Meet the Schools and Colleges Liaison Team

The Schools and Colleges Liaison Service offers a diverse range of activities and events for all age groups to promote progression to Higher Education. 

We provide impartial information, advice and guidance about how to research Higher Education courses and institutions as well as specialist advice on topics such as student finance and making an effective application through UCAS.

We also work closely with our school and college partners across the region with the aim of widening participation to Higher Education through awareness, aspiration and attainment raising activities for young people currently under represented in HE.The team provides a number of progression activities for Adult Learners as well as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for school/college staff and careers advisers. 

We are also happy to be the liaison point between school/college staff wishing to form links with University staff in specific subject areas.

After graduating from the University of Leeds with a BA in Management Studies and Philosophy, I joined Sainsbury’s on their Graduate Management Training Programme.   

After a few years at Sainsbury’s working in and around North London, I moved back to West Yorkshire in 1992 to join the University of Huddersfield in the School of Computing and Mathematics.   

From 1994 onwards I have headed up the Schools and Colleges Liaison Service seeing it grow from a team of one and a half to a team of thirteen over the years. 

I am a member of SPA’s (Supporting Professionalism in Admissions) Applicant Experience Special Interest Group and the corporate member of HELOA (Higher Education Liaison Officers’ Association, as well as the chair of HEARWY (Higher Education Aspiration Raising in West Yorkshire). 

I currently live in Tingley, near Wakefield with my husband, a daughter age 12 and a son age 9.  The role, the University and the sector is constantly evolving and presenting me with fresh challenges which is what has kept me interested for SO long!

As the Deputy Head of Schools and Colleges Liaison Service I am responsible for supervising the team on a daily basis as well as building and maintaining links with schools and colleges across the UK.

I manage the Clearing Helpline for the university and organise the Admissions and Recruitment Forum.  

I have a particular interest in social mobility and widening participation and have been lucky enough to be involved in various projects and initiatives across west Yorkshire both in my current and previous roles.

I’m a qualified Careers Adviser and also work as the National training Organiser for HELOA.

I teach Irish Dancing in my spare time to groups of children in Halifax and Bradford.

My job contains many different elements. At the core of the role is the responsibility for the Student Ambassador Scheme.

This scheme is designed to recruit current University of Huddersfield students to support a wide range of events and activities organised by the Schools and Colleges Liaison team (SCLS). Within my role I facilitate the booking and training of the Ambassadors. In addition my role involves the scheduling, disputation and logging of events for the Schools Liaison Team.

I will look to guarantee our committed service to schools and colleges at both internal and external events.

Within my role I can attended off campus events on behalf of the team to promote the University and the benefits of Higher Education, I also manage the schools liaison inbox responding to potential and current students requests and concerns. 

The job requires a high level of organisation and good communication; it can be fast paced and often requires you to work on numerous projects at a time. Most of all it is great fun.

As a Schools and Colleges Liaison Assistant my role includes coordinating two of the subject specific Schools and Colleges Liaison projects Focus Days and The Discover Programme. 

Focus Days are our subject specific taster days for Y12 students from local schools and colleges.  The Discover Programme is a programme of subject specific talks that local schools and colleges can request, these are aimed at Y12 students, delivered by our academics and are held at their school or college. 

I recently helped to set up the Microsoft CRM Dynamics for SCLS and now administer the system keeping the contact and event records up to date.  In addition I am involved in future developments to the SCLS part of Dynamics.  The introduction of Dynamics has enabled us to communicate more efficiently with our contacts at schools and colleges around the country and target those communications depending on the content. 

As part of my role I coordinate and send these communications to Schools and Colleges via email. A big part of my job in the summer months is organising the clearing helpline, amongst other duties this involves working with several departments around the University to ensure around 50 lines in the clearing helpline room are working and fully staffed. 

In addition to this I also arrange the clearing open day, this is an informal day where students who have been offered a place through clearing can visit to get a feel of the place, meet the staff and have their application processed. In addition to the above I also run the SCLS Twitter account and help with the enquiries on the University social media accounts. 

