Volunteer Student Mentor Review

Item: Volunteer Student Mentor at City Year UK
Rating: 4.9
Author: Anonymous

at City Year UK

Placement (10 Months+)

Voluntary

Manchester

Review Submitted: July 2026

Overall Rating

4.9 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

5/5 - Overview of Role

5/5 - Skills Development

4.5/5 - Support and Guidance

5/5 - Company Culture

4.5/5 - Overall Experience

5/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.

Placement in a high school in Greater a Manchester. Monday to Thursdays, supported a lost of focus list pupils in their lessons and during interventions. I led group intervention sessions for the Year 10s but younger year groups were able to do 1:1 interventions with their focus list pupils. This is school specific. In lesson support consisted of teacher support and behaviour management of pupils. Weekly duties performed around school and after school admin time to plan interventions. On Fridays I attended training days with City Year.

Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?

I had a lot of responsibility during my placement, but that is to be expected when going into the Educational sector. I mentored a group of nine pupils and supported them in and out of lessons. I supported staff on duty and also during trips and clubs. I also had interventions to plan and deliver and presentations to deliver occasionally.

Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was

5/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?

I have critically developed my leadership, public speaking and relationship building skills due to this placement. I was consistently placed in situations where these skills had to develop to thrive.

How would you rate the training provided during your experience?

5/5

How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?

5/5

How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?

5/5

Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development

5/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?

City Year offered a lot of supper when it came with our Impact Officers. They are our line managers and they are extremely supportive and always check in on mentors. Also there were services such as Plumm that were offered to mentors to use. They also supported mentors in running interventions through providing many services such as DESSA and IXL. We also received occasional “wellbeing days” were we had the day off.

How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?

5/5

How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?

4/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?

Extremely positive, supporting and up-lifting. City Year is an extremely bright and productive place to complete your placement. Day to day school days can be hard due to the nature of the role, but City Year ensure that mentors are supported

How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?

5/5

How would you rate the social opportunities?

5/5

How would you rate the diversity initiatives?

5/5

How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?

5/5

Overall Experience

To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?

I really enjoyed my placement City Year UK and I am extremely grateful I did it. The initial transition period and adjustment to the school environment was a challenge, but once you become used to it, it becomes like second nature and a wonderful experience. There were days it didn’t feel like hard work, due to the joy of being around my focus list pupils and fellow mentors.

Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship

5/5

Please rate how your experience met your expectations

4/5

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend City Year UK to a friend?

Yes

What advice would you give to others applying to City Year UK

Don’t be too harsh initially. Stick to it and give it a go. It may take a while, but you’ll get used to the role and the company and you’ll be grateful to have joined.