Academic mentoring is an integral part of the tutorial system and academic mentoring sessions are an opportunity for conversation between a mentor and student related to learning, progress and welfare.

Academic mentoring enhances the ethos of tracking student progress to ensure that each student knows where they are with their learning, where they have made progress, what they need to do to improve and what targets they need to set in order to further their progress.

The aims of academic mentoring are:

• To improve student attainment and encourage students to realise the importance of high expectations 
• To empower them to achieve successful learning outcomes
• To ensure that students feel valued and know that there is somebody available whose role it is to know them well, motivate, press and praise them as necessary in order to assist them with their learning.
• To help students develop ambition, motivation and staying power, and to make informed decisions about their subject or career options
• To ensure that each student receives individual help, support and guidance.
• To assist individual students in using the information provided by baseline testing and tracking.
• To maintain good communication between students, tutors, subject teachers, Heads of Department, Heads of School and the Assistant Headteacher (Student Progress and Welfare)