Uni Connect

Uni Connect is evaluated and monitored at a national level to assess how successfully the programme meets its aims.

We use this information to support our funding decisions and refine practice at a local level.

Local partnerships also evaluate their own activities, including longitudinal tracking of Uni Connect learners to evaluate the impact of particular interventions. 

Latest findings

CFE's independent review of Uni Connect attainment-raising activity found that:

• partnerships have identified local priorities and tailored interventions to address specific attainment-raising outcomes
• interventions delivered have contributed to student outcomes with varying levels of success, but as attainment-raising is a relatively new priority area the strength of evidence remains limited.

The Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT) has reported that:

'The largest relative increase in higher education entry for students eligible for free school meals was seen amongst those who participated in Uni Connect funded outreach.' (HEAT, Contextualised HE Entry Track Impact Report)

'Further education learners in target areas, who were in receipt of an intensive package of Uni Connect activity were more than twice as likely to enter higher education than a closely matched comparison group.' (HEAT, Uni Connect Higher Education Track Impact Report)

Evaluation and research reports

OfS-commissioned reports