Anyone a sessional worker? Or been one?

[Tryingtogetaflatstomach]

I'm applying for a college lecturer role which has a fantastic hourly rate, however it's 'sessional work' based on the needs of the college.
I wonder if it's the same as a zero hours contract? My current work is all zero hours contracts so it wouldn't make any difference, just an hourly rate that's almost double what I'm on now.

Just hard to know how many hours it'd be roughly. If it's 15+ ok, if it's under 10, not worth it.

How can anyone tell you this? If it's on the needs of the college you are applying to, what difference does it make what hours other people working at different colleges with different needs do?

I have worked as a college lecturer, not on sessional but on a 9 hour a week contract, however the college did also offer zero hours.

My experience of FE is that everything is very, very last minute. Even at this stage of the day they may not yet have finalised how many classes are going to be running, what days times etc.

If you are due to start this September I would contact them and let them know that you will need to know how many classes you are going to be teaching and what days/evenings they have in mind as you have other work you need to book in around it (even if you don't, say that you do). I'd give them a deadline by the end of next week to let you know.

That's assuming you are going to be lecturing a specific subject rather than being a cover lecturer of some kind?

Re-reading your post if it's sessional they might only want you for the odd lecture rather than teaching a specific course from start to finish - what is your specialism? Can't you just give them a call and ask? FE colleges don't have the same long summer holidays as schools do, all of my FE friends are currently at work, you should be able to get hold of someone to talk this through with.

If you don't mind sharing the job ad I might be able to give you a better idea.

Apologies, I misread your OP when I wrote this and thought you'd been offered a job - if you're only just applying call them and ask.

I had a sessional contract (this was years ago) at a College of FE (evening classes)
Yes, the actual hourly rate was fantastic but I was only paid for the sessions I was actually teaching - it didn't take into account all the admin I was expected to do - or rather it did and that is why the rate was so good!
I was also expected to go to staff meetings - which I couldn't as I had another job in the day (which they knew about!)

Where I work, sessional staff have a set number of hours work per week for the year usually, but their hours are the last to be confirmed based on timetabling, student numbers and the permanent staff being maxed out on their hours first and their hours one year might not be the same as the next year depending on demand. They can sometimes pick up extra hours if someone is off sick or there is something on that requires more staff.

Thanks for all the info. It's a job teaching languages!

Oh and like others have said, only paid for actual teaching hours, and the rate can vary depending on whether you are just teaching (using resources prepared by someone else), planning and teaching or planning, teaching and assessing.

I'm on £13 an hour currently for TEFL and they're offering £26 an hour so literally double!
I have a little prep atm but it's minimal.

I've taught adults before, and secondary age children but not a lot of FE.
Some of the adults I taught expected constant games and things like Kahoot which put me off a bit. One went behind my back to complain I didn't play enough games, a 26 year old man FFS.
Some yes, but they're not 14 year olds who need entertaining constantly.
So I'm not sure if FE for older teens/very young adults would be the same.

Be aware that it's essentially a multiplier rate based on contact hours of teaching only. You'll need to do all prep and marking in your own.

I'm a sessional tutor for 2 FE colleges. I'm usually told 7-10 days before the start of term of a course is running, at the latest. Earlier if the minimum number have signed up.

I don't know if it's significant being called 'sessional' as opposed to zero hours, however we were paid under the furlough scheme for both colleges and I'm not sure zero hours people in other settings were.

My courses are not under OFSTED so my paperwork is minimal, eg I have to produce a 10 week lesson plan - high level- so someone can pick up my classes for sickness cover. Don't have to worry about formal student assessments. Might be worth you checking this. For meetings I get a lower rate of pay, but don't often get to them as they clash with other teaching commitments.

My work has a couple of people as sessional staff. They cover illness, holidays, etc. There’s no gaurantee they’ll get any hours at all in a given period. In theory they’re not penalised for turning work down, nor do they have work cancelled at the last minute - but in practice as a charity the more “flexible” they are the more keen manager is to keep them.

So where I work they are absolutely a zero-hours contract, but with better PR.

I echo what pp said about marking and planning, that would all be done in your own time. The course I taught I had forty students submit an assignment every single week which took a substantial chunk of my weekend to get done every week. There was existing planning but it wasn't very good so I did a lot of my own.

Students were very needy also, lots of emails to ask questions they could have googled the answer for (honestly I had someone email me to ask if they could come to college when their Uncle had tested positive for covid - this was back in 2021 - google the bloody rules yourself). Clamp down and pushback on anything like this at the start.

There was also an admin rate for meetings, I never went to one. There will be mandatory training, e.g. safeguarding they'll expect you to fit in and will probably only pay admin rate for.

Thank you, I'm going to apply and see how it goes!

Check what the rate involves. Usually you'll also be expected to do prep and marking which is why the hourly rate is so high - one hour teaching at £26 an hour also requires half an hour prep and half an hour marking, making an effective pay rate of £13 an hour.

My pay rate is approx £25 per hour and doesn't require marking, although I do write up a 10 week lesson plan and a bit of prep before hand.