Job Description
Learning Support Officer
Application Deadline: 26 June 2026
Department: ALS (Inclusive Learning)
Employment Type: Term Time
Location: Wigan & Leigh College
Compensation: £30,771 / year
30 Hours per Week, Term Time Only
The right support can change a learner’s whole college experience. Help us make sure it does.
Support is most effective when it is thoughtful, coordinated and focused on helping learners become more independent.
As our Learning Support Officer, you’ll lead the day-to-day coordination of support across designated curriculum areas. You’ll manage Learning Support Assistants, work with teaching teams and make sure learners with additional needs receive support that is well planned, proportionate and effective.
You’ll work with learners at different points in their journey. Some may be preparing to join college. Others may need support with transition, communication, mobility, learning, personal care or managing a complex combination of needs.
Your role will be to bring the right people and information together.
You’ll contribute to assessments, develop support plans, coordinate EHCP activity and help make sure reasonable adjustments are in place. You’ll also monitor whether support is working, using evidence to recommend where it should change.
This is a role for someone who can combine empathy with organisation. You’ll need to build trust with learners and families, give clear direction to staff and work confidently with curriculum teams and external professionals.
What you'll do
- Manage and support Learning Support Assistants across designated curriculum areas.
- Coordinate support so learners receive the right help at the right time.
- Assess learner need and contribute to Additional Learning Support Plans.
- Support annual reviews, EHCP activity and high-needs funding applications.
- Help coordinate examination access arrangements and reasonable adjustments.
- Support learners through transition, admissions, enrolment and progression.
- Work with curriculum teams to make sure support arrangements strengthen learning rather than create dependence.
- Monitor attendance, progress, engagement and the impact of support.
- Coordinate risk assessments, PEEPs and support for learners with medical or complex needs.
- Make sure specialist equipment and assistive technology are available and used effectively.
- Maintain accurate records and meet funding, audit and compliance requirements.
- Work with families, schools, external agencies and college colleagues.
- Support enrolment and other college-wide priorities across the academic year.
What you'll bring
- Experience supporting post-16 learners with learning difficulties, disabilities or high needs.
- Experience assessing needs and developing practical support plans.
- Experience supporting EHCPs, annual reviews or high-needs funding.
- Experience supervising or coordinating staff.
- A Level 3 qualification or equivalent professional experience.
- Level 2 English and maths.
- A relevant qualification in Learning Support, Education, Health and Social Care, Childcare or a related area.
- Good understanding of the SEND Code of Practice, Equality Act and reasonable adjustments.
- Strong organisation, communication and record-keeping skills.
- Confidence using Microsoft 365 and learner management systems.
- Experience working with families, curriculum staff and external professionals.
What you’re like
- Learner-centred. You focus on what will help each learner participate, progress and become more independent.
- Calm. You stay steady when situations are complex or sensitive.
- Organised. You keep support, reviews, records and staff deployment on track.
- Confident. You make decisions and give clear direction.
- Approachable. Learners, families and colleagues feel able to speak openly with you.
- Collaborative. You bring people together around the needs of the learner.
- Inclusive. You look for practical ways to remove barriers.
- Observant. You notice when support needs to change and act early.
Essentials
- You’ll need an enhanced DBS check. If you get the job, we’ll do this for you.
- You’re committed to safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion.
- You can work across all college sites and external venues.
- You’re flexible and happy to support learners and college activity beyond standard arrangements when required.
- You’re committed to ongoing training and professional development.
Why work with us
Learning support is often most visible in the moments when something begins to change.
A learner who was anxious about starting college begins to settle. Someone who relied heavily on support starts to complete more of a task independently. A family feels heard. A teaching team gains a clearer understanding of what will help a student participate.
At Wigan & Leigh College, you’ll help create those moments.
You’ll work across curriculum areas and with learners who bring different strengths, needs and ambitions. You’ll have the opportunity to shape support from transition onwards and make sure plans lead to real improvements in attendance, engagement, confidence and achievement.
You’ll also lead and develop staff who play a vital role in the learner experience. You’ll help them understand not just what support to provide, but how to provide it in a way that protects dignity and builds independence.
This is a role where organisation matters, but so does judgement. The goal is not simply to provide more support. It is to provide the right support and help every learner move forward.
Time to recharge
- Generous annual leave entitlement, including bank holidays, depending on your role
- Family-friendly leave policies
- 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
- Medicash healthcare plan
- Occupational health support
- Confidential counselling
- Specsavers eye test vouchers
- A culture where people look out for each other
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Salary sacrifice schemes, including Cycle to Work and buy tech
- Railcard and Tusker Green Car Scheme
- Local and national discount schemes
- Ongoing professional development
- Opportunities to build specialist knowledge in SEND, high-needs support and inclusive practice
- Opportunities to step up, specialise or move across college services
- Leadership pathways
Please complete our application form in full. We can’t accept CVs.
Learning Support Officer. Apply now.
