Students at an event
Students at an event, Jessica Bernard Photography

Support workers

Find out more about opportunities to work in a student support role.

The DAS needs reliable, flexible individuals with appropriate skills to provide students with study support. This type of human support is called non-medical help (NMH). There are several different types of role available. All the roles are part-time and the level of commitment can vary to match your availability in many cases.

Note taker

Take notes on a student’s behalf and produce an accurate record of the content of lectures, seminars, and discussions in the student’s preferred style and format.

Job description and person specification.

Practical support assistant (library/laboratory/sighted guide)

Help students to search library catalogues, source and collect materials on a student’s behalf and photocopy and scan resources.

Provide practical and mobility support to assist a student with a physical or sensory impairment in manoeuvring between and around key study venues. This could include carrying books and equipment, helping to manipulate a wheelchair, acting as a sighted guide for a visually-impaired student or supporting a student with practical aspects of their course, eg in the laboratory.

Job description and person specification.

Caption editor

Support students’ use of educational recordings, using knowledge of the subject area to provide accurate captions and transcripts, correcting a base text created via automatic speech recognition (ASR). Accurate captions can be essential for access to lecture materials, for example for some students with hearing impairments, neurodivergence or SpLDs, but can also enhance learning for all students.

Study assistant for students with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Provide assistance to students with ASD,  with organisation, social interaction, prioritising workload and understanding ambiguous terminology or instructions. Support is often offered at key periods of transition, such as on the student’s arrival at the university, but in some instances may be required on an ongoing basis throughout their course. 

Job description and person specification.

Examination support worker (reader or scribe)

Act as an examination reader, scribe and examination prompter. It can include reading out the examination paper, writing down the student’s answers using exactly the words used by the student and giving a prompt as to when it is time to move on to another question. 

Job description and person specification.

Specialist student support roles, such as 1:1 study skills tuition or specialist mental health mentoring,  will be advertised through the University of Oxford recruitment pages.

All NMH support workers must be able to demonstrate:

  • experience of higher education study;
  • appropriate academic qualifications;
  • reliability, flexibility and accuracy as needed for the role;
  • commitment to supporting disabled students;
  • an understanding of the importance of confidentiality and discretion; and
  • the ability to work with a wide range of people.

NMH roles are open to: 

  • On-course University of Oxford graduate students (subject to college or departmental regulations on paid employment)
  • Academic staff from HEIs
  • Librarians
  • Teachers
  • Psychologists
  • Other members of the city of Oxford community with professional and academic backgrounds

Applying for student support roles

We recruits support workers throughout the year. You can find job descriptions and an application form on the right hand side of this page. Please email completed applications and a CV to [email protected].  

If your skills match our requirements you might be invited to an informal interview. You may also have to complete brief introductory disability awareness training, and undertake any specialist training required.

All the roles will be operated through the University of Oxford Temporary Staffing Service in partnership with the Disability Advisory Service. Hours of work are dependent on student need; we cannot guarantee a fixed amount of work. All roles are part-time.

If you are a fully qualified and DSA-QAG registered provider of specialist non-medical help, contact us if you would like to use the administrative service offered by the DAS.

If you have any questions, contact [email protected] or call 01865 280459.

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