Introducing the Mentoring Quality Framework

In this blog written by David McCollum, Head of New Deal for Young People at the Greater London Authority, he explains what the Mentoring Quality Framework (MQF) is and why it’s a valuable tool for organisations to improve their own practice.  

LAIN is committed to improving life chances and opportunities for young Londoners through high quality mentoring, in line with the London Recovery Programme's New Deal for Young People mission. 

To strengthen mentoring delivered across the city, a Mentoring Quality Framework (MQF) has been co-designed by the Mayor of London and the voluntary and community sector, with support from Bloomberg Associates and Action for Race Equality. 

The MQF is a comprehensive self-assessment tool that’s available to organisations of all sizes delivering mentoring support. Drawing on expertise from across the sector, the framework can be applied to different types of mentoring and aims to help organisations to provide the best support they can to young people by identifying areas of good practice and areas for growth. 

It consists of eight ‘Mentoring Standards’ that organisations review themselves against including, for example, programme design and development, mentor induction, training and support, and monitoring and evaluation - each broken down to a set of indicators. 

Organisations requiring assistance to complete the framework can also access a range of support including training, masterclasses, one-to-one support and microgrants.

Organisations have told us that the MQF: 

• Helps them to focus on where they need to develop 

• Is a useful set of prompts for discussion and reflection 

• Makes them think deeply about their offer for young people and how to improve it. 

Find out more about the framework here and for more information, contact the New Deal for Young People team.