Students involved in the Academic Peer Mentoring (APM) scheme attended an awards ceremony and lunch hosted by the Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS) in UELT on Wednesday 8th April. The awards were presented to the mentors by Dr Louise Naylor, Director of UELT; Colleagues from participating Schools attended this event. Mentors from the School of Architecture, SECL and the School of Physical Sciences made presentations and showcased the impact this additional support has had on student achievement.

The APM scheme started in 2007 initially with three schools and 14 mentors and has now risen to 16 schools with 350 mentors as it has proved to be an excellent way of promoting student-centred learning. This initiative depends on student volunteers and is very much a student-led response – both undergraduates and postgraduates offer encouragement and academic advice to other students in the year below thus helping them to improve their performance.

The scheme has already developed a flexible pattern of working, as it evolves to respond to the needs of different Schools – one size does not fit all.

The APM experience shows that mentors themselves benefit greatly from the scheme as they deepen their understanding of the course content as well as enhance their employability skills. Both Kent Union and the Kent Enterprise and Hub recognize the importance of this mentoring role as this activity counts towards the KSCV and employability points scheme.