mentor Review

As a Student Mentor with City Year UK, I worked full-time in a secondary school supporting Year 7 students both academically and emotionally. My day-to-day responsibilities included supporting students in lessons, delivering one-to-one mentoring sessions, running intervention groups, helping with behaviour management, supervising homework club, and collaborating with teachers and pastoral staff. I also planned and delivered enrichment activities and monitored students’ progress to help improve attendance, engagement and wellbeing.

Yes. I was trusted with significant responsibility throughout the placement. I independently managed a caseload of students, planned and delivered mentoring sessions, communicated with teachers and pastoral staff, contributed to behaviour support, and organised lunchtime and after-school activities. Although I received guidance from my Impact Officer, I was encouraged to take ownership of my work and make decisions that best supported my students.

Throughout my placement, I developed strong communication, active listening and relationship-building skills through working closely with students, teachers and families. I also improved my behaviour management, mentoring and safeguarding knowledge, learned how to adapt my approach to meet individual students’ needs, and became more confident in planning interventions, solving problems and working collaboratively within a multidisciplinary school team. The experience significantly strengthened my leadership, resilience and professional confidence.

I received consistent support throughout my placement from both my Impact Officer and the wider City Year team. Regular one-to-one meetings, training sessions and feedback helped me build confidence and reflect on my practice. School staff were also approachable and willing to offer advice when needed. As I became more experienced, I was encouraged to work more independently while still knowing support was available whenever I needed it.

City Year has a welcoming, supportive and purpose-driven culture. Friday Learning and Development Days (LDDs) created a strong sense of community, giving mentors the opportunity to learn together, reflect on their experiences and support one another. There is a genuine emphasis on teamwork, inclusion and personal development, and the organisation does a good job of bringing people together despite everyone being placed in different schools.

Overall, I really enjoyed my placement. It was challenging at times, but also incredibly rewarding. I had the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to young people’s lives while developing valuable professional skills and gaining practical experience in a school setting. The combination of responsibility, training and ongoing support made this a highly valuable placement, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in education, youth work or mental health.

Yes