Key findings
� 29 partnerships across England have been funded since 2017 as part of the Office for Students ’ Uni Connect programme to deliver outreach in areas where the higher education ( HE ) participation of young people is low - and much lower than expected based on GCSE-level attainment .
� Uni Connect activities represent a very significant contribution to widening participation work across England . From early 2017 to July 2020 , at least 1,600 schools and colleges and 765,389 young people , of whom 348,290 lived in target areas , took part in higher education outreach through the Uni Connect programme . Data from 24 of the 29 partnerships suggest that Uni Connect represents 42 % of the outreach work recorded on the HEAT database .
This report finds evidence of progress towards each of Uni Connect ’ s four objectives .
� Analysing HESA 1 data from 24 partnerships found HE participation rates to be 11 percentage points higher among the students from underrepresented groups who had participated in Uni Connect , compared with all students aged 18 / 19 in England ready to go to HE by 2018 / 19 ( 38 % compared with 27 % for POLAR 4 Q1 ), with a smaller gap between the most and least represented groups ( 4 percentage points , compared with 31 percentage points across England ).
� Uni Connect evaluator CFE Research ’ s 2020 Evidence Meta-Review 2 found evidence “ to strongly indicate that a sustained , progressive and collaborative approach to outreach has a positive impact on short- to medium-term outcomes , including knowledge and awareness of higher education ( HE ) and learners ’ confidence to make informed decisions , as well as on their intentions towards HE .”
� The Uni Connect ( formerly NCOP ) End of Phase 1 evaluation report 3 noted that “[ t ] he collaborative approach is successfully addressing ‘ cold spots ’ in outreach provision .” The report also found that “ the unique and highly-targeted nature of NCOP has … meant that established partnerships have had to broaden their membership by engaging new partners and stakeholders from inside and outside the education sector .”
� The annual survey of students in schools working with Uni Connect has generated a considerable data set for analysis , of just under 230,000 survey responses . All partnerships have engaged with tracking students engaged in activities using databases , to facilitate research into the impact of outreach activity of different types and intensities .
1
Higher Education Statistics Agency , 2018 / 19 data .
2
Uni Connect : Evidence Meta- Review . A report for the Office for Students on the findings from the second call for local evaluation evidence ( October 2020 ). P1 .
3
National Collaborative Outreach Programme End of Phase 1 report for the national formative and impact evaluations ( October 2019 ). Prepared by CFE Research , Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University and the Behavioural Insights Team . 2