Just one year in to offering A Levels, Milton Keynes College is having to double the number of students it will take in September because of huge demand for courses.  Last September, around seventy students signed up, but this autumn that number will rise to 150, and already well over 600 have applied.

The curriculum is also being massively expanded, with biology, chemistry, applied science (a new qualification), history, politics, economics, and criminology all added to the available courses, along with Further maths for those especially good at the subject.  There’ll also be the option to take core maths; equivalent to half an A Level it will be especially helpful for students aiming to study science at university but who don’t want to enrol for the full maths course.  As a result, the College is looking to recruit several new teachers, and they want to hear from recent graduates keen to enter the profession, who could save themselves thousands of pounds on training.  The right candidate would be given full teacher training as part of their contract with no tuition fees.

Executive Head of Sixth Form, Marc Hulbert says, “We’ve been so pleased with how popular our A Level courses are, and we’re delighted with the work the students are putting in.  We’re definitely expanding teacher numbers for sociology, psychology, law, criminology, maths and computer science, and while experienced staff would be brilliant, we also think recent graduates will have a great deal to offer as their knowledge of their subjects will be bang up-to-date.  Most important of all is for applicants to be enthusiastic, good communicators, passionate about their subject and about working with young people.”

Teachers in training won’t spend as much time in the classroom as their colleagues, as they’ll need to have the opportunity to work on their own learning and development.  They’ll receive plenty of support, including an experienced individual mentor, all on a full teacher’s salary. 

The College also wants to hear from people can deliver other academic subjects, such as geography, philosophy or film studies.  Marc says, “We’re already looking ahead at growing our portfolio of subjects and those are all disciplines that we hope to add in eighteen months’ time.  Next year, we’ll offer seventeen subjects, and that will increase to about twenty-seven from September 2026.”

Anyone interested in becoming a teacher at the College is invited to the next A Level Recruitment Event on Saturday 26^th April between 10am and 12pm at the South Central Institute of Technology in Bletchley.  At the event, prospective teachers can discover more about our expanding A-Level program, learn about available roles, and see how we can support them in gaining their teaching qualification.

Find out more and register for the event here A Level Staff Recruitment – MK College. Alternatively, get in touch by contacting: recruitment@mkcollege.ac.uk

Teachers at HMP Fosse Way and HMP Aylesbury – two of the 30 prisons that MK College Group provides education services for – have worked with His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on a campaign to support prison teaching recruitment. 

The campaign, which officially launched on 16^th January, focuses on bringing the roles of prison teachers to life and includes videos, social media posts, paid adverts, news articles and more. 

The campaign leads with a video asking, “Could you be a prison teacher?” and is accompanied by several articles, each focusing on a different teaching experience. Those articles are now live on the Guardian website and one of the articles is all about Luke Martin, a lecturer at HMP Fosse Way. 

HMPPS have also refreshed their prison education page to provide an overview of teaching in prisons and what life is like as a prison teacher. 

You can read Luke’s article here, along with the others in the campaign here: 

• ‘A new sense of purpose’: how I went from running a pub to a career in prison teaching | Do Something Extraordinary | The Guardian 

• ‘Beyond qualifications, there are so many benefits’: a teacher and a former prisoner on the importance of education in jails | Do Something Extraordinary | The Guardian 

• ‘You need to be a listener as well as a teacher’ – the truth about education in prison | Do Something Extraordinary | The Guardian 

Claire Atkins, Lead Director of Prison Services at MK College Group, comments: “This is an exciting campaign that will help shine a light on the important work done by prison educators and encourage others to come and apply. We’re very proud of the work we do in prisons to support learners with their education and to improve their prospects both during their time in prison and upon their release into the community – it’s all part of our work to deliver Fairer Futures for all. All of the staff involved in the campaign did a fantastic job, and we hope that this campaign will show the positive sides of working in prison education”. 

Well done to Sherry Emir, Kirsty Jones and Luke Martin from Fosse Way, and Irene Daniels from HMP Aylesbury, for their outstanding acting skills and work with the MoJ to promote prison education. 

You can find out more about the work we do in prison education here Prison Services – MK College  

MK College Group launches recruitment drive

Milton Keynes College Group is on a recruitment drive, looking for people who could forge careers passing on what they’ve learned from their previous working lives, even if they’ve never taught before. 

The College Group is holding a “Work For Us,” day, next Saturday, 14^th October, when they hope to meet people with real world experience who could be helping the next generation get their first foot on the career ladder.  There are opportunities for full or part-time work, and for occasional work taking classes on an ad hoc basis.

Chief People Officer at the Group, Annie Allen, says, “People who’d like to teach often worry about not having any classroom experience, but the big message from this event is that we can help with that.  What really matters is that you’ve got the right experience and a passion to pass on what you know.  Whoever you are, whatever your background, if you have the knowledge and expertise our students need, we want to meet you.”

The College Group is especially keen to hear from potential teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds.

“About 12% of our workforce are from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds. Annie says, “but our goal as an organisation is for the teaching staff to reflect the makeup of the city as a whole.  We are accredited Leaders in Diversity and being genuinely representative of Milton Keynes is really important to us.”

The College currently has thirty-five vacancies for a range of roles from teachers and teaching support staff, workplace trainers for our apprentices and about ten more for people to join our prison education staff at HMP Wood Hill, HMP Bullingdon, HMP Aylesbury and HMP Grendon & Springhill.

Specific areas where the College Group is looking for new colleagues include Teaching Support Assistants, English and maths teachers, business and IT Lecturers and Tutors in engineering, electrical, construction, hairdressing and barbering as well as those who’d like to be involved in student support roles.

Annie says, “We often find that when people come to us from industry to become teachers, they take to it really well because they’re talking about something they’re already passionate about.  Many of our staff say there’s no greater buzz than seeing people you’ve passed your knowledge to, becoming successful and professional in the same trade.  It’s not just life-changing for the students.”

Anyone who would like to find out more should go to https://app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Careers/CareersPage.aspx?e=LMo8nnTwYNaUd68vSqsIhE23V6DA-54FdDFYiH6Q-yuhSkQ_uvVPpyoOrGLB8TOIW-9ANsl30FM and come along to our  “Working for Us” event on 14^th October between 11.00am and 2pm at our campus in Chaffron Way.