St George’s, University of London offers staff a wide range of benefits and opportunities. Please click a link below or scroll down the page to read more.
Location and Transport
St George’s, University of London is based in Tooting, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Approximately 5 miles south-west of central London, It is ideally situated for travelling to the city and to surrounding areas.
The University has numerous public transport links with a London Underground connection, extensive bus services, nearby mainline train stations and cycle links which offer easy access to the surrounding areas such as Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Clapham and Croydon.
The University is five minutes walk from Tooting Broadway underground station (zone 3 on the Northern Line) and within 25 minutes you can be enjoying all that London has to offer.
Local Attractions
Tooting is the busiest of Wandsworth's five town centres, trading seven days a week and offering a huge variety of places to eat, shop and spend leisure time. The town centre serves a local population of almost 60,000 people from all cultures including Asian, African, Caribbean and European. As a result the town centre is noted for its wide range of acclaimed restaurants, as well as popular pubs many of which offer evening entertainment. The town centre has an unusual retail mix - familiar high street names rub shoulders with many independent and specialist traders.
The Tooting Markets are open Monday to Saturday with a wide range of small independent marketplace sellers offering a range of goods from fresh meats and vegetables, fabrics, clothes, jewellery and much more.
For fitness pursuits, the recently refurbished Tooting Leisure Centre is a 5 minute walk from the University, and offers sports and fitness facilities including a swimming pool, a modern equipped gym, health suite and various classes and clubs, for a discounted rate for St. George’s staff. The Tooting Bec Lido is situated nearby, which at 90 metres long and 30 metres wide makes it undoubtedly the largest freshwater open air pool in the UK, and reputedly the largest freshwater open air pool in Europe.
South-west London has a number of open commons and parks with Tooting Common, Tooting Bec Common, Wimbledon Common, Wandsworth Common and Richmond Park all nearby.
Living in Tooting
Property consists of mainly late-Victorian and early Edwardian 3 bedroom terraced houses and two bedroomed flats and maisonettes. Living in Tooting, you can enjoy the benefits of lower house prices and rent away from the central city, and yet the great transport links mean that you are never far from the attractions of the city.
Pay and Pensions
The University offers competitive terms, conditions and benefits.
St. Georges, University of London offers optional membership of competitive pension schemes with generous employer contributions and a range of extra benefits. The University administers 3 schemes:
Pension Scheme |
National Health Service Pension Scheme (NHSPS) for existing members |
Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (SAUL) |
Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) |
Leave
Staff at St. Georges, University of London are entitled to a minimum of 27 days of annual leave per year, up to a maximum of 32 days for academic and related staff which is pro-rated for part-time staff. In addition to this are 3 extra closure days per year (normally between Christmas and New Year, when the University is closed) and the 8 Bank Holidays per year.
The University also provides generous maternity leave benefits consisting of 8 week’s full pay and 16 week’s half pay, available after completing one year's continuous service, or alternatively, adoption and paternity leave entitlements. Parental leave entitlements also apply.
Staff are also entitled to generous long term sickness absence pay which rises to 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay after five year’s service with the University. Paid leave to care for dependants is also available in emergency situations.
Work-Life Balance
Flexible working, including part-time or reduced hours of work, opportunities to work from home for many posts, and local flexibility in agreeing start and finish times of work are among the extra benefits offered by the University.
Staff Development and Training
The Staff Development Office provides information, advice and support to all University staff, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to develop both personally and professionally. A range of activities are provided to meet the development and training needs of individuals and teams, including:
A Personal Review scheme which supports staff to achieve the objectives outlined in St. George’s strategic plan, and identifies and targets staff development and training needs.
A programme of support and training for members of staff with managerial responsibilities. This includes in-house and external activities, some of which are run in collaboration with Kingston University and Royal Holloway, University of London.
Development of leadership skills at entry level and in developing team leaders.
A Learning and Teaching Support Programme aimed at supporting all members of staff involved in learning and teaching support
A provision of tailored development opportunities for research staff, the majority of whom are on fixed term contracts.
The University provides in-house skills training and uses the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) as a means of developing the ICT skills of staff to an internationally recognised standard of competence.
All new members of staff receive an appropriate induction to St. George’s, their Division/Department and their job.
The Staff Development Office works with Divisions and Departments to develop local induction policies.
With advice and guidance from the Health, Safety and Environmental Adviser, a programme of Health and Safety training is included as part of the induction process and as a separate on-going programme of training.
The Staff Development Office provides a range of comprehensive internal training and development opportunities for Continuing Professional Development, to meet generic needs identified through the Personal Review Scheme. In cases where the training need cannot be met by internal provision, appropriate external provisions are sourced and recommendations made.
Childcare Vouchers
St. George's has introduced as part of its family friendly initiative, a more flexible way to meet the costs of childcare for staff. Under the Busy Bee's scheme, part of a staff member’s wages or salary can be given up or 'sacrificed' in exchange for Childcare Vouchers. Within specified limits, these vouchers are non-taxable and exempt from National Insurance Contributions and therefore represent a saving for employees who receive them as part of their total employment package. The Childcare Vouchers received are then exchanged, in whole or part, for childcare services.
Trade Union and Staff Representatives
The University runs and supports a Staff Forum which aims to provide a mode for discussion of matters affecting the working lives of all staff. It is a consultative body which is designed to seek the views of a wide membership of St. George’s staff, through Staff Group Representatives.
The University has formal recognition agreements with a number of trade unions including the British Medical Association (BMA), Amicus, Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), Unison, and Clerical and Secretarial Staff.
Staff Support
The University, in liaison with St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust provides an Occupational Health Service to ensure the health and wellbeing of staff – promoting health and preventing ill-health through pre-employment screening, vaccinations and immunisation, sickness absence management, health promotion and accident follow-up.
A staff counselling and support service is also provided free of charge by a number of registered psychotherapists.
Staff Facilities
The Robert Lowe Sports Centre, situated on the St George's Healthcare NHS Trust site offers staff access to squash and badminton courts; weights and aerobic training rooms; a climbing wall; facilities for basketball; cricket nets; five-a-side football, netball and volleyball; circuit training; squash and badminton coaching; and karate. Membership is open to staff and partners, for a very competitive membership fee.
Between the University and St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, there are a variety of shops and services that are convenient for staff. These include:
ATMs conveniently located on site
School Shop (for food, stationery and other consumables)
Student Bar (serving beverages to staff and students)
Peabody’s coffee shop
Eddie Wilson’s Café
Books & Stuff (selling study and leisure books, medical equipment and clothing and gift stationery)
Marks & Spencer Simply Food Store and M&S Café
Newsagent
Staff restaurant (offering both staff and the general public a wide range of hot meals, salads, sandwiches and drinks)
Internet café free of charge
Hospital Chapel, multi-faith room and church services
Library
On-site NHS walk-in centre
- Interest-free loans for season Travelcards.