Ipsos | Uni Connect Phase 3 : Attainment-raising Activity – Final Report
6 targets for their attainment-raising activities and , in some cases , partnerships have worked with fewer schools than planned . However , at the time of interviews , partnerships still had substantial amounts of delivery planned for the rest of the academic year , working towards their targets .
▪ To ensure appropriate experience and expertise in delivering attainment-raising activities , partnerships have leveraged internal expertise within the team ( e . g . former teachers ), brought in external expertise ( via delivery partners and third-party providers ) and used available resources . Engagement with HEPs has been varied , particularly in accessing academic expertise on attainment-raising . HEPs have provided resource , where possible , through granting access to their facilities and providing delivery staff .
▪ The most common barrier for delivery was a range of logistical challenges related to planning activities in schools . Other challenges partnerships have faced include the recruitment of delivery staff , uncertainty around long-term funding provision and the complexity of aligning attainmentraising within their wider Uni Connect strategy . The main facilitator reported across partnerships is their ability to leverage and maintain existing positive relationships with partners and schools .
▪ Most school staff surveyed ( 82 %) would continue to engage with attainment-raising activities in the long term and most thought that the attainment-raising activities would contribute to positive outcomes for young people . Of those surveyed , 91 % agreed / strongly agreed that it would lead to improved confidence , 76 % agreed / strongly agreed it would lead to improved educational attainment and 70 % agreed / strongly agreed it would reduce the attainment gap between learners .
▪ The majority of partnerships applied a mixed method approach utilising both quantitative pre-post surveys and qualitative interviews and focus groups to support their monitoring and evaluation of attainment-raising activities . Several partnerships have been able to access learners ’ grades through existing data sharing agreements and will be looking at the difference in predicted and / or actual grades to help understand the impact of attainment-raising activities .
▪ Challenges for monitoring and evaluation can be categorised as : 1 ) school-based challenges and 2 ) resource-based challenges . School-based challenges included issues like teaching staff struggling to find the time to support monitoring and evaluation , and some schools were reluctant to share learners ’ data . Resource-based challenges included insufficient evaluation expertise within partnerships and issues identifying appropriate validated surveys and questionnaires , especially for assessing continuing professional development ( CPD ) activities .
Conclusions Overall , the attainment-raising activities were well-received by the schools we spoke to and surveyed ( though this was subject to selection bias ). This was facilitated by positive relationships between schools and Uni Connect partnerships , which were often based on existing work together in previous years and trust developed over time . Equally , schools appreciated when activities were tailored to the needs of their school and learners as well as flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances . Although it was clear that there were still barriers to securing buy-in , many partnerships appeared to have been successful in overcoming initial scepticism from schools – resulting from the shift in focus of Uni Connect – as delivery continued through the year , with intention to continue in future years within additional schools .
Partnerships and schools reflected that outreach activities are still needed to best support young people into higher education . Schools initially engaged with Uni Connect partnerships based on their
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 .