Westminster’s innovative Future Ready Mentoring programmes win Best of Europe Region Award

The award-winning Future Ready Mentoring programmes at the University of Westminster provide students and recent graduates with opportunities to connect with industry professionals and improve their employability through long and short-term career mentoring and in-curriculum group mentoring.  

In 2023, following a successful pilot, ten group mentoring programmes were delivered at the University to support an increase in the demand for mentoring over recent years. Developed by the Future Ready Mentoring team in collaboration with academics across the University, these programmes offer an innovative way to bring alumni into the classroom and provide mentoring to hundreds more students, many of whom have limited or no connections to industry professionals. Integrated into students’ timetabled teaching and assessments in select modules, one to three group mentoring sessions are delivered on campus as part of each programme.

These programmes were incorporated into nine modules across 15 degree pathways at the University. From Westminster’s alumni and partner networks there were 141 mentors who facilitated sessions in 72 seminars, supporting 954 students, which resulted in over 1,900 hours of mentoring taking place. By tailoring the group mentoring sessions to supplement the content covered in each module, students could connect with mentors and better understand how to apply the knowledge gained from their degrees in practical work settings.  

The CASE Best of Europe Region Awards honour the best work in educational advancement in the region and acknowledges accomplishments that have a lasting impact and deliver exceptional results. In 2024, CASE received submissions from 600 teams across 28 countries, adding up to 4,223 entries. Only 35 institutions were recognised in the Best of Europe Region Awards and Westminster’s Future Ready Mentoring programmes were one of four winners in the student engagement category. Winners were selected based on several factors, including overall quality, innovation, use of resources and the impact on the institution and its communities.  

The team recently gathered to celebrate the achievement at The Hideaway social space on Westminster’s Regent Campus.  

A student from the MBA group mentoring programme, Lisa Lyall, expressed her gratitude to the team. She said: “The mentoring session was a transformative experience for me. It not only provided me with invaluable insights into my career path and aspirations but also helped me uncover my strongest suits.”  

About the award, Zurria Qureshi, Future Ready Mentoring Manager at Westminster, said: “It is fantastic to see that group mentoring has been recognised for its innovation in the CASE Best of Europe Region Awards. Since piloting group mentoring in 2021, we have been able to bring mentoring to over 3,000 students in the classroom, giving them a unique experience and insight into the practical working world. These achievements would not have been possible without the passion and dedication of the entire Future Ready Mentoring team who strive to inspire students through access to mentoring. We are excited to continue working with alumni and academic colleagues to grow our mentoring programmes even more!”

Professor Dibyesh Anand, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement and Employability, added: “Nothing can be more satisfying than to encourage, inspire, advise and empower students to fulfil their potential, be prepared for work life and flourish. This is what our Future Ready Mentoring programmes do. We are immensely grateful to all the mentors who generously take the time to make a difference in the lives of our students. We are extremely proud of our award-winning mentoring team and are open to sharing our work with other universities and learning from them too.”  

Westminster’s Future Ready Mentoring programmes directly contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4: Quality Education and 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.

Find out more about the Future Ready Mentoring programmes at the University of Westminster and how to become a mentor.