Report
17 June 2022
Summary
Evidence shows that academic achievement is the most important predictor of university progression. Yet there are persistent equality gaps in GCSE attainment. In February 2022, the Office for Students called for universities and other higher education providers to do more to raise the academic attainment of school students through widening participation activities.
This report provides a review of the literature on interventions and activities carried out by higher education providers to raise the attainment of school-age students. It looked to understand:
- what interventions higher education providers are currently delivering to support improvements in attainment for school-aged students (both primary and secondary)
- the extent to which these interventions have been evaluated and the quality of this evaluation
- how TASO and the higher education sector could enhance the evidence-base in future to help reduce attainment gaps.
This report provides a brief outline of the literature (including UK-based and international studies) and sets out a typology of different interventions, assessing the strength and limitations of the evidence base. It is designed to collate what we currently know about what works to improve attainment among school-age students, current gaps in the evidence base (which are fairly substantial), and TASO’s recommendations for building the evidence-base going forward.