Latest news and blog posts

Our latest news on widening participation and improving student outcomes in higher education.

Blog

20 August 2026

Student perspectives on university wellbeing: Reflections on emerging interventions

The Student Advisory Team

As part of our ‘Using quasi-experimental designs to evaluate mental health and wellbeing interventions’, we hear from the Student Advisory Team – made of students from University of Exeter, Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Sheffield
Blog

20 August 2026

Evaluating impact: How evidence is reshaping student wellbeing interventions

Ruichen Yin and Audrey Fok, The Student Advisory Team

Ruichen Yin and Audrey Fok, members of the Student Advisory Team on TASO’s mental health and wellbeing interventions project, speak to Tatjana Damjanovic, Research Manager at TASO
Blog

14 August 2026

A-level results day: breaking the cycle

Dr Omar Khan

Dr Omar Khan reflects on this year’s A-level results day, noting the stubbornly persistent gaps in participation rates, whether measured by disadvantage or by region
News

13 August 2026

Upcoming invitations to tender: Retrospective evaluations of financial support in higher education

TASO will soon be inviting applications for the retrospective evaluation of higher education financial support schemes
News

12 August 2026

Students from ‘low participation’ areas have worse mental health than their peers

New report by the Policy Institute at King’s College London and TASO – based on 2025 SAES data – finds students from areas where there are lower rates of participation in higher education have, on average, worse mental health than their peers from areas that have higher rates of participation

Mental health and wellbeing
Example of practice

4 August 2026

Decentralising APP Evaluation: Lessons in collaboration and governance

Juan Raman Mullor reflects on University of Staffordshire’s approach to decentralising access and participation plan evaluation, forging effective partnerships and building methods and processes around lived experience.
Blog

15 July 2026

Six years on: What we’ve learned and where we’re going

Dr Omar Khan

Omar Khan reflects on what TASO has learned over the past six years and explains how those lessons are shaping our priorities and approach.
News

25 June 2026

Average graduates earn £180k more, but benefits are still not equal

New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that the vast majority of university graduates can expect to be better off financially
Blog

23 June 2026

Higher education can still drive social mobility

Aniela Bankowicz

New survey findings suggest people are increasingly focusing on graduate outcomes rather than the broader value of higher education as a driver of social mobility
Invitation to tender

15 June 2026

[NOW CLOSED] Open call for higher education providers: Developing theories of change and evaluation approaches for contextualised admissions

We are seeking to work with higher education providers who have a contextual admissions policy and wish to evaluate it
News

9 June 2026

Coming soon: Call for partners on contextual admissions

Help us explore the evaluation of contextual admissions policies
Blog

5 June 2026

Gear change needed but universities are still engines of social mobility

Dr Omar Khan

Dr Omar Khan reflects on the growing scepticism about the value of higher education, arguing that while degrees still improve outcomes, action is needed to reduce costs, close equality gaps and better explain universities’ wider social value

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Latest news and blog posts