Academic support officer to learning mentor
An academic support officer already meets 49% of what the learning mentor role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.
52.1/ 100
1 How much of what a learning mentor is expected to do is already part of an academic support officer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the learning mentor role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A learning mentor role treats 10 of its required skills as things an academic support officer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- communicate with youth
- counsel students
- learning difficulties
- liaise with educational staff
- liaise with educational support staff
- listen actively
What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A learning mentor role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an academic support officer background worth leading with.
- already held school psychology social sciences, journalism and information
- already held counsel students communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held show consideration for student's situation communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held identify education needs management skills
- already held education law business, administration and law
- already held monitor student's behaviour management skills
All 16 carried skills, including the 10 the learning mentor role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 23 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn adapt teaching to student's capabilities required
- still to learn assist students in their learning required
- still to learn consult student's support system required
- optional, not held promote the safeguarding of young people optional
- optional, not held provide teacher support optional
- optional, not held support the positiveness of youths optional
- still to learn behavioural disorders required
- still to learn communication disorders required
- optional, not held developmental psychology optional
- optional, not held psychology optional
- still to learn encourage students to acknowledge their achievements required
- optional, not held assist students with their enrolment optional
- optional, not held manage resources for educational purposes optional
- optional, not held construct individual learning plans optional
- optional, not held organise projects to fill education needs optional
- still to learn learning needs analysis required
- optional, not held action research optional
- optional, not held primary school procedures optional
- optional, not held apply person-centred care optional
- optional, not held perform playground surveillance optional
- optional, not held social development optional
- optional, not held counselling methods optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a learning mentor role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 adapt teaching to student's capabilities practise this
- 02 assist students in their learning practise this
- 03 behavioural disorders study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 16 skills that carry over
- already held communicate with youth skill
- already held counsel students skill
- already held learning difficulties knowledge
- already held liaise with educational staff skill
- already held liaise with educational support staff skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held monitor student's behaviour skill
- already held oversee extra-curricular activities skill
- already held show consideration for student's situation skill
- already held support children's wellbeing skill
- already held assist in the organisation of school events skill
- already held cooperate with education professionals skill
- already held education law knowledge
- already held guarantee students' safety skill
- already held identify education needs skill
- already held school psychology knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held secondary school procedures optional
16 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held apply person-centred care optional
- optional, not held assist students with their enrolment optional
- optional, not held manage resources for educational purposes optional
- optional, not held social development optional
- optional, not held action research optional
- optional, not held construct individual learning plans optional
- optional, not held counselling methods optional
- optional, not held developmental psychology optional
- optional, not held organise projects to fill education needs optional
- optional, not held perform playground surveillance optional
- optional, not held primary school procedures optional
- optional, not held promote the safeguarding of young people optional
- optional, not held provide teacher support optional
- optional, not held psychology optional
- optional, not held secondary school procedures optional
- optional, not held support the positiveness of youths optional
20 held skills the learning mentor role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role assess students skill
- not needed by the target role assessment processes knowledge
- not needed by the target role communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role coordinate educational programmes skill
- not needed by the target role curriculum objectives knowledge
- not needed by the target role customer service knowledge
- not needed by the target role electronic communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role give constructive feedback skill
- not needed by the target role manage access programmes skill
- not needed by the target role project management knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote education course skill
- not needed by the target role promote social awareness skill
- not needed by the target role provide information on study programmes skill
- not needed by the target role recruit student ambassador skill
- not needed by the target role tackle issues that block academic progress skill
- not needed by the target role teach university class skill
- not needed by the target role tutor students skill
- not needed by the target role university procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role work with virtual learning environments skill
- not needed by the target role write work-related reports skill
10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn behavioural disorders required
- still to learn communication disorders required
- still to learn learning needs analysis required
- optional, not held social development optional
- optional, not held action research optional
- optional, not held counselling methods optional
- optional, not held developmental psychology optional
- optional, not held primary school procedures optional
- optional, not held psychology optional
- optional, not held secondary school procedures optional
Other moves recorded from academic support officer
Common questions about this move
Can an academic support officer become a learning mentor?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An academic support officer already covers 49% of what a learning mentor is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 10 of which the learning mentor role treats as required.
What skills does an academic support officer need to become a learning mentor?
7 required skills are missing, plus 16 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is adapt teaching to student's capabilities.
How hard is the move from academic support officer to learning mentor?
Its learning distance is 52.1 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.