Alumni Leadership Mentoring Programme

The programme provides students with the exclusive opportunity to be mentored 1-2-1 by a University of Birmingham alum who is a senior leader within their field.

Over the course of the mentorship our mentors share their experiences and advice to help students to refine their career plans and to reach their full potential.

Mentor meetings can take place in person but also at times via video call or over the phone.

Are you proactive, interested in progressing into a senior/leadership position, and have a clear idea of the career-goals you would like support with? Then this programme is for you!

• Gain real insight into a sector and a leadership role within this
• Learn from an inspirational and friendly mentor, who wants to invest their time in your development
• Establish a professional relationship with an industry expert and develop your network
• Sound out your ideas with a mentor who will give you constructive and honest feedback to help you make informed decisions
• A fantastic initiative to highlight during recruitment processes
• An opportunity to network with other mentors and mentees

‘As a final year student as I was nervous about leaving University and entering the working world. Meeting with a professional in my subject area was really helpful to just have a conversation and gain tips and guidance about many things from working in that industry to exam revision strategies…This experience has made leaving University feel less intimidating showed me that even established professionals with amazing careers were once students too!’ 

Anais, mentee in 2025/26.

‘My mentor has been incredibly supportive, offering practical advice and sharing valuable insights that have helped me feel more confident about my career paths. Our meetings have given me clarity, direction, and the motivation to keep developing both professionally and personally.’

Malaikah, mentee in 2025/26.

’The mentorship programme was an excellent way to meet successful examples of how being where we are now can lead us to our own version of achievement, albeit using our individual style the university coached’

Leonardo, mentee in 2025/26. You can also read more about Leonardo’s mentorship here.

View our ALMP case studies from other students who have participated in the programme

Our mentors are all University of Birmingham Alumni who have gone on to senior leadership roles within their field.

They are from a range of sectors and backgrounds, all kindly volunteering their time to support you with your career journey.

As part of the application process you will be asked to identify mentors you would like to be matched with. 

Visit our ALMP Mentors webpage to access the list of mentors. 

Priority access to the ALMP programme is given to students in the following category:

• Birmingham Scholars. You’re considered a Birmingham Scholar - and therefore eligible for the Alumni Leadership Mentoring Programme - if you are in one of the following categories:

• • Students in receipt of a Pathways to Birmingham - (Pr2B) which includes the programmes Access to Birmingham, Routes to the Professions, National Access Summer School
  • Students in receipt of a Realising Opportunities offer
  • Students in receipt of a Sanctuary Scholarship 
  • Care experienced or Care Leavers
  • Black IMDQ1 (non P2B)
• And/or students who have a home address in an IMD Quintile 1 (indices of multiple deprivation, IMD Deciles 1 and 2, lowest 20%) neighbourhood*

*If your home address is in Northern Ireland you will need to contact us with your home postcode so that we can check your eligibility to apply. You can use this post-code checker above to see whether you are eligible to apply. 

If you are unsure if you are eligible for this programme based on the criteria above, please get in contact at mentoring@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Following the interview selection process, if we have remaining mentors available then we will open the programme wider to applications from current undergraduate students in their second or final year during the 2026/27 academic year. We will advertise on our webpages in early September if spaces are available to the wider student population, and which mentors are still available.

If you are unsure what career path you want to follow, we recommend you book a careers appointment with one of our advisers before applying to help give a focus to your meetings and choose the most relevant mentor. Our careers advisers can help you to explore your options. 

You then might wish to consider applying to our Careers Network Mentoring Programme where we have hundreds of mentors from a range of sectors and job roles who can support you with your next steps. 

1. You will need to complete our ALMP Application Form. The deadline for priority access students is 17/07/2026.
2. If your initial application is successful, you will be invited to complete a pre-recorded video interview. Training resources will be offered to help you prepare.
3. If successful at the interview stage, you will be invited to our mentee induction session and notified of the mentor you have been matched with.
4. The mentorship will then take place from mid-September to June time (for the priority access group) and mid-November to June for all other students. 

Please contact our Mentoring Team via mentoring@contacts.bham.ac.uk.