For Nov 2014 do mentors have to be registered as Approved mentors?

@avian will – For P29 submissions you will be able to use anyone who meets the 2013/2014 requirements or even forward the CV of someone whom you believe may be suitable for subsequent OBU approval. Should you fail then you will need to ensure that for the resubmission that your work is ‘signed off’ by an OBU listed mentor. OBU will be checking up on mentors as many are not satisfactory and OBU has the right to withdraw listing from any considered unsuitable thus preventing them from operating. OBU will also be verifying that the stated mentor was used as to stay listed mentors will be required to complete a return of all the students mentored and their reg. numbers

It is a case when you are paying for a mentor that you establish their ability, experience and expertise – I have seen some mentors advertise that they can offer mentoring for all 20 topics – a very dubious claim as even with all of my experience there are one or two I would not feel comfortable with! Another ruse is that they lure you in and then talk you into doing a different topic (usually T8 ) – I’ve heard of one mentor who not only pushes students into Topic 8 but then veers them to the same company!

Darn it!Page 6? And here I was thinking I had read the guide keenly. How does this work? Do I get my mentor approved or do I have to choose one of the listed mentors?

Thanks for the useful info you always provide @trephena

@avian will – You are asking me to enter the eye of the storm on this one! 🙂 In your position would I currently use a paid mentor- Well no, I wouldn’t but I studied for my Masters distance learning and apart from my uni tutor being my supervisor for my dissertation I did the whole Masters on my own, so I am used to working things out for myself (which is as you say what a degree is all about). There are some good mentors but equally there are some bad and the fees tend to be disproportionate to the amount of work involved and being the cynic I am, I suspect some see it as ‘money for old rope’. (In fact one of the best in terms of results is actually a lady in the Far East – my contacts at OBU have a standing joke about her apparently as her mentees rarely fail – the work allegedly is a bit formulaic, but it seems that it ticks the assessment criteria boxes!!!)

If your current proposed mentor belongs to a professional body or has a professional reputation then there should be no problem under the current rules getting approval for using them ( but act now on this). Then use OT and me for advice and support, rather than lining someone else’s pocket! 🙂

@avian will – Thanks but please don’t get me started on the vagaries of the ’employer’ selecting their candidates 🙁 . The number of times I have had the feedback (via a recruitment consultant) ‘The client felt that you were over-qualified for the position’ – Oh really? How does that work? I came to the conclusion that it often meant that I was demonstrably better than the interviewer and they feared they might be out of a job if they hired me….. Maybe doing interim work is a solution for your particular problem – showing that you can do the job with or without a degree as you have the requisite skillset…. 😀

Many UK universities offer distance learning in a variety of subjects at Masters level. You normally require a 2.1 from your first degree to do a post-graduate degree but if you have other qualifications and experience it can be varied. My MSc is from the University of Portsmouth who have a reputation in the field of Criminology (other universities have different specialisms)