An independent evaluation of Uni Connect's impact on intermediate outcomes for learners: a report for the Office for Students on the first three waves of the longitudinal survey of Uni Connect target learners

Uni Connect is a national outreach programme, funded by the [Office for Students] OfS, that supports 29 partnerships of universities, colleges and other local partners across England. The programme aims to increase the number of young people from under-represented groups who go into higher education (HE) through the provision of high quality, sustained outreach. The partnerships focus on local areas where HE participation is lower than might be expected, given the [General Certificate of Secondary Education] GCSE results of the young people who live there. Uni Connect is a diverse programme delivering a range of activities and information, advice and guidance (IAG) on the benefits and realities of going to university or college. During its first two years (Phase One), when it was known as the National Collaborative Outreach Programme, Uni Connect supported over 300,000 target learners. In Phase Two, partnerships are continuing to deliver sustained and progressive outreach to target learners through direct engagement with schools and colleges and via Outreach Hubs.

This report forms part of a long-term, independent evaluation of the impact of Uni Connect. The central plank of the evaluation is a longitudinal survey that tracks changes in Uni Connect target learners' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about HE over the first four years of the programme. The survey analysis presented in this report looks at the extent of the change in intermediate outcomes for Uni Connect target learners between 2017 and 2019, whether these changes are associated with particular learner characteristics and how learners engage with the programme, and whether they can be attributed to Uni Connect.

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