Attainment-raising Mapping Outcomes and Activities Tool (MOAT)

Universities and other higher education providers have been called to do more to raise the academic attainment of school students through widening participation (WP) activities. In response, TASO has developed the attainment-raising MOAT to support evaluators and practitioners to plan and evaluate attainment-raising activities robustly.

The attainment-raising MOAT visually maps the relationship between the sub-activity types nested beneath the skills and attainment activity type (e.g., revision workshops) and the outcomes that are associated with these activities (e.g., increased subject knowledge).

Download the attainment-raising MOAT resources:

We recommend using the tool when planning and evaluating interventions or programmes that aim to raise student attainment. There are four practical steps that we suggest following:

1. Familiarise yourself with the attainment-raising MOAT visual overview (PDF) to understand how the activity subtypes and outcomes sit together.
2. Download the attainment-raising MOAT practical spreadsheet to access the list of activity subtypes and primary outcomes associated with each activity (further guidance in the downloadable spreadsheet above).
3. Use the attainment-raising MOAT to develop a theory of change (Core or Enhanced) by selecting the sub-type activities and outcomes relevant to your planned attainment-raising programme or intervention. Alternatively, if you already have a Theory of Change, you can use the attainment-raising MOAT to review it, observing the existing links between sub-activities and outcomes in the Theory of Change to ensure that they align with the mapping presented in the tool. You might also find it useful to review our Enhanced Theories of Change for attainment-raising initiatives.
4. Once you’ve developed a Theory of Change, you can access TASO’s common outcome measures (PDF) and the Access and Success Questionnaire (ASQ) to identify appropriate indicators and measurement tools for evaluating your programme or intervention.

Important note: The attainment-raising MOAT is embedded within the pre-entry MOAT as part of the skills and attainment activity type.