Schools Recruitment Service (SRS)

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Wiltshire Council has subscribed to the national Schools Recruitment Service to provide access for all schools in the county. Advertising vacancies for teaching and non-teaching staff in schools has for many years relied upon the publication of advertisements in printed media, notably The Times Educational Supplement and the local press. In recent years on-line advertising has provided an alternative or supplementary approach which continued to require the payment of significant sums to publishers. The Schools Recruitment Service (SRS) has been developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in association with Tribal Group plc. following a full EU procurement process.

The primary function of SRS is to improve current recruitment practices for all permanent leadership, teaching and support staff in schools and to reduce the cost of advertising and recruitment for schools. The SRS will be used by schools across England to post vacancies and manage their communications with applicants.

Benefits

The new service puts the whole application process online for jobseekers, from searching for vacancies and receiving alerts to applying for jobs and arranging interview times. It uses technology to bring about improved value for money and smoother processes. SRS makes the recruitment process more candidate-focused, better able to respond to the market place and the needs of the school; therefore reducing the cost per hire and increasing quality and productive time.

The SRS uses online applicant tracking technology designed to help modernise recruitment processes. Schools can place vacancies on the systems which can be assessed by potential candidates nationally and internationally. The SRS has been designed to be a simple system that jobseekers want to use, improving their application experience and attracting more applicants to vacancies.

The SRS will allow schools to book and formulate advertisements; filter, track and respond to applications; and track the candidate’s progress from application right through to appointment. All of these facilities speed up the recruitment process. Other benefits include:

• An easy to use system with support from Wiltshire Council super users and online training.
• Identifying the right candidate and have them in post more quickly.
• Cash savings on paper, postage and print, and reduces the need for paid advertising.
• Smarter recruitment campaigns - track the success of your adverts, improve targeting of future adverts and minimise the need to re-advertise.
• Attracting more applicants - a simple system that jobseekers want to use.
• Improved intelligence around jobseeker behaviour and attraction.
• Contributing to environmental sustainability targets by reducing the need for printed material.

Why is Wiltshire Council supplying the service?

The main aim of this project is to comply with the council’s major strategic goal; which is to provide high quality, low cost, customer focused services. The council has recognised that this could be a major benefit to all schools given the current economic situation. With major government budget cuts due in the foreseeable future, this system could help make major cost and efficiency savings in terms of job advertising and administration. The council has taken up the licence for this system on behalf of all schools. The Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) have invested in the development of the system and are the systems sponsors. The Government are also backing the system.

What is the cost to Schools?

Annual Subscription fees	Band 1 (1 - 50 employees)	£110.00
	Band 2 (51-150 employees)	£230.00
	Band 3 (151-250 employees)	£314.00

Whilst the costs quoted are for 1year it is recommended that schools sign up for a longer period of time to ensure the full benefits of the service (3 years) and to avoid increases to the costs. Once the school has joined, one super user per school will be trained on the system by officers from Wiltshire Council. An account will be set up for the super user when trained, this will enable them to put job vacancies on the system and maintain applicant workflow. A school super user can add 2 additional users onto the system, but they will have limited access.

What is included in the price?

• Schools Recruitment Service for up to a year (depending on how long the school wishes to sign up for). Unlimited job adverts on the system for up to a year.
• 5 adverts on the Wiltshire Schools bulletin/Wiltshire Council Careers website.
• Technical support and training provided by the Wiltshire Council Recruitment team.

What to do to sign up to the Service?

An agreement needs to be signed and sent to the address given below. An invitation will be sent to invite one user within the school to receive training as a super user on the service. The agreement is listed under important documents.

Important documents

• School Recruitment Service Agreement 125kb
• Schools Recruitment Service Key Terms 125kb

Last updated: 2 December 2010