Edinburgh Cares Mentoring Programme

Staff mentors support our care-experienced and estranged students’ transition into the University and life in Edinburgh by supporting their engagement with academic and non-academic life. Our vision for this programme is to see students thrive in their studies and develop a sense of belonging and community at the University. 

Timeline

As a care-experienced or estranged student, you will be offered the opportunity to be paired with a staff mentor in September of Year 1. If you do not initially take up this opportunity, you are always welcome to request a mentor at any time during your degree. Once you are paired, your mentor will be available to mentor you for the whole duration of the degree.

Your mentor

Your mentor will be a trained member of staff who volunteers their time to stay in touch with you alongside their standard working responsibilities. You will be paired with a mentor who works in a different Academic School from the one where you are based; this enables you to extend the network of people you know at the University beyond just your Student Adviser, Cohort Lead, or lecturers who are based in your own Academic School. When requesting a mentor, you can express a preference, for example if you prefer your mentor to be of a specific gender, and we will let you know if we can accommodate that before pairing you.

You can expect to meet with your mentor on a 1-to-1 basis once every two weeks, but you are free to decide to meet less often, depending on your needs and preferences. 

Your mentor will be with you through any ups and downs of your degree journey. You can expect your mentor to:

• Regularly check in with you to chat about how student life is going;
• Help you navigate the University and find answers to your questions;
• Suggest student resources which you might find valuable;
• Be your ally at university.

If you are care-experienced or estranged, you can request to be paired with a staff mentor at any stage of your degree. To request one, please simply email edinburghcares@ed.ac.uk.