Schools and school partnerships

This page lists resources that explore partnerships between schools, higher education providers and other organisations in further detail. Both higher education providers and schools will find the following resources helpful in developing successful partnerships.

OfS publications and guidance

• OfS Insight brief: Schools, attainment and the role of higher education
  This Insight brief explores how universities and colleges are working with schools and other organisations to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and improve their chances of going on to higher education, a good degree and a graduate-level job.
• OfS effective practice topic briefing: Strategic relationships with schools and raising attainment
  This topic briefing explores how successful and strategic partnerships between higher education providers and schools can be developed.
• Attainment raising: A toolkit produced by Causeway Education
  This toolkit was produced by Causeway Education and provides information on and support with planning activities and interventions to raise attainment in students from Years 7 to 11. The toolkit was commissioned by the OfS to support Uni Connect partnerships but other higher education providers or organisations may benefit from the advice and information within the toolkit when planning attainment raising activity.
• Evaluation toolkits
  There is advice on evaluating the impact of interventions on the OfS website, including a number of toolkits to help providers produce useful evidence and beneficial evaluations.
• Insight event: Raising attainment, improving access, securing success
  We held an insight event in April 2022 where we were joined by experts across the higher education sector to explore the shared challenges and opportunities faced by schools, colleges, universities and third sector organisations as they work together to raise attainment and improve opportunities. Providers considering their approach to attainment raising can watch the event on our events page.

Organisations and partnerships

• Uni Connect
  The Uni Connect programme is a national initiative helping teachers and advisers to encourage young people to take advantage of the opportunities in higher education. The Uni Connect partnerships can signpost schools towards local sources of higher education information, advice and guidance and outreach.
• TASO
  An independent hub for higher education professionals to access research, toolkits and evaluation guidance to help improve equality. They have various resources which are helpful in attainment raising:
  • A report on a typology of attainment-raising activities, including the evidence ratings for each type of activity
  • Information to support developing a Theory of Change
  • A review of the intermediate outcomes that are most important for access to and success in higher education, which outlines how these outcomes can be measured, to aid design of effective interventions.
• The Education Endowment Foundation's teaching and learning toolkit
  An evidence toolkit which provides an accessible summary of education evidence, including resources focused on improving teaching and learning in schools, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
• The Careers and Enterprise Company
  The national body for careers education in England, whose mission is to help every young person to find their best next step.
• Uni Taster Days
  Resources for teaching staff, students, and universities, such as a database of helpful university events, and subject guide videos.

Other resources

• Department for Education: Setting up school partnerships
  Information for schools and universities on sharing expertise and resources, and bidding for cross-sector partnership grant funding.

• Discover Uni
  As part of its work, the OfS has created the Discover Uni website to support prospective students in their research and decision making. It also provides information and resources for teachers and advisers.
  
  Discover Uni enables users to search for and compare UK undergraduate courses, giving access to course information taken from the Unistats official statistics including from the National Student Survey and Graduate Outcomes surveys. This information supports prospective students to understand how students have experienced a course, and what they go on to do after they graduate.
  
  Discover Uni is a UK wide service, jointly owned by the Office for Students, the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the Scottish Funding Council.

• Universities UK: Raising attainment through university-school partnerships
  Case studies, information, and evidence of impact from the range of ways in which universities and schools are already working collaboratively to raise standards and attainment.
  
  
• School-University Partnerships Initiative
  Developed by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, this initiative saw the creation of 12 projects which focused on schools and universities working together to bring research into the classroom. The NCCPE has published details of all the projects and the resources and lessons they produced.