Passion for mentoring gives Andy the Inside Edge as he collects national award

De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s mentoring champion Andy Morris has collected a national award for what judges described as “amazing work” to support students.

Andy, who runs DMU’s Inside Edge Mentoring programme, was named winner of the Significant Contribution Award at this year’s AGCAS Awards, which recognise the best of the best of those working in graduate careers services at universities around the UK.



Andy has put together a programme of 14 separate mentoring offers for students, including 1-2-1 sessions, small groups, workshops and multiple mentors. His driving force is the idea of not what mentoring is, but what it could be.

He said: “Stoked to have taken the crown! Right guy, right place, right time... It might be an individual award, but I'm firmly integrated into the mighty DMU Careers Team, stacked to the rafters with fearless go-getters, whose appetite for excellence has rubbed off on me in a big way. My success is their success. Love DMU.”

Andy, who is giving the actual award to his mother in recognition for all the support she has given him over the years, was announced the winner of AGCAS Awards for Excellence ceremony held in Keele University.

Judges said: “Andy goes above and beyond to engage students, he clearly has an innovative, enthusiastic approach and is doing amazing work. The feedback from students on Andy’s impact is really powerful.”

The Significant Contribution Award recognises someone who has been an exceptional contribution in the field. Andy, who has been at DMU for nine years, has more than 500 students taking part in his different mentoring offers every year. He also teaches courses on non-mentoring topics such as confidence, networking, and identifying strengths.

Andy has built a network of mentors keen to support students with a range of different experiences and from a host of different backgrounds and industry sectors – based on the idea of “not what mentoring is, but what it could be”.

 This past academic year, Andy has set up around 70 mentor matches, either individually or as part of group mentoring. A long-time collaborator has been Zainab Zaeem-Sattar, who’s been a mentor, using her legal skills to support law students.

Students and mentees go through a rigorous 15-stage process which is designed to build career preparedness, where they can go the whole 15 steps or hop on and off as they choose, depending on their circumstances.