The Buddy Scheme is back for year 2026-27! By signing up to the scheme, you are paired with another practitioner in student engagement across institutions and students’ associations in Scotland, to give you the opportunity to discuss and have a sounding board external to your own institution.
Last year we had 4 pairs and a trio signed up, some of them returning from the previous year. Participants worked in 9 different institutions, with varied experience in their role, split between 4 colleges, 3 universities and 2 tertiary institutions.
Buddies were asked to provide some feedback on the scheme at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. Here is what some of the participants said:
“It was great to have somebody who can understand what kind of struggles we are facing and share some successes.”
“I learned lots! My buddy was more experienced and senior than me, so I got a lot out of it.”
“I liked the fresh perspective my buddy brought to problems that I thought I was stuck on. Talking to someone outside of my bubble brought so many lightbulb moments.”
“I like that we both were on the same wavelength, also I felt understood.”
“It was nice to be able to chat to someone who understood the role from a different perspective. We were able to exchange notes and be really quite frank with one another.”
Through the Buddy Scheme, participants exchanged experiences and explored common challenges around student engagement, elections, governance, and resourcing. Many found that comparing approaches with peers from other institutions provided valuable insights and new ideas to take back to their own organisation.
The Buddy Scheme fits within sparqs resources for professional development for students’ associations academic co-ordinators. See our induction guide for academic representation co-ordinators, which is updated annually.
How to sign up
If you are interested in signing up this year, you can do so by completing this online registration form by Friday 2nd October 2026.
Queries
For further details, or if you have any queries, please contact Amy Monks, Development Consultant - amy.monks@sparqs.ac.uk.