Job Description

UE06: £34,610.00 - £39,906.00 Per Annum, Pro Rata.

USG / Student Recruitment and Admissions / LEAPS.

Fixed Term/Guaranteed Hours: 100 hours over the 25 teaching weeks, between the months of August 2026 – March 2027. This equates to approx. 4 hours per week of the course plus training and marking.

Fixed Term Contract Dates: August 20th 2026 – April 30th 2027

Number of posts: 6

LEAPS are recruiting current PhD students who are passionate about higher education and looking for a rewarding, part-time, paid position. You will be working online and on the University of Edinburgh campus with groups of current S6 pupils to help them develop skills and confidence to become successful undergraduate students.

The LEAPS S6 Transition Course is the latest of the many initiatives in which we have worked with current university students to help students bridge the gap between school and university.

The Opportunity:

To tutor students on the LEAPS S6 Transitions Course through online learning platforms and on the UoE central campus, with the aim of raising awareness and aspiration regarding Higher Education (HE) as an option, and to support students in developing the key skills required for a successful first year at a Higher Education Institution.

For more information about LEAPS and its aims and objectives, please visit: www.leapsonline.org.

Employment commences in August for training, with the course teaching beginning at the end of August 2026 and running until the end of March 2027. Tutorials take place on Thursday afternoons during the teaching weeks and will alternate between in person and online sessions. Review meetings are held in April.

If you are successful following interview, you MUST be available for training in August and the course induction (see dates below). Note that training will be a combination of in-person, asynchronous and live online sessions. The full format will be confirmed closer to the time.

Provisional Training Dates:

Thursday 20th August (on-campus).

Friday 21st August (online, morning only).

Course Induction: Thurs 27th August (on-campus, 13.00-17.00)

If you have any job related queries please email: leapstransitions@ed.ac.uk

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Currently working towards the completion of a PhD and will be a current PhD student during the course teaching period (August 26 – March 27)
• A sound understanding of the academic skills required for successful study in an HE context
• Demonstrable ability to communicate with and lead final-year school students in a friendly and student-focussed manner
• Experience of leading tutorials/labs or similar in an HE setting
• Experience of marking undergraduate work and providing feedback to students
• Excellent team and independent working skills

View the full job description here

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work within the Transitions Course team and the wider LEAPS team. We give you support to enhance your teaching development in a rewarding role in widening participation to higher education.

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

If invited for interview you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages

On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

How to apply:

To apply, please submit a CV and Cover Letter outlining what you would bring to the role. The Cover Letter must also include one paragraph giving an example of how you would support LEAPS students to develop discussion skills in a tutorial setting (in-person and online) to help prepare them for their transition into university. Keep in mind that these are final-year school students who will be experiencing university tutorials for the first time.

Note that we expect the CV and statement to be wholly the work of applicants and not prepared using AI tools

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 10th June 2026

Interviews are scheduled to take place on the 9th and 10th July 2026.

Please note that while we will get back to all applicants with the outcome of applications, if you have not been invited to interview by the 2nd July you have not been shortlisted on this occasion.

As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.