Administrative Officers (Apprentice and Non Apprentice Roles)

Job summary

We are recruiting 16 Administrative Officers across our Social Care and Inspection Support teams.

• Social Care Administrators – 11 posts
• Inspection Support Administrators – 5 posts

The Administrative Officer role provides vital administrative support to ensure the effective delivery of social care and inspection services. The role requires strong organisational and communication skills, excellent attention to detail, and the ability to handle sensitive information appropriately.

Apprentice Roles

Of the 16 available posts, three are Administrative Officer Apprentice roles, allocated as follows:

• 2 roles – Manchester
• 1 role – Birmingham or Nottingham

About the apprenticeship

This role is open to graduates who do not hold, and are not working towards, an equivalent or higher qualification in Business Administration.

Depending on your existing qualifications, you will either undertake the Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner apprenticeship (15 months) or the Level 3 Business Administration apprenticeship (15 months).

If you begin with the Level 2 apprenticeship, you will have the opportunity to progress to the Level 3 programme once you have successfully completed it.

Throughout your apprenticeship, you will develop valuable skills and knowledge that support a wide range of workplace duties. You will be assigned a dedicated tutor who will guide you through the programme, with one‑to‑one sessions taking place every six to eight weeks. You’ll also have the chance to apply your learning to real workplace scenarios, helping you build a practical portfolio of tools and techniques.

As part of the apprenticeship, you will complete a minimum of 6 hours of off‑the‑job learning each week.

If you're aged 16–18:

• You must work towards a Level 2 qualification in English and Maths (equivalent to GCSE grade 4/C) if you haven’t already achieved it.
• This is done through Functional Skills training as part of your apprenticeship.

If you're aged 19 or older:

• You are not required to complete English and Maths qualifications to finish your apprenticeship.
• However, if you choose, this can be done through Functional Skills training as part of your apprenticeship.

Please note that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK at the point of application and for the duration of employment.

Job description

Please refer to the job specification for further information.

Person specification

Please refer to the job specification for further information.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,840, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills contributes £7,775 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Full details of the benefits available can be found in our Ofsted Offer brochure.

Ofsted is devoted to equality, diversity and inclusion. Within our Ofsted Strategy 2023-2027 we have stated that we will improve the representation of under-represented groups across the organisation and publish our progress on this annually. We are always looking to expand on our diverse workforce by recruiting candidates from varied backgrounds and differing experiences. We are proud to be a Disability Confident – Leader, we continually engage with our 5 staff networks for protected characteristics, and highlight the work of our Equalities,Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Group. We ensure all candidates are treated with fair and open competition, with all appointments being made on merit and we use our Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) to provide assurance to all candidates of this.

Ofsted is committed to maintaining employee health and wellbeing, whether it is physically, emotionally, financially or socially, and offers a range of benefits to support employees in this. Such benefits include the option to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme, professional and personal development opportunities, 32.5 annual leave days per annum (plus eight days public holiday) and access to counselling and advisory services.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application stage

You must complete and pass the online verbal test before submitting an application. The deadline to complete the assessment is 5:00pm on 14 May2026.

Applicants must clearly state on their application form which role they are applying for. They will be assessed only against the criteria for the role selected.

Administrative Officer (Non-Apprentice)

Applicants must submit a personal statement of no more than 1,000 words. Your statement must clearly address all four essential criteria listed below. As a guide, you should aim for approximately 250 words per criterion to ensure each one is covered in sufficient detail.

• Demonstrable ability to deliver a high‑quality administrative or customer‑focused service, following procedures accurately, meeting service standards, and ensuring work is completed correctly and professionally.
• Demonstrable experience of managing multiple tasks or competing priorities, with the ability to organise workload effectively, prioritise tasks, and consistently meet deadlines.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, building positive working relationships and contributing to the achievement of team goals.
• Good understanding of IT systems, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.

Administrative Officer (Apprentice)

Applicants must submit a personal statement of no more than 1,000 words. Your statement must clearly address all four essential criteria listed below. As a guide, you should aim for approximately 250 words per criterion to ensure each one is covered in sufficient detail.

• How you will manage your time effectively to balance work responsibilities with completion of the apprenticeship qualification.
• Your experience of working collaboratively with others to achieve a task or goal.
• Your ability to work accurately and handle information carefully.
• Basic understanding of IT systems, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.

Use the STAR model (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to present your evidence.

Shortlisting

The selection panel will assess your application/personal statement based on your evidence you have provided against the essential criteria.

You will also be asked to provide information within the “Employer/Activity History” section of the application form. This information is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV setting out your career history (this may be used in the sifting process).

Interview

Candidates who pass the benchmark at the shortlist stage will be invited to an interview where you will be assessed against a mixture of the Civil Service behaviours and on the experience skills as detailed in the job specification.

Interviews will be held during the weeks commencing 15 June and 22 June 2026.Interviews for the Social Care Administrator roles will take place at Piccadilly Gate, Manchester.Interviews for the Inspection Support Administrator roles will be held at either 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, Piccadilly Gate, Manchester, or Loxley House, Nottingham.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : People Services Delivery Team
• Email : jobs@ofsted.gov.uk
• Telephone : 03000 131 487

Recruitment team

• Email : jobs@ofsted.gov.uk

Attachments

Job specification - Inspection Support Administrator Opens in new window (pdf, 189kB)Job specification - Social Care Administrator - IST Opens in new window (pdf, 190kB)