Preferred Supplier List (Agency Recruitment)

At MidKent College, we are committed to delivering a fair, transparent and high-quality recruitment service. Our Preferred Supplier List (PSL) enables us to work with a select number of trusted recruitment partners who demonstrate exceptional service, robust compliance standards and a clear understanding of our organisation and values.

We believe successful recruitment partnerships are built on professionalism, integrity, transparency and a shared commitment to delivering an exceptional candidate experience. Our aim is to build long-term relationships with agencies that genuinely add value and understand our organisation.

Our preferred approach is to recruit directly through our experienced People Team. This enables us to maintain a consistent candidate experience, strengthen our talent pipelines and ensure value for money across the organisation.

Recruitment agencies play an important role, but they are used selectively and only where they can add genuine value. Agency support is typically considered for:

Temporary staffing 
Short-term sickness cover
Specialist or hard-to-fill vacancies 
Exceptional business or operational requirements 

Permanent recruitment is managed predominantly in-house, with agency support only being considered in exceptional circumstances where a direct recruitment campaign has not met the needs of the organisation.

We continually review our agency usage to ensure it remains proportionate, effective and delivers the best value. As part of this approach, our reliance on temporary agency staffing continues to reduce year-on-year as we strengthen our internal recruitment capability.

We see recruitment agencies as strategic partners who complement our in-house expertise, not replace it.

To ensure consistency, fairness and value for money, all recruitment agency engagement is managed exclusively by the People Team. We kindly ask that agencies do not contact hiring managers or other departments directly, as all agency partnerships and recruitment activity are coordinated through the People Team.

Only the People Team is authorised to engage recruitment agencies and instruct work on behalf of MidKent College. Any request, discussion or correspondence from another employee should not be interpreted as authorisation to commence recruitment activity. Agencies must obtain confirmation from the People Team before undertaking any work on a vacancy. MidKent College will not accept liability for, or incur, any fees for agency services that have not been expressly authorised by the People Team.

We welcome expressions of interest from recruitment agencies that believe they would be a good fit for our organisation. Submitting an Expression of Interest does not guarantee inclusion on our Preferred Supplier List or a response from our team.

Due to the volume of enquiries we receive, we are unable to acknowledge every submission individually. All expressions of interest are securely retained and reviewed should a future business need arise to refresh or expand our supplier network.

Abigail Tarbet
Group People Services Manager

As part of her wider role, Abi leads the College's recruitment and onboarding function and is responsible for the strategic oversight and ongoing management of the Preferred Supplier List (PSL). This includes overseeing agency partnerships, supplier performance, recruitment compliance and ensuring a fair, consistent and value-driven approach to agency engagement across the organisation.

The People Team

Our People Team manages the end-to-end recruitment and onboarding process, supporting hiring managers across the College to attract, recruit and onboard exceptional talent. As the central point of contact for all agency engagement, the team works closely with recruitment partners to ensure a positive candidate experience, high standards of compliance and an efficient recruitment process.