Dedicate Recruitment Ltd

Dedicate Recruitment Ltd Specialists in the appointment of permanent & contract Finance, HR & Support staff in education, charities and the wider public sector, across the UK.

🏆 Wembley eve at Dedicate Recruitment towers and the atmosphere is… electric.Tomorrow we're on the train and heading to ...
15/05/2026

🏆 Wembley eve at Dedicate Recruitment towers and the atmosphere is… electric.

Tomorrow we're on the train and heading to the FA Cup Final - and with Man City, Chelsea, Man United and Spurs fans all under one roof, it's fair to say opinions on tomorrow's result are… varied.

The City fans are quietly confident. The Chelsea fans are loudly confident. The United fan is trying to work out who to want to lose more. And the Spurs fan? Well, they're just happy to be going to Wembley. It's not something they're used to. 😅

All jokes aside, we can't wait. Whatever the result, it's going to be a brilliant day.

Whoever lifts the trophy, we'll all be back doing what we do best on Monday - finding brilliant people for brilliant schools.

See you at Wembley! 🏟️⚽

This week, Year 10 students at Haberdashers Hatcham College took part in a practice interview day, giving them a valuabl...
13/05/2026

This week, Year 10 students at Haberdashers Hatcham College took part in a practice interview day, giving them a valuable taste of the professional world ahead of their upcoming work experience placements.

Supported by a brilliant group of volunteers, students had the opportunity to sit face-to-face with employers, answer interview-style questions, and receive real, constructive feedback. The impact was clear - students left the day visibly proud of themselves, with many saying it had boosted their confidence and left them feeling far more prepared for future opportunities.

We were delighted to be involved. Dedicate Recruitment's Founder and Recruitment Director, Liz Nevitt, attended on behalf of the team, bringing her expertise and genuine passion for supporting young talent to the day.

A heartfelt thank you to the school and every volunteer who gave their time. Your encouragement and feedback made a real difference - and seeing students walk away proud of themselves is the best possible outcome.

At Dedicate Recruitment, supporting the next generation isn't just something we do - it's something we're truly passionate about.

Most schools are paying the apprenticeship levy every month.Most aren't spending it.After 24 months, it expires - and go...
24/04/2026

Most schools are paying the apprenticeship levy every month.
Most aren't spending it.
After 24 months, it expires - and goes straight back to the government.

For HR leads and business managers in education, that's money that could be filling support staff vacancies and developing your existing team. Gone.

We've put together a practical guide covering:
📢 Which apprenticeship standards apply to support roles
📢 How the 20% off-the-job requirement works in practice
📢 A five-step starting point for getting moving

If levy funds are sitting unspent in your school or trust, this is for you.

https://dedicaterecruitment.co.uk/white-paper

FREE WHITE PAPER: The apprenticeship levy is a government-mandated training fund that schools and academy trusts are alr...
17/04/2026

FREE WHITE PAPER: The apprenticeship levy is a government-mandated training fund that schools and academy trusts are already paying into - but most aren't using it.

Employers with a pay bill over £3m contribute 0.5% into a ring-fenced account. The government tops it up by 10%. Smaller schools below the threshold pay just 5% of training costs, with the government covering the rest.

The funds can be used to recruit new support staff or develop people already in post. And if they're not spent within 24 months, they expire and go back to the government.

For many HR leads and business managers in education, levy funds are sitting unspent - while support staff vacancies go unfilled and budgets get tighter.

We've written a practical guide to help schools and academy trusts use the levy strategically, covering which apprenticeship standards apply to support roles, how the 20% off-the-job requirement actually works in practice, and a five-step starting point for HR leads and business managers.

https://dedicaterecruitment.co.uk/white-paper

Feel free to share with anyone in education who'd find it useful.

We spoke to an HR manager at a multi-academy trust recently who summed it up perfectly."We can't backfill. We can't recr...
16/04/2026

We spoke to an HR manager at a multi-academy trust recently who summed it up perfectly.

"We can't backfill. We can't recruit permanently. But somehow we're still expected to run the same schools with fewer people."

If you're a hiring manager or HR lead in education right now, you'll recognise that feeling. Caught between budget pressures and a directive to reduce headcount - and a support team that's already running on empty.

The work hasn't reduced. The schools haven't got quieter. But the resource has.

Budget constraints are real. The pressure to cut costs is real. But so is the operational strain when support functions are left understaffed.

When support roles go unfilled in schools and trusts, it's rarely the gap that appears on a spreadsheet. It's the SENCo drowning in admin. The business manager covering three roles. The good people quietly deciding it's time to leave education altogether.

The HR leads and hiring managers navigating this best are thinking differently:

✅ Planning interim and fixed-term appointments ahead of need - not scrambling when someone hands in their notice mid-term

✅ Using the apprenticeship levy not as a compliance exercise, but as a genuine pipeline for school support staff

✅ Redesigning roles intelligently - combining functions where it makes sense across a trust, rather than leaving site-level gaps unfilled

✅ Partnering with specialists who understand education pay scales, NJC conditions, and the unique pace of school-based recruitment

You don't have to choose between balancing the books and maintaining a functioning support team.

But you do need a smarter approach to how you resource these roles.

We work exclusively with schools, academies, and trusts on exactly this. If you're trying to hold your support team together under these pressures - we'd genuinely like to hear how you're approaching it.

And if you want a conversation about what options are available to you right now, our door is open.

We've been doing a bit of a spring clean at Dedicate Recruitment HQ — and look what we found!We have a spare copy of Gre...
10/04/2026

We've been doing a bit of a spring clean at Dedicate Recruitment HQ — and look what we found!

