Ipsos | Uni Connect Phase 3 : Attainment-raising Activity – Final Report
7 focus on outreach activities such as campus visits , and this was still reported as a key interest for schools . Both partnerships and schools raised concerns about how the shift in focus ( and reduced funding ) resulted in fewer outreach opportunities that created gaps schools cannot fill themselves . Therefore , the balancing of different strands will be a key consideration for future delivery , and partnerships would welcome more clarity on Uni Connect ’ s wider mission .
Delivering metacognition and study skills sessions tended to be more popular but links to attainment should be carefully considered . The metacognition evidence base suggests that it works best when applied to tasks rooted in the curriculum . As such , partnerships should pay careful attention to how these sessions are delivered – in terms of frequency , duration , and content – to ensure they are set up to maximise impact on attainment , and future application by teachers .
School staff played an important role in behaviour management , safeguarding , and logistics though capacity posed challenges . Partnerships and schools have gained a better understanding of the resourcing requirements from schools , which will be important to communicate to new schools .
Schools were seen as best-placed to select learners though there is scope to refine how learners are identified . In most cases , schools identified learners based on criteria provided by partnerships and were broadly considered best-placed for the task , given their knowledge of learners and their circumstances , and provided them with a degree of autonomy . However , it was clear that eligibility criteria were not always used consistently and activities might not be reaching those who could most benefit .
HEPs were less likely to be involved in attainment-raising activities relative to wider Uni Connect activities . Partnerships attributed less engagement among HEPs to the mismatch in timeframes and requirements for Access and Participation Plans , and engagement should be leveraged more moving forward .
It was too early to say how these activities will impact attainment . School staff felt that learners were showing improvements in confidence , engagement , motivation / ambition , and the development of new skills , but less clear on impact on attainment directly . More generally , the nature and quality of evaluation activities may preclude robust estimates of causal impact .
The absence of multi-year funding and funding reductions that were announced during the fieldwork period creates instability for partnerships and results in delivery challenges . Some partnerships expressed a desire to create longer-term programmes for learners to attend over more than one year , but funding made planning these programmes higher risk for partnerships and schools . Another core challenge is around staff retention and time required for planning and timetabling discussions .
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