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Receive support and advice from fellow students

Find out more about what the peer mentoring scheme is and what to expect from it.

What is peer mentoring? 

Peer mentoring is our way of helping new students to settle into their first year. It gives you the opportunity to meet other students on your course, find out more about life on campus and get support adjusting to a new study environment. 

Run by students, for students    

The peer mentoring scheme was set up by our students to support new students when adjusting to university life. The scheme is managed by the Peer Mentor Lead (a Natural Sciences student), who is supported by the Natural Sciences Education and Student Experience Team. All of the peer mentors are students who volunteer to take part in the scheme because they feel they benefited from having a mentor when they started.  

How does it work? 

All first-year students are put into small groups with two mentors from the second, third or fourth years. Mentors are assigned based on overlapping subjects so while they might not have studied exactly the same stream as you in the first year between them, they will have studied some or all of the subjects which you are studying. 

You will receive details of who your specific mentors are a couple of weeks before you start so you can get in touch and ask any questions you have. You will see your mentors a few times during welcome Welcome Week at induction activities including the first mentoring session and scavenger hunt and the Natural Sciences Team Challenge.  

Over the first year, you will catch up with your mentors regularly to discuss how things are going. They can offer you lots of useful advice about things like getting to grips with university life, finding your way around, making friends, starting lab work, your first coursework assignments, and finding accommodation for the next year.  Outside of this, your mentors will check in regularly by text or WhatsApp to check how you are, and you will likely also run into them at social events run by NatSci Soc. 

Personal tutors 

Every student is allocated a personal tutor who is an advisor throughout your studies.  

A personal tutor's role is to: 

• connect you to the school

• assist with welfare support and signpost you to relevant services

• oversee your academic progress

• supervise your personal and career development 

As part of forming a connection to the school, your personal tutor: 

• will welcome you into our school community 

• should see you within the first two weeks of every academic year

• should meet with you at the end of each semester to discuss your exam results 

• will help you to navigate policies and services in the school and the university 

You will receive details of your personal tutor a couple of weeks before you arrive and will meet them during the first week in a group and during the first two weeks one-to-one.