Virtual School Achievement Officer

About the role

The Virtual School is a team of experienced teachers and dedicated educational professionals. We promote and support the educational attainment and progress of Northamptonshire's children in care and children previously in care.

We are looking for an Achievement Officer to join the Virtual School working specifically with our post 16 cohort of children in care to support them to progress in and engage with, education, training, and employment. You will report to and work alongside our post 16 Education Officer and another Achievement Officer.

What will you be doing?

You will be responsible for investigating and finding solutions for the range of issues that may adversely affect progress in, and engagement with, education, training, and employment for young people who are post statutory school age. You will do this through liaison with education and training providers, young people and carers and any other related agencies or professionals.

You will proactively support education and training providers so that they can maintain the young person’s place with the provider.

You will ensure that all case work records are kept in line with service expectations and agreed operational policy, practice and procedures.

You will represent The Virtual School at Multi Agency Meetings as and when required e.g., initial and review Personal Education Plans.

About you

We are looking to recruit a forward-thinking person who works well in a team. You will need:

• To be educated to Level 3 or above and have GCSE (or equivalent) Maths and English at grade 4/C or above.
• To have good IT skills and be willing to learn how to use a diverse range of IT systems.
• A good knowledge of Post 16 education, training, and employment.
• Knowledge and understanding of the needs and entitlements of children and young people in care.
• To have excellent communication skills and experience of building good working relationships.
• Excellent organisational skills, and the ability to manage your own case load.
• You must be able to work in a way that promotes the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.

Where you will be working:

The Virtual School working pattern includes working from home, attending education settings and other venues in the community across Northamptonshire and occasionally out of the county, and some days working from our office at ONE Angel Square, Northampton.

Next steps:

If you like what you have read and want to know more about the role then please contact Paul Andrews on 07738638636 or email paul.andrews@northnorthants.gov.uk or Charlotte Franks on 07342069897 or email charlotte.franks@northnorthants.gov.uk

Closing date for applications (we do not accept CVs) is 12th December 12’noon,

Provisional interview date will be week commencing 12th January, 2026.

Our Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our Key Commitments

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)