Mentoring scheme for University staff: Joining as a mentee

Please note: Due to current priorities of our small People and Organisational Development team (including commitments to the HR and Finance Transformation programme), the January–June 2027 mentoring round is paused. The programme will resume for the July–December 2027 round, with applications opening in May 2027.

Please see our Learning and career development webpages for further development opportunities, including Career Development and our newly launched Staff Learning Collections.

Mentees are invited to apply for a mentor at two points in the year in and around:

November for a mentoring relationship from January to June
May for a mentoring relationship from July to December.

Application rounds will be advertised on this webpage, along with the application form.

Not sure where to start?

Please refer to our example mentee application forms we have developed to support you in preparing your application, as well as the FAQs.

Example PSS mentee application form (Google Doc)
Example Academic mentee application form (Google Doc)
FAQs for the staff mentoring scheme (PDF)

Before applying to be a mentee

To give your mentoring relationship the best chance of success, before applying to the scheme it is worth spending some time considering:

Your reasons for seeking mentoring and any particular objectives you have, and outcomes you are looking for. Please refer to our Guidance for how to set an effective mentoring objective (Google Doc) for support around this.
Your readiness and commitment to work towards your identified objectives.
What you are looking for in a mentor, eg internal or external to your department, what specific expertise or lived experiences are you looking for etc.
Any barriers that might prevent you from getting the most from mentoring and what you can do to overcome them.
Attend a mentoring briefing session where you can receive more information about the scheme and have an opportunity to ask questions.

The success of mentoring depends on the quality of the working relationship developed between yourself and your mentor. Your commitment and enthusiasm are vital to making the relationship a success.