We are dedicated to continuous learning in order to improve our work and increase our impact on young women from the least advantaged communities.

What we measure:

Our methods of impact collection and measurement, and the indicators we’ve identified as most meaningful, draw from a range of academic studies and grey literature on mentoring and related topics.

Our main categories of assessment are:

-       Girls’ confidence

-       Girls’ skills (for example leadership, resilience, and communication)

-       Their access to and knowledge of career paths

-       Their networks and role models

How we measure it:

We survey mentees three times during the mentoring year. We establish a baseline at the start of the mentoring programme, and this initial survey is repeated twice during the mentoring year: once at the half-way point, and once at end of the mentoring year. This method and frequency allow us to learn about immediate programme needs as well as to identify and report on long-term trends.

In addition to surveys, we hugely value qualitative data and stories, and we collect testimonies from mentees, ambassadors, parents, and teachers and run focus groups.

Latest findings:

Our latest findings before the pandemic showed that 96% of girls said mentoring had improved their confidence, 73% said mentoring helped them focus more at school, 98% of girls believed their mentor helped them feel more positive about the future, 74% of girls used their mentor as a source of support outside of sessions.

Data collected nationally from girls who took part in a wholly virtual mentoring programme during the pandemic-related school closures, showed that:

98% said mentoring had improved their confidence during this time
81% said mentoring helped them focus more on virtual school work
98% of girls believed their mentor helped them feel more positive about the future
76% of girls used their mentor as a source of support outside of sessions

Data collected throughout the year of virtual mentoring shows a very slight increase in positive impact compared with in-person mentoring. This is likely a result of the implementation of continued improvements to the programme (for example an updated set of session resources for mentors). It could also be due to increased need from mentees reaping stronger impact. Crucially, a wholly virtual mentoring programme did not result in a decrease in impact; a hugely encouraging finding confirming the benefits of building elements of virtual delivery into our core in-person provision.

Read the full Covid-19 report here.

Read some stories from mentees and mentors.

For more information contact our MERL manager, Carly.