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Students in higher education are reporting higher than ever levels of poor mental health, with around one in six undergraduates saying they have experienced mental health challenges. Higher education providers offer a range of interventions to identify and address these issues. As a sector, there is a need to identify which interventions are most effective.

At TASO, as we continue to support the sector to conduct robust evaluation, we are launching three new projects on student mental health and wellbeing and seeking higher education providers to collaborate with us.

Evaluation is critical to understanding if and how our interventions in higher education are having the desired impact. We want higher education providers  to continue with mental health and wellbeing interventions that work – and identify those that don’t work – so that, as a sector, we can focus resources and funds effectively.

Three types of evaluation

The way interventions are implemented, the data available, and the size of the intervention are all factors which can impact how an intervention can be evaluated.

We are therefore running three projects that involve different evaluation methodologies: randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental designs, and evaluation with small cohorts.

Project one – Randomised controlled trials to evaluate wellbeing interventions prompted by analytics

Following our announcement earlier this week, TASO has been awarded funding from the Evaluation Accelerator Fund (EAF) for a project that will test the impact of wellbeing interventions prompted by analytics. The EAF is administered by the Cabinet Office Evaluation Task Force.

Project two – Using quasi-experimental designs to evaluate mental health and wellbeing interventions

What is it?

TASO will appoint up to three higher education providers to work with an independent evaluator to test the impact of their mental health and wellbeing interventions using quasi-experimental methods. These are methods which can establish a causal relationship between an intervention and outcomes, however, they rely on naturally occurring or constructed treatment and comparator groups rather than achieving this through random assignment.

The exact interventions to be evaluated will be decided via an open commissioning process. TASO will select partner providers based on factors including feasibility of the intervention for testing, how widespread/scalable the approach is, and the availability of data for evaluation. Interventions which could suit the methodology include:

  • Curriculum-based interventions such as the introduction of wellbeing or skills-based modules into courses to support wellbeing outcomes.
  • Changes to curriculum delivery and assessments to support wellbeing outcomes.
  • Whole-institution approaches / an institution-wide change in mental health and wellbeing support, where before and after data is available.

Possible outcome data could include survey-based measures of student wellbeing and mental health, engagement in studies, continuation, and attainment.

Who should apply?

    • TASO is seeking to select, and work with, up to three providers (or groups of providers) who are interested in evaluating their student mental health and wellbeing interventions via quasi-experimental methods.
    • The lead applicant must be a registered English higher education provider in the approved (fee cap) category.
    • Applications involving programmes or interventions that are delivered collaboratively across multiple higher education providers, or with other organisations, are welcome.
    • An independent evaluator for the project will be commissioned to support the participating providers.

When will the project take place?

  • We expect to launch invitations to tender mid-April 2024.
  • The deadline for proposals will be the week commencing 20 May 2024.
  • The project is likely to start with a scoping phase in June to September, before moving on to data collection in September/October.
  • The length of the project will depend on the interventions being evaluated but could run for one academic year with interim reporting in March 2025 and final reporting in autumn 2025.

Project three – Evaluation of mental health and wellbeing interventions with small cohorts

What is it?

TASO will appoint up to five higher education providers to work with TASO and an independent evaluator to test the impact of their mental health and wellbeing interventions using small n methods (often described as theory based evaluation methods). These approaches are particularly well suited for smaller providers and intervention types that only involve a small number of students, and therefore not large enough to warrant a quantitative research or larger impact evaluation design. Example approaches may include Contribution Analysis, Process Tracing, and Realist Evaluation.

Learn more about impact evaluation with small cohorts.

The exact interventions to be evaluated will be decided via an open commissioning process, and TASO will select partner providers based on factors such as feasibility of the intervention for testing. Interventions which could suit the methodology include:

  • Interventions targeted at specific student groups such as care-experienced students, black students or disabled students.
  • Interventions that support transition out of higher education for students with a mental health difficulty or diagnosis.

Who should apply?

  • TASO is seeking to select, and work with, up to five providers who are interested in evaluating their student mental health and wellbeing interventions using small n methods.
  • We would like to hear from both small and specialist providers, and larger providers who are implementing targeted mental health interventions with small groups of students.
  • Applications involving programmes or interventions that are delivered collaboratively across multiple higher education providers, or with other organisations, are welcome.
  • An independent evaluator for the project will be commissioned to support the participating providers on at least one of the projects.

When will the project take place?

  • We expect to launch invitations to tender mid-April 2024.
  • The deadline for proposals will be the week commencing 20 May 2024.
  • The project is likely to start with a scoping phase in June to September, before moving on to data collection in September/October.
  • The length of the project will depend on the interventions being evaluated but could run for one academic year with interim reporting in March 2025 and final reporting in autumn 2025.