Project | Multi-intervention outreach and mentoring

About the project

Multi-intervention outreach programmes combine two or more activities into an ongoing programme of support for students at different stages of their education, with a focus on widening participation in higher education.

Typical activities include university campus visits, subject tasters, information, advice and guidance, summer schools, and mentoring. Evidence suggests that this multi-intervention approach is associated with positive aspirations and attitudes towards higher education, and an increase in enrolment in higher education.

However, the existing evidence only provides correlational and contextual evidence on the efficacy of a multi-intervention approach; it does not demonstrate a causal link between the intervention and student outcomes. This project aims to address this gap.

We commissioned a series of evaluations, partnering with three higher education providers, to explore the different ways in which multi-intervention outreach and monitoring programmes could be evaluated. 

As generating evidence on the impact of mentoring can be especially difficult, as programmes can differ so much, we focused specifically on the mentoring delivered by two of our project partners. 

The interim findings of the evaluation have been published. The final report will be published in 2025.

If you would like to find out more or have any questions around this project, please get in touch with us at research@taso.org.uk.

Related outputs

Find further resources related to the project

Mapping Outcomes and Activities Tool

A further key outcome of the project was the development of a tool that can be used across the sector to plan and evaluate programmes and build the evidence on their effectiveness.

Background

Multi-intervention outreach programmes are resource intensive and require a significant investment of time and effort from higher education providers and students alike. It is therefore imperative that we understand whether, and how, these programmes work.

There are important differences between students who do and do not participate in these programmes, therefore assessing the true impact of the programmes rather than the pre-existing differences between these groups is difficult. There is a need to establish causal evidence around this issue. In addition, there is a need to understand the most effective design for multi-intervention outreach, as there is wide variation in how such programmes are conducted, which components are incorporated, and what the outcomes are.