Associate lecturer role

[Hennaa20]

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help. I want to apply for an associate lecturer role at the Open university but I have no idea how to go about it. I do keep checking their site and no vacancies come up. Can anyone help and advise.

Also what qualifications would you need to be an associate lecturer ?
I have a degree in education studies and I teach English in the FE sector. i have done my teaching qualification and got my QTLS too. So I want to know if this is enough? I hope someone can advise ! Thanks so much

What do you mean by “associate lecturer”? Why the OU specifically? Usually to get a lecturing job at any university you would need a PhD. They are very competitive roles.

They do advertise AL posts when there are vacancies. Often, there are more vacancies just before the start of the academic year. This is the link to the webpage https://www5.open.ac.uk/employment/advert-staff-category/associate-lecturer

Be aware the OU is currently implementing a programme of voluntary redundancies for associate lecturers, so there might not be much recruitment upcoming.
where are you based geography OP?

the requirement for a PhD varies by discipline and institution: I was appointed without a PhD and undertook it whilst lecturing, and I know many people who have done this

I was an AL at the OU for quite a long time. Vacancies tend to come at particular times of the year - so for next October they usually start recruiting from April. But there are also some Jan/Feb starts that will recruit later. PhD requirement does indeed vary by course you'll just have to check the requirements. Many vacancies are initially or only advertised internally. It's pretty competitive to get into (maybe more than people might think) as it's very popular for people wanting to go part-time from home. I always used to say that people teach with the OU for all the same reasons people study with them.

For those who don’t know, associate lecturer is the term used to describe the thousands of people who actually teach the OU courses. These people work p/t and from home. I was an AL for 22 years across a range of education courses. It used to be that a basic degree and experience were what they were looking for. I did my MA in Education with the OU and was invited to apply. As has been said, it can be difficult to get appointed depending on the course. Academics like to teach the modules so as to get their hands on the course materials. These days most of the teaching is done online as is the marking. It is not a route into working for the OU full time. The academics who work full time are basically researchers/ authors of course materials.

I don't know about al's at the OU but associate/assistant lecturers are typically 3rd or 4th year PhD students at universities in my experience though institutions sometimes have other job titles

Yes that's a good point - AL posts are very much part-time and you have to stack them up (applying for each one individually) if you want FT equivalence - but beware that for various reasons it can be hard to actually achieve that. There are regular FT posts (not ALs) actually based at Milton Keynes - as pp said - they are researchers and course designers/writers who sometimes also lead modules and teach (and all require PhDs like other unis). Requirements for ALs though vary a lot by course - 2 of mine were definitely all PhDs (some Als were also regular lecturers elsewhere), other two I think maybe mixed, with/without.

Hi everyone thanks for your response. I work in a college and I was just thinking about my career progression and I like the idea of working part time as I have young children. I once applied for a role at a university local to me as an associate lecturer and my qualifications were enough however, unfortunately, I wasn't successful in securing the job in the interview process. I am thinking of flexibility alongside part time hence why I stated OU but if I could get into any university teaching online as an AL it would be amazing. OU is predominantly online so I assumed this university should definitely have this kind of role.

Also another issue I have is where I live in the UK has 1 campus of a university which is the one i applied at and was unsuccessful. Travelling is an issue too.

I know it seems like a long stretch in all honesty, as it seems I want something very specific so would be difficult and challenging to get into. I was wondering if I should undertake my Master's first then do this but I am really unsure... appreciate all your responses they have been helpful.

@AlwaysColdHands do you work at the OU? Is there a department I could contact to register my interest ?

@Rocknrollstar thanks for your comment its interesting. How did you find doing MA with OU? Is it difficult to work alone and are they supportive ? I am considering to do an MA in English first, or if I am ever successful in being recruited let them know i am interested in completing this alongside teaching. I specialise in teaching English at GCSE and A level, so would like to do something that would me in my subject knowledge. But MA seems daunting and difficult esp online

I think it is quite competitive; perhaps a bit less so for some vocational subjects. You also have to wait for a vacancy to come up, which can take ages…

I applied once with a similar qualification profile to you and once again with a masters degree, but didn’t get anywhere.

Have a look at other online training providers? If you’re teaching English in FE there will probably be demand for your skills somewhere.

