Opportunity Plymouth

An empowering mentorship project where students become mentors to Year 10 school pupils

Running since September 2021, ‘Opportunity Plymouth’ provides pupils in secondary schools across our city with post-16 and careers mentoring.
The 10 week programme pairs Year 10 students with trained university student mentors. They meet and share in weekly 1 hour sessions, where pupils consider their post-16 destinations after GCSEs, boost their confidence, set goals for the future and receive information and advice about the many opportunities available.
Our mentoring is based on the methodology ‘Theories of possible selves’ (Markus and Nurius, 1986); building a clear, believable, and motivating vision of one’s ‘future self’ can often be key to achieving our long-term goals. Making use of our university students’ varied skills and life experiences, the programme supports pupils to aspire, visualise, plan, and think forward, offering them the opportunity to have open, non-judgemental, and supportive conversations with student mentors who have recently been in their shoes.
Developed by Associate Professor in Education Dr Suanne Gibson, the project is now entering its fourth year, with delivery planned for a further 6 cohorts in 2025. The programme’s success to date is centred around collaboration and empowerment for pupils and mentors; opening productive cross-sector conversations with schools, celebrating individuality and choice, and learning together as we grow.