We have a spare copy of Greg Savage's must-read book The Savage Truth, and we'd love to pass it on to someone who will get as much from it as we have.

If you work in recruitment, this book belongs on your shelf. It's one of the most honest and insightful reads in our industry - and we can't think of a better home for it than our community.

Want it? It's simple - be the first to comment below and it's yours.

(Don't worry, we're keeping our own signed copy safely on the bookshelf!)

Our eldest son came home from university for Easter this week. Suddenly the house feels fuller. Louder. The fridge empti...
01/04/2026

Our eldest son came home from university for Easter this week. Suddenly the house feels fuller. Louder. The fridge emptier.

My wife and I run our business together - which means work is rarely truly "off." Conversations drift from strategy to invoices to what's for dinner, sometimes in the same breath. But having him back reminded us why any of it matters.

Entrepreneurship can be all-consuming. The to-do list never ends. The pressure doesn't switch off at 6pm. Family does something no productivity system can: it pulls you back to earth. Not as a distraction. As an anchor.

If you're building something - a business, a career, anything - don't lose sight of the people who remind you who you are when the work strips everything else away. That's not a work/life balance tip. That's just the truth.

Happy Easter to those celebrating. 🐣

And here we are again! Term 4 seems to have whizzed by! 💫 Well done to all our schools and Trusts who have already made ...
31/03/2026

And here we are again! Term 4 seems to have whizzed by! 💫

Well done to all our schools and Trusts who have already made it to the end and to those who have this week to go - you are nearly there! 👏 👏 👏

We wish all our clients and candidates a very happy Easter break. We hope you take this time to recharge and reset and we look forward to supporting you on the other side! 💥

It's Neurodiversity Celebration Week. And education has a problem. 🧠Schools have got much better at supporting neurodive...
19/03/2026

It's Neurodiversity Celebration Week. And education has a problem. 🧠

Schools have got much better at supporting neurodiverse pupils. But when it comes to neurodiverse staff? The profession is still lagging behind.

A piece in Tes today draws a sharp comparison. In medicine, law, and policing, professional bodies have moved well beyond legal compliance. They're actively addressing workplace culture, training environments, and how competence is evidenced - recognising that people may think, communicate and process information differently, without that meaning they're any less capable.

Education's response, by contrast, still sits largely within HR and legal obligation. That gap matters - especially in support roles, where there is often less structural protection, less access to CPD, and less visibility when things aren't working.

Support roles often attract a high number of neurodiverse candidates, many drawn by lived experience that makes them exceptional at the job. And we're letting too many of them fall through the gaps.

Better recruitment doesn't mean lowering standards. It means making sure the door is actually open.

If you're a school or trust that wants to think differently about how you recruit and retain support staff - let's talk.

Welcome to National Careers Week! (2nd - 7th March).Today reinforced why I do what I do.I delivered a workshop at KITE C...
02/03/2026

Welcome to National Careers Week! (2nd - 7th March).

Today reinforced why I do what I do.

I delivered a workshop at KITE College, an SEND post-16+ education provider, on CV writing, cover letters and discussing pathways available after College.

The energy in the room was brilliant!

The questions were insightful, the conversations were honest, and the focus was clear.

For many SEND students, the pathway after college can feel uncertain. That’s why early, tailored careers support is so important, not just advice, but advocacy, confidence-building and real employer engagement.

Inclusion in the workplace starts long before recruitment. It starts with belief, exposure and opportunity.

It was so lovely and rewarding to see these students appreciating the benefits of this support and guidance and how they will implement them in their career search.

I was very proud to have played a small part in that journey today. Thank you Katy Tibbles for the invitation and I am looking forward to our next session!

The Schools White Paper published this week is one of the most significant shifts in education policy we've seen in year...
25/02/2026

The Schools White Paper published this week is one of the most significant shifts in education policy we've seen in years - and if you're a hiring manager in a school or trust, the implications for your workforce are worth thinking about now.

The paper, titled 'Every Child Achieving and Thriving', sets out a stark reality: only 44% of children eligible for free school meals achieve a grade 4 or above in maths and English GCSE, compared to over 70% of their peers. That gap is as wide today as it was in 2014. The government's ambition is to halve it.

To get there, the reforms are wide-ranging:

✅ A complete overhaul of disadvantage funding - moving away from the binary free school meals model to one based on household income, meaning the poorest children attract greater investment
✅ Major SEND reform, backed by £3.7bn for 60,000 new places and £200m in teacher training, with a goal of more children receiving support earlier and closer to home
✅ A target to recover 20 million school days per year by 2028/29 - equivalent to 100,000 more pupils attending full time
✅ New area-based initiatives - Mission North East and Mission Coastal - to drive up outcomes for disadvantaged communities including white working-class children
✅ Boosted maternity pay for school staff for the first time in over 25 years
✅ Retention incentives of up to £15,000 for new headteachers taking roles in the areas that need them most
✅ New 'School Profiles' giving parents a one-stop-shop for attendance, attainment and enrichment data

These aren't just policy announcements - they're signals of where investment and pressure are heading. Schools will need the right people in the right roles to deliver on this agenda.

At Dedicate Recruitment, we work with schools, trusts and public sector organisations across the country to place high-calibre support staff - the people who are often at the heart of SEND provision, pastoral care, attendance and family engagement.

If your school is thinking about what this means for your team structure, or if you're already feeling the pressure of a key vacancy, we'd love to have a conversation.

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London

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+447458301524

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