Program Overview

Postgraduate Certificate in Mentoring (fully online)

Course Overview

This six-month online course, starting every January, is worth 60 credits.

Entry Requirements

• Have a UK degree (2.2 or above). For equivalent qualifications, contact the University to confirm that your qualification meets the University entry requirements.
• Be working as a mentor in an educational context.

Teaching & Assessment

Every student is allocated a supervisor. You will regularly communicate with your supervisor at times that are suitable for you both, to support each module. You will also have access to regular online study sessions throughout the course.

There are induction sessions to introduce you to how the course will run. On application, you will receive a choice of dates where you will indicate when you will attend.

When the course starts, you will have access to MOODLE, the University’s online learning platform, and from there, you will access the course handbook and all resources needed for successful completion of the course. In the handbook, there is a week-by-week guide that will indicate what work is expected that week. This will either be:

• A recorded film to watch.
• A reading.
• An independent study towards a module.
• A Twilight session, which will be live, but recorded and shared on Moodle after the date. These Twilights are optional in terms of attendance, as we know that many people struggle to be available at certain times. However, all these sessions are recorded and should then be watched after the live event. This means that as you progress through the course, you end up having access to a library of videos that you can re-visit, to support you to a successful outcome.

It is essential to understand that you, as a Master’s Level student, will be expected to work independently, and you are expected to fully engage with the guidance provided to complete the required modules.

Assessment is carried out through written assignments and evidence-based practice in mentoring recorded through the completion of course documentation tracking application to practice. Assistance is given throughout the course regarding the expectations of writing at Master’s level.

Who Should Take This Course?

• Teachers in the UK and internationally
• Current mentors on ITT programmes
• Mentors in SCITTs
• Anyone mentoring in an education setting

What Will I Gain?

1. You will acquire a new set of skills. You are required to engage with a wide range of arguments and be prepared to be critical of them, to synthesise arguments and perhaps most importantly to develop your own critical voice.
2. A fresh challenge can stop you becoming stale. Once you have been teaching for a while, you can easily build up a lot of experience and expertise with the delivery of your work. Whilst it is great to be able to build upon that confidence, it can also mean that you can become comfortable. This can mean, although not always, that you can become stale and possibly even out of date with your thinking. Ideas are always changing in Education; new research is always coming into effect, and sometimes it is easy to fall behind and not be aware of new ideas. By undertaking a Master’s level course, it will keep you fresh and up to date.
3. Research gives you an authoritative voice. As you develop your critical voice, it becomes even more possible for you to speak confidently on a range of issues. This can give you a real boost, opening up new career opportunities to you.
4. You will connect with people outside of your comfort zone. Engaging with a Master’s level programme enables you to connect to a whole new group of people. These can be people we can then network with not only across the country but across the globe.
5. You can study something you are genuinely interested in. Lots of people have different areas of interest, or problems they want to solve, or challenges they want to face, and these are often a product of the work and experience that you bring to the course. It is a great idea to work to discover more about these particular areas of interest and even to become an expert on that topic. This too might seem indulgent, but the great thing about carrying out research in Education is that there is a good chance that your discoveries can have a positive impact in the workplace.
6. It is an investment in yourself. Not necessarily in the monetary sense, it is more about thinking about yourself, the kind of person you are, and what you want out of life. Are there things that you want to investigate further? It is about recognising the complexity of our identities in that we are more than our jobs, and that we have a lot to offer the world. Spending the time (and money) on taking part in a Master’s level programme is worth it if you want to develop yourself and the way that you think.

Course Fees

The fees for this course are:

The University reserves the right to increase course fees annually in line with inflation linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI). If the University intends to increase your course fees, it will notify you via email of this as soon as reasonably practicable.

Course fees do not include additional costs such as books, equipment, writing up fees, and other ancillary charges. Where applicable, these additional costs will be made clear.

Fees will have a 50% reduction if you are a mentor on one of our ITT courses.

Applicants must also pay a non-refundable £300 registration fee.