Researcher

Organisation

Alpha Plus is a private education provider for children aged between one and eighteen years of age. Our aim is to give every child in our care the best possible start in life. Each Head, or Principal, leads their institution towards a common goal of education excellence, which is defined as the Alpha Plus ‘Gold Standard’.

The Group comprises a collection of sixteen highly regarded independent schools and three colleges in the UK, and we also own and run one school in New York.

About the Role

The education market has many dynamics which need to be fully understood if our schools are to be commercially successful. Schools need to understand their catchment area, their target audience and Heads need to understand points of differentiation between their school and their competitors.

The Researcher’s task is to provide data which will then help those working at Head Office, including the CEO and Directors, and also the Heads and Principals, to make informed decisions.

You will be working mainly in Head office, which is located at 50, Queen Anne Street in Marylebone. However, you will also be expected to visit some of our schools, most of which are in London (15 schools) but we also have schools in Tonbridge and Coventry and colleges in Cambridge and Manchester. There may also be an opportunity to travel to China or the USA depending on the tasks given to you (the previous incumbent of this post visited Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in order to carry out her research brief).

The majority of your time, however, will be based in Central London. Your normal day to day task will be to find out and then present data which will help the group’s central management team and Heads to understand the market in which their schools and colleges are operating, and to help these Senior Leaders to maximise their schools commercial performance. The role is a very varied one, allowing high exposure to senior management.

The role requires an individual who can work quickly and concurrently across a wide range of commercial issues facing an education business.

Examples of projects you could be involved in are as follows: you may be working with the CEO to help him understand London-wide education market dynamics; you may be working with the Director of Marketing to help her define the unique proposition of a school; you might be working with the Heads to identify opportunities to attract more students to their school; you could be working with the Director of Senior Schools to collate, present and also analyse school and college test and examination data. You could be researching the fees charged by competitor schools and presenting these to the Finance Director in a spreadsheet. You could be researching postcodes of parents, to help define a school’s current catchment area, but also therefore identifying areas where Heads will need to spend more time visiting feeder schools with a view to expanding this catchment area.

Alpha Plus is also working overseas, and some of your work could involve working with the Director of Operations (China) or with the Head of Wetherby-Pembridge, New York on similar projects to those listed above, in our UK schools.

Key Skills & Requirements

Excellent knowledge of where to find information using the World Wide Web

Being able to present this information in the clearest possible form, whether in text form, or charts or graphs or maps (e.g. mapping postcodes showing where current parents live)

Strong communication skills, being able to discuss and present your findings to senior stakeholders

Analytical and reporting skills – a high level of proficiency with excel spread sheets would be desirable

A strong work ethic

The ability to work well on your own (a lot of your research will be carried out on line) but you must also be able to collaborate as part of a team as the project requires (e.g. assisting members of the China team).

 

Key Responsibilities

Drawing business insight from education market information, collating information from industry databases (eg from the Department of Education or the Independent Schools Council)

Catchment area analysis, to understand the parents who live around a certain school or potential school location, with a view to helping to inform strategy

Annual data collection and analysis of A levels and GCSE results from the schools and colleges

Other research assignments as required by the CEO or other members of the Alpha Plus senior management team, as our business needs arise.

Alpha Plus Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The successful applicant will need to obtain an enhanced disclosure via the DBS, and have DBS (Disclosure and Barring Services) clearance. References must be provided and will be carefully checked.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.