Purpose: This study aims to identify the antecedents of learning from mistakes within the student group work setting. Specifically, this study provides empirical evidence of how team-member exchange (TMX) positively leads to learning from mistakes via person-focused interpersonal citizenship behaviours (ICBs) and of the boundary condition of intellect of this indirect relationship. Design/methodology/approach: Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 189 new business undergraduate students at a Hong Kong higher education institute. PROCESS Macro (Hayes, 2013) and bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples were conducted to analyse the moderated mediation model. Findings: The authors found that high levels of TMX within a group positively related to person-focused ICBs and learning from mistakes. Moreover, the bootstrapping results showed that there was an indirect effect of TMX and learning from mistakes via person-focused ICBs. The presence of students with high intellect strengthened this indirect relationship. Originality/value: Whereas many studies have examined the development of students' employability skills, most have ignored the importance of learning from mistakes, which is considered to be a soft employability skill and an important attribute in the workplace. Moreover, the factors that facilitate students' learning from mistakes are unclear. This study is the first to identify the antecedents of learning from mistakes by adopting social exchange, reciprocity and social information processing (SIP) theories.