About the programme

The Hackney Schools' Mentoring Programme (HSMP) matches students from Hackney in East London to volunteer business mentors, mainly from companies in the City of London.

Students travel to their mentors’ workplace after school for an hour a fortnight throughout Year 10. The main objectives are to increase their self-confidence, gain experience of the working world, improve their academic performance and raise aspirations.

Studies have shown that GCSE results do improve through students' participation in mentoring schemes. Simply by having exposure to different types of work and setting sights on a career goal, helps to raise students' motivation and achievement.