Mandy Carter is a fictional character from the Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge, portrayed by Jo Joyner.

Joyner asked writers to explore Mandy's backstory in the second series; they responded by revealing that she has grown up with an abusive father.

Joyner has been praised for her portrayal of Mandy, with Rianne Houghton of Digital Spy describing her as the "queen of Ackley Bridge".

She offers to use her savings to put Ray in a residential care home, in order to give her mother Dianne (Lin Blakley) a more peaceful life.

Mandy explains to her best friend Emma Keane (Liz White) that her dream as a child was to get a successful job, and save her mother from Ray.

Mandy meets with the Valley Trust to discuss the future of the school, but when they cannot guarantee her the safety of staff members' job positions, she initially declines their offer, but later accepts.

Following the Valley Trust taking over the school, a number of employees are dismissed and replaced by new staff members, which Mandy expresses her annoyance with.

Mandy later tells the staff at Ackley Bridge College that she has received the opportunity to start an all-girls school in Nepal.

She added that Mandy is a perfectionist who "relishes the chance to do something great for the community and truly believes in the opportunities that good education can bring".

Joyner appreciated the writers developing Mandy's past, since it shows "how hard she's worked to get out of her own home environment, which wasn't particularly fabulous".

[6] She described education as an escape for Mandy and said that her high expectations for students may initially look "unsympathetic" to viewers, but that the development will add more depth to her personality.

[6] Joyner explained that Mandy has a working class background, which means that she is "no push over" and does not "take any excuses" in regards to people not achieving at the school.

[10] Following the episode that aired on 24 July 2018 which focused on Mandy's relationship with her parents, Joyner was praised for her portrayal of the role by viewers.

Rianne Houghton of Digital Spy billed Joyner as "the queen of Ackley Bridge" and said that fans of the series are "claiming her as their own".

[1] Houghton agreed with the comments and wrote that the BBC soap opera EastEnders would benefit from Joyner returning to her previous role as Tanya Branning due to her acting capabilities.

[1] Joyner appeared on the ITV talk show Lorraine to discuss the scenes, where she explained that viewers would tell her every day how much they liked and admired the character.