students around a table discussing a document

Today TASO published a new report outlining interim findings on the impact of summer schools. TASO Research Manager, Sarah Conner, reflects on the findings. 

Now that we have interim findings for both our online and in-person summer schools evaluation, I’ve spent some time putting these findings into context in terms of some key questions:

What are summer schools and what do they aim to do?

Summer schools are typically an on-campus outreach intervention involving a range of activities designed to give students an experience of higher education (HE), often including a residential stay, information sessions, subject tasters and social activities. Whilst summer schools can differ across HE providers, they broadly have the same aim: to help disadvantaged and underrepresented groups apply to and enrol in HE

Does our research show that summer schools are meeting their aims? 

Our randomised controlled trial – where we randomly allocated those that applied to a summer school a place (the treatment group) or no place (the control group) – shows that it is likely that those who apply are already on the HE trajectory. In the pre-summer school survey for both online and in-person summer schools, over 94% reported being ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to apply to HE in the future.

A follow-up survey also showed the self-reported rate of application to HE was very high for both the treatment and control groups. If this is replicated in the actual enrolment data in 2025, this could indicate that summer schools are not meeting their aims to widen participation in HE – as it is likely that those attending would apply in the future anyway.

What else could summer schools help with?

Our findings suggest that summer schools are helping those who plan to apply to HE make more informed decisions, for instance, on where to study and what to study. Indeed, students reported that they want this from summer schools and this was a key reason for applying.

Summer schools may also foster a sense of belonging, with survey findings showing that those who attended the in-person summer schools had greater confidence that university ‘is for people like them’, compared to those who did not attend. It is clear then that even if they may not increase participation in HE, it is likely that summer schools play an important role in setting students up to be successful once there.

Are summer schools reaching the people who would benefit most? 

Seemingly, no, if we define that group as students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds who have the potential to enter HE but would not do so without an intervention.

Having worked as an outreach practitioner, I’m aware that targeting the ‘right’ people can be outside of the control of the HE provider as they will rely on schools and colleges to communicate the opportunity to their students. Students in the trial reported that teachers encouraged them to apply to a summer school, even though they already wanted to go to HE, as it would ‘look good’ on their personal statement.

Research with widening participation teams (Harrison & Waller, 2017) suggests that schools may put forward particular students for activities to portray the school in a ‘good light’. The research also showed that activities regularly engage people that don’t need to be targeted, as found in our trial, as they are already on the pathway to HE. Ultimately this means that resources are being allocated to change the behaviour of individuals that are likely to display the desired behaviour anyway. A rethinking of recruitment strategies is vital if we are to identify those students who will benefit most from summer school support.

Are summer schools just a recruitment tool then?

This remains to be seen in terms of our own research as we don’t yet have access to the data which could show that summer schools increase the likelihood of students enrolling at the host institution. HE providers have their own widening participation targets to meet based on identified risks to equality of opportunity and it is therefore understandable, especially given summer schools are expensive and resource-intensive to run, that they want to see a return on investment.

However, targets aside, a key issue as outlined in Risk 2 of the Office for Students risk register is that ‘students may not have equal opportunity to receive the information and guidance that will enable them to develop ambition and expectations, or to make informed choices about their higher education options’. If HE providers are focused on recruiting more widening participation students to their own institution, they are in danger of only reaching the ‘low hanging fruit’ and therefore not addressing equality of opportunity at all.

Does it matter if summer schools don’t increase enrolment in HE?

Currently the aim of summer schools as an outreach activity is to widen participation in HE and we should not downplay what an important issue this is. Despite record numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds applying to HE, the application rate gap between the most and least disadvantaged 18-year-olds is still significant, and, has in fact, widened slightly this year compared to 2022.

Our findings show that summer schools may not be increasing students’ likelihood of applying to HE but are instead equipping students to do better once on-course. If HE providers are focused on the latter over the former, this is a shift in the stated aim.

Whilst it is important that students who have ambitions to attend HE are supported in succeeding, this should not negatively impact disadvantaged and underrepresented young people who haven’t even considered HE as an option, not through lack of potential, but through lack of opportunity.