tutor

lecturer

faculty

early years educator

social and health program consultant

Oldham-College

Let’s start on management. SHOCKING. There is a complete lack of communication between staff and you get all the blame for it. There is a lot of backbiting & talking about each other in the office. Management give you a timetable for the day but end up putting you in a few classes at once, but when you go to confirm where you need to be, their attitude makes you feel like an inconvenience.

There’s a reason why this college has a bad reputation, they bring in teachers with vocational experience but no teaching skills who can’t bond with the kids. There are ready made teachers at the college in other departments but no real sign of progression. 

I’ve met some amazing people there who are friends for life and are not afraid to speak up. Certain members of staff will really go out their way for the students. 

However, there are some staff that will make excuses for students’ bad behaviour & in turn not support their staff members that have to deal with the behaviour, even when it comes to safeguarding issues. 

There’s an awful superiority complex between the staff on level 2 and level 1 they pick and choose who will be appropriate for their course, without any consideration of student potential.  

Heads of departments have walked into class to embarrass staff in the classrooms in front of students. Heads of departments will not say hello and there is a general atmosphere of animosity in certain level 2 departments. 

Most the teachers I came across are friendly and kind they do acknowledge you. There is a very small minority that actually really care about the students learning and futures. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Colleagues!!! Everyone is so nice and willing to help and try their best to support you in every way.  Facilities are mainly new offering a great working environment.  Many staff incentives, development opportunities and perks.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The volume of students to staff ratio. Working environment is noisy, distracting, overwhelming and sometimes chaotic. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment is modern and comfortable, but often too noisy and busy.  The culture is very supportive of one another, strong middle management ready to listen, everyone is friendly and kind - welfare, safeguarding, mental/physical health is made a priority.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Starting a 7.45am, opening the front doors, setting up computers, meet and greet visitors/students/public, answering phone calls, emails, security checks, management of the reception area. Extremely busy, noisy and distracting environment.

The front line staff within the college are some of the nicest people to work with, the bonds built with colleagues really get you through the day. Managers  can be unsupportive and will throw you under the bus if it best suits. 
The hardest part of the job is trying to fit all the admin your expected to do in the very little admin time you are given, along with all the extra tasks that are thrown at you, Adding additional tasks on top of your job description, including invigilating exams, which little training is given for.
Don't bother to try and progress within the support department as no support is given to you to further yourself within the department or god forbid further yourself elsewhere in the college.
Jobs and department benefits are given to those who's face fits, related or within the inner favourite circle as this is how the management system works. 



Oldham College praises itself on a great place to work and learn. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Over the past 8 years I would of agreed. However, there has been an influx of new of staff in the management team and now it is a culture of blame. If your face fits you will be OK until you don't say yes when expected even if you do not agree. Or how high when they ask you to jump.

Most teams and areas are great to work with but remember it is not a place to voice your opinion it is not wanted. There are some great managers at the college that support their individual team and this shines in that faculty teams morale. In other faculties it is not the case and this again reflects in some of the teams low morale and high staff turnover. There has also been a significant increase in workload, if you want to work late into the night, weekends and holidays this is the place for you.

i start work at 08.00 preparing the work shop and assessment areas, for the sessions ahead, I only get paid from 09.00. and ofter work through the day till 17.00

I often learn from the deliveries made by the tutors I support. and never stop learning from the students they're all different 

The management seem indifferent to the daily runnings of the department.

We have built a really strong team of co-workers and assist each other when we can.This year we continued to build on the work we did last year and are presently on course to have great success in achieving great results

To motivate students who are not impressed with the course , is one of the hardest things to keep up.

To see the success and growth in the students from entering the college and leaving with a new and real life skill is a ery enjoyable feature of my job.

Oldham College is not a 'Great Place to Work' what a lie! 
Management are awful and treat us like something under your shoe. We get little to no support and get thrown around from one class to another. They take you out of classrooms in front of students and embarrass you instead of doing it at an appropriate time. We get thrown into the job and are expected to just get on with it. In meetings they love saying how they're there for us and don't want us to feel like we don't want to come into work. When we do have a problem or concern and raise it with management their replies are just rude. It is a terrible place to work especially for your health and wellbeing! They gossip about you in the office and everyone is always backbiting and making complaints about other staff members for no apparent reason.

I was initially contacted by a recruiter from a 3rd party Company. 
The application process was easy and swift. 
At the interview, I met with the Vice Principal, the HR Director and the Assistant Finance Director. 
My interview consisted of a presentation of a pre-given topic, competency based questions followed by a case study. 
I received an offer of employment on the same day as the interview so wasn't left waiting. 

Since joining the College, all staff have been welcoming and supported my first few weeks. There are a number of education-specific was of working which I am familiarising myself with. 

Overall a great onboarding experience. 

A typical day of work is constantly stressful. You feel like you’re walking on egg shells. There is no effective communication. If you’re in the click then your work life is great. If you’re not then it’s miserable. When I first started to work at the college, the manager told me not to go to the office over things that aren’t concerning. Made me feel like I couldn’t talk about my problems. If you have an appointment, you’re constantly mithered about changing your shift even though you can still make it to work on time. Wouldn’t work back here again. Not a positive atmosphere.
Made to feel like you’re not a independent adult as at key events, management talk to you as if you’re a child and don’t know what you’re doing.


What is the best part of working at the company?
Travelling from home as the journey was short. We got a free Costco card.  Some of the staff were very helpful.  The IT was very poor in the building and for the students. The study library was sometimes like a football pitch and very noisy not conducive to learning. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The students  lack of IT support. Staff went off with stress so juggling classes. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Stressful, challenging and not appreciative of your efforts. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Extremely busy, challenging students, lots of unnecessary emails to deal with along with CPD.

The job itself was good, it was mentally draining and exhausting but had moments of reward. 

Management is poor and extremely cliquey. If you weren’t working to your bones, you weren’t committed to the job. No respect or consideration for working families with no outside support. If you have a young family, don’t apply for a role here - time off is frowned upon. Expectations are far too high and don’t align with a good work/life balance. 

Pay is really poor, lowest paid college in Greater Manchester. 

Some staff are lovely, some are pretty awful and look down on support staff. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Tutor 35 salaries reported	£37,968 per year
Lecturer 3 salaries reported	£42,283 per year
Faculty 4 salaries reported	£30,637 per year
Early years educator 4 salaries reported	£36,918 per year
Social and health program consultant 5 salaries reported	£38,878 per year

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