PTA Guidance for Employees

Frequently Asked Questions can be found under the following themes:

Background FAQs

Applying FAQs

Contract and other employment FAQs - Updated

A fair and transparent recruitment and selection process is vital to the University in order to recruit quality PTAs.

Details of the PTA opportunities will be circulated to all eligible postgraduate students so that there is open competition.

The PTA Job Description comprises a list of skills and competencies that are not necessarily expected of all students who teach, but is a list of duties which a student may be required to undertake.

1. The PTA Job Description will be used to assess applications.
2. A selection process will then take place by the recruiting managers based on the relevant skills and competences contained in the role description and the number of available applicants.
3. Feedback will be given to unsuccessful applicants if requested.

    

A flowchart setting out the new processes can be found in the PTA Recruitment and Onboarding process.  Further details are set out below:

• Students will be engaged by Faculties in accordance with the “Employment of Postgraduate Students: Code of Good Practice” by Faculties, having consideration to the limitation of not exceeding the average of 6 hours per week/180 per year for a full-time student and/or any Tier 4 visa restrictions; 
• Faculties will be responsible for engaging and agreeing hours with postgraduate students: where the work is regular/pre-scheduled they will complete the PTA Assignment Spreadsheet (circulated to faculties at the start of each Academic year) and will forward details to the student and HR (humanresources@exeter.ac.uk) to enable a contract to be issued;
• HR will provide new joiner information (where applicable) and an employment contract, and the Faculty will provide the student with an Assignment Schedule . 
• Right To Work documents must be provided before a student can commence work at the University. Faculties and HR will work together to undertake Right to Work checks
• The contract of employment covers the minimum guaranteed hours that a student will work for their Faculty during the contracting period.
• If a student undertakes PTA work across different departments in a Faculty, the contract will cover all of this work.
• If a student undertakes PTA work across different Faculties, they will receive a separate contract to cover the work they do in each Faculty.

Students assigned ad-hoc temporary work will be engaged on a casual basis via the Claims Payroll.

The University has agreed limits on the hours which its students should work for the University in order to protect their learning and education. (See section 6 of Code of Good Practice on the Employment of Postgraduate Students and the Good Practice Guidelines for Undergraduate Students undertaking paid employment during term-time.)

The total working hours for full-time students is 180 per year and no more than 6 hours per week, if you have a visa this may also have other restrictions.

Tier 4 visa students/employees - please be aware that these visas carry legal restrictions on the number of hours paid or unpaid work can be undertaken.  This is a maximum of 10 or 20 hours per week (depending on your visa) and cannot be averaged over a longer period.  Please ensure you do not work more than your weekly working limit (this includes additional ad hoc hours, voluntary work and/or any work undertaken for another department/Faculty or employer). For further information please see the Right to work guidance.

Payment arrangements

To comply with tax and employment regulations, it is essential that payment for work (remuneration) is separated from scholarship/bursary payments for maintenance and other learning expenses.

Payment for work must be paid through the payroll system; any bursary/scholarship will continue to be paid through Student Finance (using established procedures).

Students on employment contracts will be paid at Grade E. Payment is made by recording hours and submitting claims via the iTrent Employee Self-Service system. Once these claims have been approved by a manager they will be paid in the next available monthly payroll.

Claims can also be made for training hours that have been agreed in advance with a manager.

Once the contract has been issued, any additional PTA work can be claimed via the Employee Self-Service system. The employment contract will not need to be amended and HR do not need to be notified.

Managers are asked to be mindful that the employment of a full-time student should not normally exceed 6 hours per week.  Individuals who hold a Tier 4 visa would continue to need to ensure they comply with the working restrictions prescribed in their visas.  

If the student undertakes non-PTA work at the University (e.g. exam invigilation, research assistant, supporting WP and outreach activities), this should be recorded and approved by means of a PTA103 Additional Hours Form and forwarded to payandbenefits@exeter.ac.uk‌ for payment.

At the end of the contract period, HR will review the hours worked and arrange a final payment if necessary to ensure the student has been paid for their guaranteed hours.

Monthly payroll deadlines can be found here.

Postgraduate Teaching Associate Coordinators

Each discipline will have a coordinator who will coordinate teaching or other employment activities, the necessary induction, training, monitoring and support of the students and will ensure that any problems and issues are resolved promptly.

Postgraduate Teaching Associate Representatives

All Faculties shall appoint an experienced PTA as a Postgraduate Teaching Associate Representative, following an open process, including inviting nominations from experienced PTAs. The PTA Representative shall coordinate any concerns arising from PTAs in that discipline and may support the PTA Coordinator in mentoring less experienced PTAs.