Application Guidelines

Boston College celebrates and values diversity. The College is committed to providing a welcoming and supportive environment in which all students and staff have the same opportunity to succeed regardless of age, race or nationality, sexual orientation, class, religion or belief, gender, gender identity, learning difficulty or disability.

Disability Confident
Under the Equality Act (2010), we have an obligation to ensure that people with disabilities receive fair treatment throughout the recruitment and selection process and in their employment with us.  

We don’t just stop there – as part of our commitment to equality and diversity, we have made a pledge to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.  We have undertaken to ensure that we have inclusive and accessible recruitment, communicate vacancies, offer interviews to disabled people (who meet the job criteria), provide reasonable adjustments and support existing employees. 

The Disability Confident scheme supports employers to make the most of the talents disabled people can bring to the workplace. 

By being a part of the Disability Confident scheme we are aiming to: 

• Challenge attitudes towards disability
• Increase understanding of disability
• Remove barriers to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions
• Ensure that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations 

Read more about the Disability Confident Aims and Objectives 

Boston College will not unfairly discriminate against ex-offenders, and if you have to give details of previous convictions this will not automatically prevent you from getting the job. The College will consider how previous convictions could affect the job you are applying for and these will only be taken into account if the offence is relevant to the type of work you would be doing. If you are invited to interview you may be asked questions in respect of relevant criminal convictions and other associated information in order to assess job related risks.

As Boston College meets the requirements in respect of exempted occupations under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, all applicants who are offered employment will be subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before the appointment is confirmed. You are therefore required to declare any pending criminal prosecutions you may have as well as any spent criminal convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings as defined under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. The only exception to this requirement is that you do not need to disclose any ‘protected’ cautions or convictions as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendments)(England and Wales) Order 2013. You are also required to provide any other non-conviction information (such as police enquiries) which has a bearing on your suitability for appointment. Any information will be kept confidential and used only in connection with the application.

The College has a policy on employment of ex-offenders, which is available on request to all Disclosure applicants at the outset of the recruitment process.

Boston College may withdraw an offer of employment if you do not give details of previous cautions, reprimands, final warnings or convictions where appropriate. The successful candidate will be unable to take up the appointment until disclosure information has been received by the College.

The College will pay the appropriate fee for the Disclosure.

The College complies with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Code of Practice on fair use and handling of Disclosure information. Applicants can request a copy of the College’s Code of Practice ‘Policy on the Employment of Ex-Offenders and the use of Criminal Checks’ from the Human Resources Department.