Inclusion Officer

Date: 12 Oct 2026

Gloucestershire

This is a Gloucestershire County Council job.

Job Title: Inclusion Officer

Job Location: 92-96 Westgate Street

Salary: £34,237 - £37,563 per annum

Hours per Week: 37.00

Contract Type: Fixed Term

Duration: Two Years

Closing Date: 01/11/2026

Job Requisition Number: 15016

This post is not open to job share

An opportunity has arisen for 3 full-time fixed-term (2 years) School Inclusion Officers within the new School Inclusion Service from Autumn 2026 following the recent Education Directorate Review.

The primary focus of this role is to work with schools, Trusts, and other partner organisations to ensure that schools’ inclusive practices enable children to access education which is appropriate to their needs. Whilst a range of statutory duties must be met within this role, the main aim will be to take learner-centred approach to whole school inclusive practice: the right support in the right place at the right time.

This will be achieved by:

Championing children’s rights to appropriate education – providing appropriate support, guidance, and challenge to school and Trust leaders and Governors / Trustees to ensure that statutory responsibilities are met.

Supporting and advising senior leaders and staff within education settings / Trusts to develop inclusive practice and environments – sharing policy and best practice, especially relating to attendance, exclusion, SEN CoP, and meeting the needs of vulnerable cohorts.

Undertaking specific advice, guidance, and challenge for schools and Trusts linked to the Inclusion Framework and Toolkit, Schools' Bill, and the Ofsted Framework.

Working closely with schools/Trusts and other professionals to address issues preventing children and young people from accessing full and appropriate education – improving education outcomes.

Building a strong ‘high support high challenge’ relationship with allocated schools; being the schools’ first point of contact; and working closely with schools’ SEND and pastoral teams to support and offer advice, guidance and challenge on day-to-day inclusion practice.

Undertaking specific tasks relating to statutory areas, including TSMs, exclusions, PTTT, 10-day absence.

Please refer to the job profile for more detail on these aspects and for the other parts of the role.

Please note:

This post is subject to enhanced DBS clearance and safeguarding references, as well as usual references.

There will be some evening and weekend working.

You will need to be a car owner/driver, with access to a vehicle within working hours, and hold a current full driving licence valid for driving in the UK due to the significant travel across the county.

About you

To be successful, you will have experience of working within an education setting; have a commitment to an inclusive/enabling response to meet the needs of children with additional needs; will have experience of providing guidance, advice, and challenge to education leaders and other professionals; will be personally credible with schools, Trusts, and multi-agency partners; are able to empower others, and have the ability to provide expert advice and guidance to increase skills and confidence in others; and meet the essential education & qualifications criteria. You will also need to demonstrate the experience, knowledge, skills, understanding and behavioural attributes outlined in the job profile

About Us

For all your hard work, you will receive the following:

Flexible and agile working opportunities

25.5 days Annual Leave (pro-rata for part-time staff), rising to 30.5 days at the end of five years continuous local government employment

An option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro-rata for part-time staff)

Family friendly employer offering benefits to support you and your family

Career development and qualification opportunities

Supportive, positive, and relational working environment with regular, robust supervision

Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)

Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day online or by telephone

An in-house Occupational Health service

Employee discount scheme

Cycle to Work scheme

Gloucestershire Salary Sacrifice Green Car scheme (T&Cs apply)

Links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) network, dNet (disability and mental health network), and the Young Employees Network

How to apply

If you feel you have the skills, desire, and experience required to make a positive difference in this role, we would love to hear from you. Please submit your application and personal statement today by clicking the 'Apply Now' button. You are welcome to also submit a CV but please be aware this will not form part of the shortlisting as we follow Safer Recruitment.

If you would like an informal discussion about the role prior to application, please email School Inclusion Leads Becky Atkins and Victoria Burt together in the first instance with a contact telephone number; they will then be available to ring interested candidates back for an informal discussion: [email protected] and [email protected]

Short-listed candidates will be contacted by email.

Additional Information

To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:-

Job Profile - School Inclusion Officer

Due to the number of applications we received, we are unable to provide feedback at shortlisting stage and reserve the right to close the advert early.

Applications from any Gloucestershire County Council's employees who are currently on the redeployment register or at risk of redundancy will be considered first at shortlisting stage.

The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship in this role. Candidates will need to have a right to work that enables them to commit to at least 6 months' employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer.

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This position is subject to a DBS check.

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.

We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.