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Writing a job description: template and guidance
Adapt our template for any school-based role, and see guidance on writing and reviewing your job descriptions.
Contents
Download our job description template
Adapt it for any school-based role. It also includes a person specification.
Generic job description examples
Acas, (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) has produced an outline of a job description.
Ealing Council has also produced generic job descriptions for teaching and leadership positions, including:
- Class teacher
- Teaching and learning responsibilities (TLRs)
- Assistant headteacher
- Deputy headteacher
The job descriptions are designed for primary schools but you can adapt it for a secondary school.
You’ll find further guidance on job descriptions, including checklists and templates, on our job descriptions page.
Guidance on writing your job descriptions
See guidance from Oxfordshire County Council and Ealing Council on what to include in job descriptions. For example:
- Identify a range of work involved instead of listing every possible activity
- Use headings to group duties
- Avoid jargon
Avoid discrimination
It's usually against the law to discriminate against an applicant because of their:
- Age
- Disability
- Race
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
Be wary of referring to any of these ‘protected characteristics’ when writing a job description. This includes indirect references, such as:
- ‘Recent graduate’, which could be discrimination based on age
- ‘Handyman’, which could be discrimination based on gender
Review your job descriptions
If a member of staff has taken on significant new responsibilities, you should change their job description to reflect this.
Review your job descriptions once a year as part of performance management. However, you don't need to make changes unless there's a specific reason to do so.
Read our articles on the recruitment process
Writing a job description is just one stage of the recruitment process for schools.
Take a look at our other articles to help you with:
- Advertising roles in both maintained schools and academies
- Seeking references
- Interviewing and selecting candidates
- Job offers and pre-employment checks
Once recruitment is over, you might find our articles on induction and probation useful.
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