Vacancy: Deputy Director of Pre-Clinical Studies

Expressions of interest are invited for the office of Deputy Director of Pre-clinical Studies (Deputy DPS) within the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (SMBMS) of the University of Oxford, as the current postholder, Professor Chris Norbury, has indicated that he would like to step down from the role at the end of the 2026-27 academic year. It is anticipated that the successful candidate will take over from Professor Norbury during September 2027, but it would be helpful if there could be a period of shadowing/handover prior to that.

The Deputy DPS takes the leading role in overseeing the recruitment and selection (admissions) to the A100 Medicine programme and acts as the ‘Admissions Coordinator’ for the programme. The Deputy DPS will also need to be able and willing to assist and deputize for the Director of Pre-clinical Studies (DPS) (Professor Robert Wilkins) in all aspects of his role.

It is expected that the successful candidate will already be employed in a post within the University. The time commitment associated with the role is on average one half day per week (0.1 FTE). The funding available for the Directorship will be used to ‘buy out’ the successful applicant from existing duties in a University department, subject to the agreement of the Head of Department, and to cover the cost of a small responsibility allowance.

The appointment will be offered for three years in the first instance, with the possibility of re-appointment following review. There will be a probationary period of one year.

The Deputy DPS will be responsible to the DPS. Professor Wilkins will chair the selection committee for the Deputy Directorship.

About the role

The Deputy DPS will oversee the recruitment and selection of students to the A100 Medicine programme (the six-year Medicine course for school leavers). There is a two step process in which applicants are shortlisted for interview largely on the basis of contextualised GCSE performance and their result in a pre-admissions aptitude test (UCAT). Shortlisted applicants are then interviewed at two colleges. Each college panel then ranks the performance of the applicants it has interviewed. The highest ranked applicants are placed preferentially at their college of choice.

In 2025 there were 1026 applications for 2026/7 entry. 425 applicants were shortlisted for interview. Following interviews, 174 offers were made in total for 158 college places.

The Deputy Director will oversee the arrangements for promoting the A100 Medicine programme to prospective applicants. They will be a major contributor to A100 Medicine events at the three University Open Days held each year. The Deputy Director will also lead efforts to increase the number of applications from under represented groups, and to participate in University-led outreach initiatives.

The administration of the selection procedures is carried out by the academic administration team in the Medical Sciences Teaching Centre. The postholder will need to work closely with this team, especially during periods of peak admissions activity.

The Deputy DPS will be formally responsible to the DPS but will be expected to liaise closely with other officers within the SMBMS and the Medical Sciences Division, including the Director of Graduate-entry Medical Studies (Dr David McCartney), who is the Admissions Co-ordinator for the A101 Graduate Entry Medicine programme, and Dr Kerry Walker, who is the Admissions Co-ordinator for the Biomedical Sciences programme.

Admissions policy and procedure for the programme is overseen by the Pre-clinical Medicine Steering Committee, of which the Deputy DPS will be a member. They will also be a member of the School’s Executive Board.

Duties and responsibilities

1. Take the lead role in overseeing the admissions process for A100 Medicine, maintaining and further developing admissions procedures for the programme that are compliant with the Common Framework for Undergraduate Admissions.

Oversee the dissemination of information as appropriate to college tutors and admissions offices, offer guidance.
Liaise with colleges to establish the number of college quota places and open offers available for each admissions round, with a view to hitting the University’s OfS target intake figure for medical students as closely as possible each year.
Manage the formulaic shortlisting process, including consideration of flagged applicants not automatically shortlisted, and allocation of second college.
Direct the response to feedback requests from applicants not shortlisted. e. Oversee the preliminary and final ranking processes. Oversee the final allocation of applicants to colleges.
Oversee the production of a written report at the conclusion of each exercise.
Oversee the responses to Stage 1 appeals from applicants about admissions decisions, and oversee the production of information to the University Admissions Office in the case of Stage 2 or Stage 3 appeals.
Where necessary, propose changes to policy or procedure and, when agreed, implement changes, in conjunction with the course administration team. Undertake or commission statistical analysis where appropriate to evaluate the effect of policy or of changes in policy.
Chair meetings of college tutors for Pre-clinical Medicine in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms to consult on changes to policy and procedure and to discuss matters of principle.
Attend meetings of the Admissions Committee and/or the Admissions Executive of the Conference of Colleges, as required.
Advise on responses to queries about admissions policy and procedures from prospective applicants.

