Six higher education providers have been selected to develop Theories of Change for pre-16 attainment-raising activities, following an open call to higher education providers (HEPs) earlier this year.

The following HEPs have been chosen to work with independent evaluator Ipsos to develop Theories of Change to be shared with the sector:

  • Aston University
  • University of Chester
  • University of Greenwich
  • University of Kent
  • King’s College London
  • London School of Economics

This development will focus on the causal chain for the aim of the activities, the assumptions that underlie this chain, and how to monitor and measure the outcomes to validate the Theory of Change.

Earlier this year, the Office for Students’ (OfS) called for HEPs to do more to raise the academic attainment of school students through widening participation (WP) activities. Evidence shows that academic achievement is the most important predictor of university progression (Crawford, 2014). Yet there are persistent equality gaps in GCSE attainment.

TASO recently published a working draft of an evidence review and typology of attainment-raising interventions, assessing the strength and limitations of the evidence base. The report found that few attainment-raising interventions currently set out how they are expected to facilitate improvements in attainment. We therefore recommend that HEPs develop Theories of Change for any planned attainment-raising activities.

Ipsos and partners will develop Theories of Change covering the activities identified in the TASO review based on the work of Anthony (2019):

  • Aspiration-raising activities (Aston University)
  • Teaching of the national curriculum (KCL, University of Chester)
  • School Governance (LSE)
  • Activities to develop study/soft skills (University of Kent, University of Greenwich, Aston University).

The final Theories of Change should be available for the sector early in 2023.