BECOME A DEBATE MATE MENTOR TODAY

Why mentor with Debate Mate?

Mentoring for Debate Mate is the perfect volunteering opportunity for university students. You’ll make a tangible difference to young people’s lives, gain CV-boosting skills, and exposure to our partner organisations who are always looking for graduates to hire!

Make a difference in your local community

Our programmes are proven to help change the lives of young people around the world. Join us and make a real difference to the next generation!


Enhance your CV

You don’t need any previous tutoring, teaching or debating experience to join! Become a mentor and you’ll develop key employability skills such as communication, leadership, and organisation – all things your future employer will love.


Receive a stipend

We pay our mentors £20 for each one-hour debate session they deliver and reimburse travel costs because we understand that university can be busy and we value your time.


We fit around your schedule

Juggling university, part-time work, hobbies, and a social life can be tricky. Luckily, at Debate Mate we make it easy to fit around your schedule, so you can work as much or as little as you like.

How it works

Once you have pre-registered using the link below, our team will be in touch to invite you to one of our 90-minute assessment sessions. These sessions include a presentation from us about what we do, delivery of one of our activities and an informal interview.
You will be invited to our mentor training if you succeed at the assessment stage. This training includes safeguarding, diversity and inclusion, talks from some of our partners and supporters and an in-depth look at our curriculum.
Now that you have completed training, you will be allocated a school no further than an hour’s travel from your accommodation or university campus. You will mentor there once a week for an hour, delivering our curriculum to students aged 10-16.

What our mentors say

Additional Opportunities

All of our mentors start out by setting up and running debate clubs in schools across the UK, however, once you have gained some experience, we have a range of additional opportunities available. From mentoring online, on our International Programmes around the world, to even delivering our communication and leadership training to professionals in the boardroom. Find out more below.

International Programmes

We select our most outstanding mentors to deliver a condensed version of our unique debate programme in areas of high child poverty around the world. 

Read our summer international blog 

Debate Mate Limited

Our very best mentors have the opportunity to deliver our communication training to professionals across legal, finance, media, sport, hospitality, and retail sectors.

Find out more here >>>

Debate Mate Virtual

You could have the opportunity to mentor students from around the world, all from the comfort of your home, with our new online debate clubs for children aged 6-16

Find out more here >>>

We support you throughout the year

Mentoring with us needn’t be stressful – we find the pupils so you don’t have to, give you loads of helpful training and lesson resources, and we’re always on-hand to answer your questions.


Sounds amazing – how do I get started?

  • Sign up here and tell us a little bit about yourself
  • Attend one of our 1.5 hour assessment sessions
  • If successful, attend a training session where we will prepare you to teach our programme
  • Get allocated a school and prepare for your first session
  • Start mentoring!
  • Our partners & supporters

    FAQ’s

    How do I become a Debate Mate mentor?

    Becoming a mentor is easy. You just need to fill in your details on this form and then one of our team will be in touch to invite you to an assessment session. If you impress us, you will then be trained up to deliver our programme.

    Who can apply to become a mentor?

    UK University Students or a Sixth Form Students who have taken part in the Debate Mate programme can apply to mentor with us.

    Are the assessment sessions online?

    Yes, all of our assessment slots are online via Zoom.

    How long is the programme?

    The programme runs for 17-weeks in total, from November – April. Each school has one, one-hour session a week. The programme does not run during the holidays.

    I only want to mentor online, is this an option?

    Yes, mentoring online rather than in-person is an option, however, if you mentor in one of our core regions (London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham) you will still be expected to mentor in-person. Either way, you still need to fill in your details here and then attend one of our assessment sessions.