Business mentoring in schools: does it raise attainment?

The article describes research into the impact of business and community mentoring in schools on students’ attainment. The research, which was conducted in seven schools during the 1996/97 academic year, was funded by the Department for Education and Employment and three Training and Enterprise Councils. An overview of mentoring schemes and models is followed by analysis of objectives for mentoring from various perspectives. Value‐added analysis was used to measure the impact of mentoring on a sample of mentored students, compared with a similar group of non‐mentored students acting as a control group. The research found a mixed picture in the seven schools involved with girls out‐performing boys across all schools and a small, but positive, impact on the attainment of mentored students. Finally, the researchers offer some recommendations to schools and scheme organisers on how to increase the impact of mentoring upon GCSE attainment.