The HEAT research team conducted an analysis of the HESA data showing progression to higher education . They compared students who had participated in Uni Connect outreach with a comparator group matched on gender , ethnicity , POLAR Quintile , IMD 12 Quintile , Key Stage 4 prior attainment of students and the average HE Progression rate for the school . A small positive difference was observed ; the progression rate to HE was 2.3 percentage points higher amongst Uni Connect outreach participants . However , due to the small sample size and effect size , the results were not statistically significant . The analysis carried out by HEAT noted :
“ Due to the time lag in HE entry , most participants tracked so far received outreach whilst in Year 13 only . Effect sizes are expected to increase as further tracking data becomes available for younger participants of more sustained and progressive activities .” 13
Progress in the North West Midlands
New research undertaken by Higher Horizons +, led by Keele University and working across Staffordshire , Cheshire and Shropshire , East Midlands Widening Participation Research , and UCAS STROBE , has tracked the educational outcomes of 1,400 young people who engaged with Higher Horizons +.
It has revealed that 50.5 % of those that participated with the programme had applied to university in 2018 or 2019 , with a year-on-year increase in the numbers opting for higher education . This is in contrast to the regional average progression rate of just 18 %.
The outcomes of a further 3,300 students from the local area were tracked and indicate that young people from both groups are more likely to progress to local universities than non-local , with over 300 learners accepting a place to study at Keele University and a further 300 at Staffordshire University .
Rising applications at Queen Katharine Academy , Peterborough
Damon Lewis is Director of Sixth Form and Assistant Principal at Queen Katharine Academy in Peterborough : “ There is often a disconnect between student aspirations and backgrounds – it is not unusual for 100 % of our cohort moving on to university to be the first generation to do so .”
Working with neaco ’ s Take Your Place programme “ has added additional capacity and voice to the message that students can have very significant trajectories and educational outcomes … University admissions from the school are now 2-3 times higher than they were 6 years ago – a remarkable success which Take Your Place has undoubtedly contributed to .”
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Index of Multiple Deprivation – for more details see : https :// assets . publishing . service . gov . uk / government / uploads / system / uploads / attachment _ data / file / 464430 / En glish _ Index _ of _ Multiple _ Deprivation _ 2015 _ - _ Guidance . pdf
13
HEAT , “ What can HEAT data tell us about the impact of Uni Connect so far ?” ( November 2020 )
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