 Sept 2012: There were a number of examples of excellent practice in peer support, including completely student run peer-learning projects  However overall it lacked consistency, support and quality assurance  First steps: We undertook a wide ranging consultation with staff and students and examined example's of peer- learning nationally and internationally  Findings: Students at Edinburgh felt they lacked a sense of community, belonging and the chance to share their views and get feedback  We used these findings to inform 6 key models of peer interaction ie PALS/PASS, House System, Befriending, Mentoring, Academic Families, Autonomous Learning Groups

 Foster a sense of belonging  Provide an opportunity for ‘real-time’ feedback  Engage students as active and autonomous learners  Allow a social space for incoming students  Encourage integration between diverse student communities  Facilitate the forming of an intellectual community of learners  Encourage a student centred approach to learning through greater peer interaction  Support the student learning experience by encouraging collaborative, exploratory discussion in a safe environment

 Peer Support Network: Brings together staff and students from across the University to share practice and experiences, exchange ideas and plan for further developments.  Published a ‘Peer Support Toolkit; A menu of all the research, resources, training, policies, guidelines and evaluation documentation needed to establish a successful Peer Support Project’.  Enabling Schools to identify a model(s), which best suits the needs of their students and providing practical guidance as to how to take these forward.  During Academic year the focus has been on Undergraduate Students, we are now beginning Pilot Projects for Postgraduate and Online learners over the coming year.  Peer Support Project staffing structure

 Staff Survey, Training and Academic Guide  University wide Peer Support Survey  Marketing strategy  Data system  Recognition and reward  Project evaluation, quality assurance and evidence of Impact

 60 Projects running across 22 Schools supported by over 500 Volunteers  EUSA and the University of Edinburgh will co-hosting the UK National Leader Conference in  Recognized as a best practice case study in a UK HEA Report on Mapping Peer-led Student to Student Learning  Won an NUS and UKCISA Award for Excellent International Student Support for Edinburgh Buddies and Peer Proofreading  Received a distinction as an excellent example of partnership between a Students Association and a University from NUS.