Why should I become a HELOA member?
As a member you are able to:
- Build relationships with the many institutions involved in HELOA
- Share best practice with staff in similar positions
- Keep up to date with changes in the HE sector
- Get involved with training and development opportunities
- Attend your group meetings
- Attend our annual conference
- Receive the bi-weekly Bulletin
See the Membership Benefits page for a full list of benefits.
How do I join?
Confirm your application for membership with the HELOA primary contact at your institution. To become a HELOA member, please complete and return the relevant membership form to the HELOA Office:
HELOA Institutional Membership form
HELOA Individual Membership form
How much does it cost to join HELOA?
The cost of becoming a HELOA institutional member depends on your student numbers. Subscription includes 5 individual HELOA members, but additional members can be added. Membership fees are a flat rate and therefore, not pro rata based on joining time during the membership year, which runs from 1st September – 31st August.
The subscription bands are as follows:
| Number of Students | Annual Cost |
| FE Colleges | £255.00 |
| 0 – 1000 | £255.00 |
| 1001 – 5000 | £285.00 |
| 5001 – 10000 | £350.00 |
| 10001 – 15000 | £380.00 |
| 15000+ | £405.00 |
| Additional Memberships | £34.00 per person |
Additional HELOA Members (over the 5 included within institutional membership) are £34 per person. Membership is transferable within the institution at no extra cost but, cannot be transferred between institutions.
What happens when I join?
Institutional Membership: On completion of the institutional membership form, a confirmation email of the details submitted will be received. Once processed, the office will send a welcome email with a request for any further information required, followed by an invoice for the membership fee.
Individual Membership: On completion of the individual membership form, a confirmation email of the details submitted will be received. Once processed, the office will send a welcome email with a personal HELOA membership number, details of mailing lists, how personal data is handled and further information on how to get involved with HELOA. Any financial remunerations will be organised with the institutional primary contact.
Honorary Membership: On acceptance of the honorary nomination at the Annual General Meeting, the membership will be processed with the new member receiving a welcome email including their HELOA membership details, how personal data is handled and further information on how to get involved with HELOA.
How do I find out my personal HELOA membership number?
Individual members receive a personal HELOA number when their application has been processed. This is received in a HELOA welcome email. This number is required to book onto HELOA events.
The Primary Contact may also maintain a list of individual membership numbers for HELOA members of their institution.
The HELOA office will notify members of their membership numbers prior to autumn training events and prior to the Annual General Meeting and national conference (December). On request, the office will be able to advise on membership numbers throughout the year.
How long does my membership last?
Membership fees are due annually and are valid from 1st September – 31st August each year. Institutional and individual membership will continue unless the office has been notified of membership cancellation or the annual fee has not been received by HELOA.
How do I find out who the primary contact is for my institution?
The primary contact is copied into the HELOA welcome email which is received by all new individual HELOA members.
The HELOA office notifies members of their primary contact biannually; prior to institutional renewal details going out to primary contacts (June) and prior to the Annual General Meeting (December).
When there is a change of primary contact, the office will notify all HELOA members of the institution with the change.
The office can also notify members of their institutional primary contact, on request.
How do I become the primary contact for my institution?
Each institution nominates one primary contact. The role of the primary contact is to support their institutional members to participate and contribute in HELOA activities and initiatives and is the main administrative contact for HELOA at the institution.
The primary contact for each institution must be a member of HELOA. There is no prior experience necessary for this post but HELOA emphasises that the most appropriate post holder, should be an individual who feels that they have the additional time and capacity to facilitate the role. The duration of the post should be decided by the members within each institution but should be reviewed annually along with the HELOA institutional membership renewal (1st September).
For further details on the role of the primary contact, please see the appropriate role descriptor.
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Full Members
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Associate Members
The role of primary contact can be transferred to another institutional member by completing the Primary Contact form.
I am the primary contact and am leaving my institution, what do I need to do?
Inform the institutional HELOA members of the HELOA primary contact vacancy and share the appropriate role descriptor:
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Full Members
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Associate Members
Once a new primary contact has been appointed, complete the Primary Contact form.
I am moving to a new HELOA institution and would like to continue my HELOA membership, what do I need to do?
When approaching the end of employment with a HELOA member institution, HELOA members should inform both the institutional primary contact and the HELOA office of their membership ceasing and the name of the new HELOA institution.