I've been an associate lecturer with the OU for 2 years. There isn't a register, you have to watch out for when ads for new ALs come out although as previous posters said, there is a voluntary severance scheme in place at the moment so recruitment has slowed down, and vacancies are first filled internally.
It isn't clear from your post what your subject matter experience actually is, this is what matters more than teaching qualifications (a lot of ALs don't have one when they start but bring with them industry experience). If your experience is STEM-related, you stand much more of a chance, I teach in Computing and once you become an AL, there are a lot of opportunities to pick up more work. I started off on 0.1FTE and one module, I'm now on 0.4FTE and 3 different modules.

Honestly, I wouldn't have thought you would have a chance at getting a job without a Masters and preferably you should have a PhD too. If you want to work at a university, I would focus on increasing your education level first.

Sonjadog the OU is a bit different when it comes to employing ALs, I happen to have a PhD (in Sociology so rather unrelated to teaching in Computing), a lot of associate lecturers are industry practitioners and may not have a postgraduate degree.

Jobs for next October (the largest intake) will generally be advertised in April and May. It is possible over time to work up to taking on a full time workload but you will probably initially only be recruited to one or maybe two groups for one module. Existing tutors will have priority when allocating groups so although you might be appointable you might not get confirmation that you have a group until September.

Once in I have found it a fantastic way to balance work and family life. Geographic location is not really an issue now as most teaching is online/ marking.

Without a higher qualification I would perhaps aim for access/ level one initially. You would be able to work towards a higher degree through the open university once appointed and through your probation period.

That's interesting, I didn't know that. I work in a different country, and I always thought the OU was similar to any other university. But I really don't know much about it except that it exists!

There are quite a range of university lectureship/teaching posts across HE that don't require postgrad qualifications (sometimes not a masters) depending more on industry/practitioner experience (my dh used to lecture on an MA and only has an MA).

I also work at the OU and agree your FE experience would likely be seen as a positive for entry level modules- as the OU is open access you’d be working with students with the full range of educational experience. So look out for Level 1 courses in your subject. The module material is all written so the AL role is student support, marking/correspondence tuition and running tutorials- ie everything student facing.

It can be a bit of a closed shop though- as someone said earlier current ALs have priority for any new work. Recruitment does start around April but there is also often late recruitment in September or January if it becomes clear student numbers are higher than expected.

You don't say what subject. That's pretty important. I'm a senior lecturer in a RG uni but don't have a pHd so that advice isn't always correct. It very much depends on the subject. Not a good time to be applying to teach in any university though as there are mass redundancies planned. OU won't be any different. Also universities don't tend to care about pgce qualifications as you study that once you start with them.

It’s a completely different model to most other universities as it’s all distance and at scale. So the modules are written by academic staff and run for around a decade- usually students get a textbook and a website taking them through activities every week. Each student is assigned an Associate Lecturer who marks their work, they can go to for support, and runs any live tutorials through the module. So ALs are an incredibly diverse bunch- often very experienced both in and out of academia, who want flexible or part time work. It’s not the usual profile of associate lecturers in other places who are generally early career academics or PhD students.

It’s a completely different model to most other universities as it’s all distance and at scale. So the modules are written by academic staff and run for around a decade- usually students get a textbook and a website taking them through activities every week. Each student is assigned an Associate Lecturer who marks their work, they can go to for support, and runs any live tutorials through the module. So ALs are an incredibly diverse bunch- often very experienced both in and out of academia, who want flexible or part time work. It’s not the usual profile of associate lecturers in other places who are generally early career academics or PhD students.

Hi all!

I just found out yesterday I’m appointable for the practice tutor/AL in nursing. I’m just wondering what the next steps are now?

the email did say they’ll inform Atleast 2 weeks before if they’re able to appoint me to a group. Just wondering how it all works really?

Basically you are on a waiting list for a tutorial group. If enough students enrol on the course you will be assigned a group. If not you are on the list for next year. Once you add in, you are in. But it can take a while to get a group.

Only just seen this but you get loads of support from your fellow students and your tutor. When I did mine it wasn’t online and that meant you had to travel to tutorials and not every one turned up. My experience of being an AL was that everyone attended the online tutorials because all they had to do was log on not make an effort to go out in the cold etc. I did my MA while I was teaching full time so that tells you it is manageable. Because it is online there are support groups to join too.The groups I taught used to set up meetings without me to discuss the work.

I am an OU AL, attendance to tutorials is so much better than the in person courses I lecture on at the university I work at. Plus they are recorded and you can attend multiple tutorials. I think the OU is amazing. The course materials are exceptional.

plus the OU employs ALs on a permanent contract now, so once you are employed they will always find you work.

however, student numbers are dropping across the sector as fewer people are choosing to go to Uni.