What is it? Multi-intervention outreach combines two or more activities into an ongoing programme of support for students at different stages of their education.

Evidence? Most of the evidence for multi-intervention outreach focuses on whether students perceive that an activity has been beneficial and how it has changed their aspirations/attitudes towards higher education (HE). There is little conclusive evidence of the impact these programmes have on HE participation, particularly in the UK.

Should HE providers use multi-intervention outreach to widen participation? Evidence suggest that these programmes are likely to have a bigger impact than other approaches in isolation. However, since they tend to be large-scale, high-cost interventions, providers should seek to embed evaluation to understand whether they impact actual HE participation – see the TASO evaluation guidance for more advice on how to do this. Providers should also seek to build understanding of which elements are most effective – TASO is running a research project to help providers explore the features of successful multi-intervention outreach.