A Guru Lecturer is someone who volunteers to talk to a group of 16 to 19-year-old Academy students in their classroom. By sharing their business expertise and experiences, Guru Lecturers complement other teaching resources, enhance the knowledge of Academy teachers and help to ground the curriculum in the real - and current - world of work.

Guru Lecturers can add value in a specialist area of study, such as risk or pension investments, or support wider employability messages - for example, around business etiquette or career paths. The exact format of a Guru Lecture is defined on a local basis, to best suit the individuals and topic involved. But interactivity is always key for the adolescent audience. The ‘Guru Lecture’ could in fact consist of an informal Q&A session, for example. A variety of people volunteer as Guru Lecturers, including enthusiastic but time-poor senior managers, as the commitment can be as little as a few hours a year. We completely appreciate that ‘once a week, every week’ volunteering opportunities are not feasible for many people who would nonetheless be happy to help on an occasional basis.

The session could be a one off, or perhaps repeated annually with each new intake of students. We recommend allowing a total of five hours to deliver a one hour session. This includes planning and preparation time and travelling to/from the school or college.