Our recruitment, assessment and training has now concluded for the 2024/25 academic year. You can register to mentor next year below:—
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.
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.
How it works
Our partners & supporters
FAQ’s
Becoming a mentor is easy. You just need to sign up, 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.
No debating experience is required.
UK University Students or a Sixth Form Students who have taken part in the Debate Mate programme can apply to mentor with us.
Yes, all of our assessment slots are online.
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.
No, it is a requirement that you attend the whole session. If you cannot participate in the
entire session, please sign up for another slot.
No, you do not need to prepare anything ahead of your assessment session. Just come with a pen, paper and lots of energy!
Please select a new slot that works for you.
No previous teaching experience is required, however, during the assessment we will be assessing how well you understand and deliver our curriculum.
No, as a charity, we do not pay for assessment and/or training attendence.