Ipsos | Uni Connect Phase 3 : Attainment-raising Activity – Final Report
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Executive summary
Introduction Phase Three of Uni Connect is being delivered between August 2021 and July 2025 . It introduced a new focus on raising pre-16 attainment in state secondary schools as a pilot for the 2022-23 academic year . From 2023-24 , Uni Connect partnerships were expected to deliver evidence-based collaborative approaches to raise attainment at Key Stage 3 ( Year 7 to 9 ), and into and through Key Stage 4 ( Year 10 to 11 ), in local state secondary schools drawing on the expertise and resources of local higher education providers ( HEPs ). This evaluation builds on previous formative evaluations of Phase One , Phase Two and the early stages of Phase Three of the Uni Connect programme . This evaluation had a specific focus on the delivery of the attainment-raising strand during the 2023-24 academic year .
This evaluation included three stages . In Stage 1 of the evaluation , we reviewed partnerships ’ operating and attainment-raising plans for the 2023-24 academic year , which informed the development of our evaluation framework . As part of Stage 2 , we conducted in-depth interviews with all 29 partnership leads in February 2024 . Alongside interviews with partnerships , we conducted four interviews with key stakeholders . Stakeholders included representatives from the OfS , Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education ( TASO ), and Higher Education Attainment Tracker ( HEAT ). In Stage 3 we conducted six partnership case studies in April / May 2024 , which involved interviews with ( internal / external ) delivery staff , HEP staff and school staff ( n = 28 ). We also conducted a partnershipwide school survey in May 2024 , that generated responses across 24 partnerships ( n = 95 schools ). Finally , at the end of Stages 2 and 3 , we facilitated two workshops with partnership leads to present and validate findings .
Key findings
▪ Uni Connect partnerships sought to develop attainment-raising plans and activities to meet schools ’ specific needs , via the co-development of delivery plans with school staff and emphasis on addressing the local area ’ s attainment needs .
▪ In general , partnerships reflected positively on the delivery of attainment-raising activities to date . While many experienced frustration and nervousness at the time of developing their attainmentraising plans , they have now settled into delivery and are making progress against their plans .
▪ So far , partnerships have delivered activities that centred around metacognition , study / revision skills , literacy ( with a focus on reading comprehension / spelling ), subject specific tutoring , and nonacademic barriers to learning . Partnership leads emphasised the importance of taking a flexible and iterative approach to delivery to meet learner needs and to not interfere with teaching timetables .
▪ Attainment-raising activities were well received by schools , with all activities receiving a high percentage of very satisfied / satisfised ratings from survey respondents . Study skills , non-academic barriers and metacognition ranked the highest with 94 %, 93 % and 96 % satisfaction respectively . The survey results found that amongst those staff surveyed 93 % perceived learners to be satisfied / very satisfised with both metacognition and study skills activities .
▪ Most partnerships decided to offer higher impact activity to a few schools rather than less intensive activity with a larger number of schools . This meant partnerships often set deliberately smaller
20-048464 | FINAL | Public | This work was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the international quality standard for Market Research , ISO 20252 , and with the Ipsos MORI Terms and Conditions which can be found at http :// www . ipsos-mori . com / terms .