IntoUniversity: Long-term interventions

This is one of a series of case studies to accompany our Insight brief on schools, attainment and the role of higher education. It highlights an example of a successful partnership between schools, higher education providers and other organisations.

A secondary school pupil is smiling and writing on a whiteboard

IntoUniversity is an education charity delivering high quality and impact-driven programmes via a network of 35 community-based, local learning centres based in disadvantaged neighbourhoods where few young people progress into a university education. IntoUniversity collaborates with schools, universities, families and corporate partners and works with young people from across the ability spectrum; it believes that all young people have the capacity to achieve their academic potential if they are determined and motivated and get the support and advice they need.

The challenge

The need for IntoUniversity is acute. 30 per cent of children – 4.2 million - in the UK live in poverty. By the end of 2022, this is set to reach 5 million.

Growing up in poverty affects a child’s educational success. By age 11, fewer than half of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds reach the standards expected for reading, writing and mathematics; only 40 per cent of pupils on free school meals achieve at least a grade C or 4 or above in GCSE Mathematics and English; these students are half as likely to attain at least two A-levels.¹ Young people from the UK’s most disadvantaged areas are up to four times less likely to go to university, and up to 12 times less likely to enter a top university, than those in the most advantaged areas².

The approach

IntoUniversity provides a place-based, long-term intervention via centres based in the communities where young people live. The programme provides after-school academic support, a schools-based FOCUS programme, mentoring, and employability opportunities.

Components within programmes that support raising attainment include:

One-to-one support and tailored academic support from highly trained practitioners
a bespoke IntoUniversity curriculum for primary students, blending national curriculum learning outcomes with university learning
evidence-based practices such as metacognition, oracy and feedback
direct practical support at critical moments – e.g. GCSE and A-level preparation and the transition to university
opportunities for self-directed learning.

The following aspects of IntoUniversity’s programme design contribute to closing the attainment gap:

Early and long-term: Interventions start early help to normalise participation in university, building a learning community, while providing much-needed continuity and stability in young people’s lives.
Differentiated and adaptable: Staff guide students to different aspects of the programme and home in on what young people need.
Non-selective or mixed-ability student cohorts: This has been shown to have positive effects on raising attainment, especially for those with low prior attainment.

Evaluation activity

IntoUniversity measures its work’s impact in four key ways:

Key Performance Indicator – student progression: Each year the charity tracks the post-school destinations of its school leavers, benchmarking this data against national base rates for students from similar socio-economic backgrounds.
Outputs – student participation: IntoUniversity tracks every student’s attendance.
Outcomes – student evaluations: After participating in each IntoUniversity programme, students complete evaluation surveys measuring specific outcomes, including improved attainment.
Externally commissioned deep dives: IntoUniversity has commissioned external organisations, FFT Education Datalab and Renaisi, to answer specific impact questions. FFT Education Datalab evaluated the impact of attendance at IntoUniversity’s academic support programme on students’ Key Stage 2 SATs results. Renaisi conducted qualitative research with a range of stakeholders to create the Theory of Change and a model for how IntoUniversity programmes raise attainment.

The result

Student progression: In September 2021, 66 per cent of IntoUniversity school leavers progressed to higher education, compared with 27 per cent of students eligible for free school meals nationally and 43 per cent of all school leavers nationally.
Student participation: In 2020-21, IntoUniversity centres across the UK supported over 40,000 young people. Its work continues to grow and reach more students each year.
Student evaluations: IntoUniversity’s students and their parents and carers consistently say that its programmes support their development in attainment. In summer 2021, 64 per cent of academic support students said their grades had improved and 84 per cent of parents responded positively. 
Deep dives: FFT Education Datalab found that students who regularly attend IntoUniversity’s Academic Support over several years make three months’ additional progress in Key Stage 2 maths. This provides evidence of raised attainment in maths, emphasising the importance of retaining students on the programme as they progress through school. This was the first time the charity had been able to examine how its students achieve at school relative to other students not taking part in the programme. A follow-up study to investigate further is planned.

Throughout the Renaisi qualitative research, young people and parents provided many examples of increased attainment which they attributed, in part, to their engagement with IntoUniversity. Examples included moving up levels of sets in school, receiving better marks, gradual improvements in core academic skills, and catching up when they were behind.