range of topics i.e. student
  • To enthuse and motivate young people to facilitate learning (being a positive role model and displaying a ‘can do’ attitude is essential to the role).
  • To make sure that young people are engaged in activities and understand session content, providing one-to-one or small group support as needed.

 Other

  • To support the evaluation of widening access provision, including participating in focus groups or other initiatives to provide SA feedback.
  •  To complete designated training (including facilitating campus tours) and an enhanced DBS check (where appropriate) prior to session delivery. 
  • To undertake duties in accordance with university policy relating to safeguarding, health/safety and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Person Specification

Skills & Experience
  • Previous experience of working with young people and/or a clear understanding of widening participation/youth engagement. For example, (but not limited to) volunteering, tutoring or mentoring. (Desirable) 
  • Highly organised and proven ability to work both independently and collaboratively to deliver sessions to groups of young people (various age ranges). (Essential) 
  • Excellent communication skills and an aptitude for explaining difficult concepts and key ideas in simplistic and creative terms. (Essential)
  • The ability to enthuse and motivate young people (i.e. friendly, upbeat and enthusiastic) and positive attitude towards learning. (Essential)
  • Awareness of safeguarding when working with young people and the parameters of confidentiality. (Desirable)
  •  Reliable, committed and punctual. (Essential) 
Other Experience
  • We would particularly welcome applications from students that have previously taken part in a widening participation (WP) project delivered by Lancaster University as a prospective student. (Desirable) 
  • We would particularly welcome applications from students from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. (Desirable) 
  • We would particularly welcome applications from students that have been eligible for Free School Meals, Pupil Premium or lived experience of SEND/care leavers. (Desirable)

 

 

 

 

 

You are required to submit a cover letter to support your application. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

Please note: Unless specified otherwise in the advert wording, this role is only open to individuals living in the UK.

Under the terms of this work, we endeavour to provide the advertised number of hours however, hours are not guaranteed and that work may cease if there is a fall in demand. 

Adverts that display a closing date should be treated as a guide. We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Help and advice on making applications can be found on the Lancaster University Careers pages. Visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/careers.