At Oxford Brookes, we want to support all of our academic colleagues to achieve their full potential.
If you are a Lecturer at Oxford Brookes, our Progression to Senior Lecturer scheme is the next step in achieving your aspirations and developing your career at Oxford Brookes.
The scheme is a step in our academic career pathway framework that offers Lecturers at Brookes an opportunity to progress into a Senior Lecturer role. This provides colleagues with:
Progression through the grade 10 and 11 normal increment points on the pay scale.
To be eligible to apply for the scheme, colleagues will:
An up to date personal research plan must also have been completed for colleagues who are allocated research time.
Please ensure you check that you are eligible, as applications from colleagues who do not meet these criteria will not progress to panel.
If you are considering applying for progression, the first step in the process is to discuss this with your line manager. This will enable you to:
If you are not quite ready to take the next step in your career journey, your line manager will be able to offer support, development opportunities and help you to further develop your skills.
Our resources section below provides further guidance to help you with your career development.
The Senior Lecturer progression panel will consider your contribution to:
These topics and questions are based on the responsibilities and requirements detailed within the Senior Lecturer role profile.
You apply via an application form, which contains questions designed to support you to discuss your competencies and experience.
Applications should include evidence that exemplifies your performance and the progress you have made towards the level of working identified within the role profile.
You are not expected to demonstrate performance at a Senior Lecturer level across all criteria. We acknowledge that there may be a variation in the balance of achievements arising from the varied academic expertise and specialisms of colleagues at the University.
Applicants should provide:
This information will need to be sent to the relevant contact within your Faculty. Your line manager will be able to advise as to the internal process and deadline you will be required to work to.
Your Head of School (HoS) will complete a statement to accompany your application. Please therefore ensure that you:
Responses to each question should not exceed 300 words. It is therefore important to carefully select the examples you wish to discuss, and to be as concise as possible.
You may wish to discuss some/all of the following areas (depending on your role/academic focus) as part of your responses:
You could provide examples of UG/PGT teaching practice which demonstrate the impact of your activities through module/programme outcomes, as well as assessment and student progression. You may wish to provide examples of your excellent and / or innovative contributions in:
You could also provide examples of student feedback, prizes or awards for teaching, feedback from external examiners, or peer reviews of teaching. Examples could refer to:
Other examples you could address include:
Heads of Schools are asked to complete the supporting statement section of the form. They should provide a clear rationale and evidence as to whether the applicant should progress to Senior Lecturer or not.
A discussion should take place with line managers prior to writing the statement to confirm whether PDR objectives have been met, and gather further information that will feed into the statement, for example, in relation to activities, skills and performance.
Completed applications and supporting documents should be submitted to payandreward@brookes.ac.uk by 30 June 2026.
If you have any questions, please contact our Reward and Progression Manager at payandreward@brookes.ac.uk.
The panel will be chaired by the Chief People Officer or Deputy Director People Operations and will include the Deputy PVC from each Faculty.
The information provided will be reviewed by the Senior Lecturer Progression Panel, against the role profile for this role, to assess performance and progress made towards this level of working.
The panel will then make a recommendation to the Vice-Chancellor.
Outcomes will be provided no later than 31 August. Progression to Senior Lecturer will apply from 1 September, as will the new incremental progression date.
If the panel does not recommend progression to Senior Lecturer, feedback will be provided to support you with future applications.
The role of the Appeals Process and Panel
Colleagues may appeal the outcome of their application for progression to Senior Lecturer if there is evidence of procedural irregularity or discrimination i.e. the way in which the application was considered led to a decision that was not reasonable in the circumstances.
The Appeals Panel will consist of a senior member of the People Directorate (normally the Deputy Director, People Operations) and a thematic Pro Vice-Chancellor.
The panel will not consider any new evidence to further support the initial application for progression to Senior Lecturer.
Eligibility
Colleagues wishing to appeal must meet the following criteria:
Making an Appeal
To appeal, colleagues must complete the Senior Lecturer Progression Appeal Form (Brookes login required, this form will open in August), clearly detailing:
The Appeal Form must be submitted by email to the Reward and Recognition Manager within 14 calendar days of the date of the letter giving the decision of the Senior Lecturer Progression Panel.
The Appeals Panel
A panel consisting of the Deputy Director, People Operations (or other senior colleague from the People Directorate), and a thematic Pro Vice-Chancellor will review:
The role of the appeals panel is to identify whether there has been a procedural irregularity or discrimination and the impact of this on the initial outcome. The panel will:
Outcomes
The Appeals Panel will normally meet and provide an outcome within 30 working days from the date of receipt of the Appeal Form.
If the appeal is successful, and if the Appeal Panel determines that the appellant should progress to Senior Lecturer, that progression will be backdated as if the original application had been successful.
If the appeal is unsuccessful i.e the panel outcome is upheld, feedback will be provided. This decision will conclude the appeals process. There is no further right to appeal or to raise a grievance concerning the process or outcome.
This provides a structure for professional development and the key criteria/behaviours for successful performance.
A tool that can be used for self reflection, identifying career objectives and actions.
This can help you identify your career objectives, and further develop skills, knowledge and behaviours.
Excellence in Promoting Leadership of Research and Education, or EXPLORE, aims to inspire transformational academic practice through teacher, researcher and leadership development.
These webpages provide further information on Academic development.