2. Oversee the arrangements for pre-admissions tests for the A100 Medicine programme (currently the UCAT).

Liaise with the Undergraduate Admissions Office regarding test provider and logistical and financial arrangements
In the case of a multi-course or multi-institution test, sit on the appropriate body of academic stakeholders.

3. Oversee the confirmation exercise in August of each year, where conditional offers are confirmed or not following A-Level results, and open offer holders are allocated to colleges.

4. Promote the A100 Medicine programme at the University of Oxford to prospective applicants:

Oversee the programme of recruitment and outreach activities for A100 Medicine and encourage other members of academic staff to take part in these activities.
Deliver presentations to prospective applicants for Medicine at three University Open Days per year.
Represent at other events for prospective applicants or recruit other members of academic staff to attend.
Oversee the content of publicity material for the programme (mostly web based).
Oversee the organisation and delivery of the University’s summer school in Medicine
Identify under-represented groups of applicants and work with colleagues to develop and implement recruitment strategies targeting those groups.
Advise on responses to queries about admissions policy and procedures from prospective applicants, where required.

5. Act as a member of the SMBMS Pre-clinical Medicine Steering Committee and other relevant SMBMS committees (currently the Executive Board).

6. Attend meetings of the committee which oversees the progression of Pre-clinical students to the Clinical Medicine programme (students progressing from Year 3 to Year 4).

7. Represent the University at meetings relating to Medicine recruitment/admissions organised by external and/or national bodies (e.g. General Medical Council, Medical Schools Council).

8. Assist with or deputise for the Director of Pre-clinical Studies (DPS) in the following duties, as required:

Implementation of the curriculum and the academic timetables for Biomedical Sciences students in years 1-4.
annual updates of the syllabuses for the programme, in conjunction with the relevant course committees.
arrangements (including appointment of Examiners) for the examinations and assessments taken by Biomedical Sciences students.
processes for the collection of, consideration of, and response to student feedback to ensure that academic standards are upheld.
quality assurance/enhancement reviews and subsequent actions arising from recommendations.
stewardship of relationships between the course and the Colleges g. stewardship of relationships between the course and the student body
stewardship of relationships with the Heads of departments that contribute to the teaching of the programme
responses to national, University and Divisional policy and regulatory initiatives.
handle queries from, and problems relating to, individual students.

9. Participate in communication and shared decision-making across the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

10. Provide guidance to individual members of teaching staff on academic matters.

Essential selection criteria

Current employment in a University departmental academic post
Up-to-date knowledge of undergraduate admissions procedures for Medicine within the University and substantive experience that would be of assistance in dealing with related issues;
Experience of the admissions process for Medicine;
Up-to-date knowledge of current undergraduate educational issues;
Ability to command the confidence of a broad range of academic and professional services staff members across the collegiate University;
Excellent communication skills (oral and written);
Experience of delivering high-quality undergraduate teaching and assessment;
Ability to establish relationships with University departments, Colleges, partner hospital trusts and local healthcare and academic networks;
Ability to establish excellent relationships with the student body and with individual students;  Knowledge/experience of curriculum development and delivery within undergraduate education.

Desirable selection criteria

Possession of a Master’s degree or Diploma in learning and teaching, or similar equivalent experience

Expressions of interest

Expressions of interest in the form of a curriculum vitae with a covering statement detailing the applicant’s suitability should be submitted to Mrs Kirstie Vreede (kirstie.vreede@smbms.ox.ac.uk) by no later than noon on Tuesday 30 June 2026.