As an addition to my Schools Liaison role I’ve also recently taken on the voluntary role of North East HELOA Web Officer. Outside work I live with my one eyed rescue cat Tabitha and as a New Year resolution I’m currently trying to get myself back into Pilates and the gym.

Having worked at the University for almost 21 years, I have seen huge changes to both the campus and the culture of the organisation and its staff. 

A huge part of my role involves the coordination of the University’s Open Days, a key part of the pre-applicant Student Journey. 

Additionally, I administer the finances for the department and work closely with Julie on key events for teachers and advisers and other stakeholders. 

I organise the logistics for the UCAS fair “circuit” and represent the University at HE and careers fairs as well as conducting mock interviews in local schools.  In my “spare” time I am kept busy by my two boys, Josh and Ben.

I coordinate the University’s Level 3 compact scheme – the Progression Module. In partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University, my role involves designing and delivering teaching materials, training and supporting tutors and all aspects of programme moderation.

In addition I work with schools and colleges to organise and deliver a range of campus visits, presentations and workshops.  

A qualified teacher with a masters degree in History, I am also a published education author and regular contributor to a number of UK school subscription publications. I live with my partner and two children in Hebden Bridge.

As a Schools & Colleges Liaison Officer I engage with prospective students from local schools & colleges to raise awareness of Higher Education.

This is done in a variety of ways, such as presentations, workshops, careers fairs and on-campus visits.

I enjoy working with young people and especially when you can see how the work done may change their perceptions of Higher Education!  

I also work with the Students’ Union and Reading Matters on a new scheme where our students volunteer as reading mentors to local primary and secondary school pupils who are struggling with their reading. 

Alongside working part-time, as a busy mum of two boys under 5, the rest of my time is very much taken up by them!

Temporarily based at University Campus Barnsley, my main role is to promote the University and/or Higher Education by attendance at careers and HE fairs, presentations and workshops, and campus visits. 

In addition to this, my personal remit covers parents of potential students – I’ve had three offspring go through university so I can appreciate their particular concerns.

We run Parents Information Evenings in the spring, produce a guide and web pages for parents and carers, and offer presentations specifically for them.

Previously, I worked in schools at all levels from Nursery to Secondary and also for Kirklees Education – a great foundation for this job!

Having worked at the University for over 4 years now, my role has seen me work across both Oldham and Huddersfield.   

Residing in Manchester, I am responsible for post-16 recruitment-led activities in the North West including, Careers Fairs, Presentations and Workshops and the promotion and delivery of on campus visits. 

My current focus is on developing post-16 activity to build and strengthen relations with the University’s feeder market including ‘The Next Step Programme’ working with library services to develop and deliver academic skills workshops and a  career focused, on campus event, working with professionals across the local area to promote the benefits of HE and the University’s employability stats.  

I work across both SCLS and Marketing, leading on pre-16 marketing publications ‘A little taste of student life’, and an adult learners’ guide ‘Access Your Future Programme’ and also help to shape the University’s presence on UCAS.

The main purpose of my role is to raise awareness of higher education to pupils at local schools and colleges, their parents and teachers.

I engage with the prospective students through a variety of ways including presentations in their schools/colleges and visit days onto campus.

Presentations are a good way of getting the hard facts across, such as the UCAS process and finance information, and visit days work well as the pupils get to see what university life is like and look around the campus and facilities. I have worked at the University for just under two years, I started as a team assistant and then progressed to an officer level.

Inbetween being a team assistant and officer I pursued my love of all things ski related and worked in France in a ski resort and managed to ski almost everyday, I am now back in the UK and live just outside Halifax.

I joined the team in January this year, I am responsible for gathering insights into what prospective & current students, staff and the wider community are thinking.

Alongside this, I look after iHud which is the CRM system the marketing team use to manage the enquiries that the University receives on a daily basis. 

Outside work, I have a 19 month old Son called Oliver, drink Carling, support Huddersfield Town and I am involved a host of local community groups, giving them assistance in marketing and strategic advice.