When moving to another HELOA institutional member, the member may continue their membership, based on the office receiving approval from the new institution’s primary contact. Any costs relating to this transfer of membership will be incurred by the member’s new institution. The individual will be required to complete a HELOA Individual Membership form to ensure the office holds the correct details and the member will receive a confirmation email once this has been processed.
I am moving to a new institution which is not a member of HELOA but I would like to retain my membership, what do I need to do?
When approaching the end of employment with a HELOA member institution, HELOA members should inform both the institutional primary contact and the HELOA office of their membership ceasing.
Determine if the new institution meets the criteria set out in the Standing Orders. Institutional members must agree to accept the Association’s Constitution, abide by its code of practice, pay the annual subscription and agree to the HELOA Privacy Notice.
See the institutional membership page for further details on joining as an institutional member.
Apply for institutional membership using the HELOA Institutional Membership form.
I am leaving my current institution and will not be continuing with HELOA membership, what do I need to do?
When approaching the end of employment with a HELOA member institution, HELOA members should inform both the institutional primary contact and the HELOA office of their membership ceasing.
The HELOA office will remove the member’s details, as soon as possible from the central CRM system and mailing lists. For further details on how HELOA handles personal data and retention periods, see the HELOA Privacy Notice.
I would like to cancel my Honorary Membership, what do I need to do?
To cancel your Honorary Membership, contact the HELOA Office at office@heloa.ac.uk. Following this, your details will be removed from our records and mailing lists.
How do I get involved with my local HELOA group?
HELOA operates through a network of nine HELOA groups covering the whole of the UK. It is these groups who communicate, plan, manage and deliver activities and services at a local level. Each group meets at least three times a year which all HELOA members are entitled to attend. To help understand how the groups are structured see the Groups Structure Chart.
Individual HELOA members are subscribed to their local group mailing list (Jiscmail) where the group committee will share details on group meetings, training, events, HELOA group and UCAS vacancies and ways to be involved with HELOA.
How do I get involved with national HELOA events?
There are various ways to get involved with HELOA national events
There are a range of events run by the national training team each year: Professional Development Conferences, New Practitioners’ Conference, National Conference and webinars. See the training page for further details.
Members can also get involved with national training events by expressing an interest in supporting one of the conferences or by suggesting new speakers. To do this, please complete the Expression of Interest/Ideas for HELOA Workshops form and the training team will assess how your session would potentially fit into the program and get in touch.
The Annual General meeting (AGM) is held each year where members are invited to attend and share their comments and questions, primary contacts canvas the opinion of their wider institutional members and vote and, in the absence of the primary contact another HELOA institutional member may act as proxy.
Keep up to date with what is happening at a national level through the Digest newsletter, social media, the HELOA website and HELOA training emails.
What roles are available within HELOA?
There are various roles you can consider as a HELOA member.
- Institutional Primary contact
Each institution nominates one primary contact, who will be the representative of all HELOA members within the institution. This is the main administrative contact for HELOA at the institution. Details of this role will be circulated within your institution. For further details on the role of the primary contact, please see the appropriate role descriptor.
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Full Members
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Associate Members
The role of primary contact can be transferred to another institutional member by completing the Primary Contact form.
- Charity Trustees
HELOA full members can stand for a charity trustee position as either, a member of the executive committee as the UK Chair or UK Vice-Chair or, as part of the UK committee as a Group Chair. Elections for these positions are advertised in accordance with the HELOA Standing Orders through national and group emails.
- Appointed Officers
There are many appointed officer roles who work at a national level to help support the UK committee in meeting the goals of the strategy. These include Finance Managers, Conference Managers, Partnerships Managers and Digital Communication Managers. Appointment of these positions is for full members only and is through an application and interview process, communicated through national emails.
- Group Committees
In addition to the Group Chair, there are also group Vice-Chair positions, Group VC (Membership & Communications) and VC (Training & Partnerships). These are elected positions which are open to full HELOA members and are communicated through group emails.
- Associate Member Representative
The Associate Member Representative is designed to represent members from associate member institutions. This post will work closely with the UK VC (Membership & Administration).
- UCAS Groups
HELOA currently has a UCAS Events Working Group and a UCAS Product Development Group. Both groups have elected HELOA representatives from each of the nine groups and key stakeholders from the UCAS team. The opportunity to become involved in these groups is for full HELOA members and is communicated through group emails.
For further details on roles within HELOA, see the Committee and Group pages of the website and the UKC Structure and Group Structure charts.