Ipsos | Uni Connect Phase 3 : Attainment-raising Activity – Final Report
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1 Introduction
Ipsos UK was appointed by the Office for Students ( OfS ) to deliver a formative evaluation of Phase Three of the Uni Connect programme , focusing on the delivery of attainment-raising activities during the 2023-24 academic year . The formative evaluation explored what was working well , less well and why in delivery , including capturing the views of schools and wider partners involved in delivering attainmentraising activities , as well as enablers of and barriers to effective practice . This document reports the findings from the evaluation of Phase Three ’ s attainment-raising strand , conducted between December 2023 and June 2024 .
1.1 Background The Uni Connect programme was established in January 2017 to support the government ’ s social mobility goals to increase the number of young people from underrepresented groups going into higher education . It is led by the OfS and delivered through 29 partnerships of universities , colleges , local authorities , local enterprise partnerships , employers and other local partners across England .
The programme has included three phases :
▪ Phase One : January 2017 to July 2019 – involved delivery of targeted outreach focused on 997 specific wards in England where participation in higher education was lower than expected given the GCSE results of the young people who lived there .
▪ Phase Two : August 2019 to July 2021 – building on Phase One , Uni Connect continued to deliver targeted outreach . This phase included an additional strand ( outreach hubs ), which enabled partnerships to develop strategic collaborations with local partners to deliver outreach in schools and colleges beyond the target wards .
▪ Phase Three : August 2021 to July 2025 ( with funding subject to confirmation on an annual basis ) – the objectives of Phase Three shifted away from direct delivery of targeted outreach towards more collaborative strategic interventions , including new responsibilities for partnerships around developing an attainment-raising offer to be delivered from academic year 2023-24 .
The attainment-raising activities and interventions developed by partnerships in Phase Three should focus on developing collaborative approaches to raising attainment at Key Stage 3 and into and through Key Stage 4 in local state secondary schools . Drawing on the expertise and resources of local Higher Education Providers ( HEPs ), each of these interventions should support one or more of the following aims :
1 . Upskilling and supporting existing teachers . 2 . Providing targeted academic support to learners . 3 . Tackling non-academic barriers to learning . 4 . Supporting curriculum development .
Partnerships were expected to develop their collaborative approaches to attainment-raising during 2022- 23 with a view to starting delivery of these from 2023-24 . There was also an expectation that a significant proportion of resources and funding for attainment-raising activity should come from regional stakeholders , with Uni Connect partnerships playing a strategic brokerage role .
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 .