How was the Toolkit Developed?

For each of the interventions covered by the Toolkit, we searched academic journals and other online sources for relevant evaluations. The results were supplemented by evidence from evaluations of Scottish fair access initiatives submitted in response to a call for evidence. We selected the most relevant evidence and summarised it in an annotated bibliography.
For each intervention we assessed:

• The strength of evidence
• The cost of the intervention, and
• Whether the evidence generally suggested a positive or negative impact on outcomes

The development of the Toolkit is a longer-term project. We have prioritised creating Toolkit summaries for a small number of interventions designed to improve retention and attainment in higher education. More summaries for other interventions will be added over time. The Toolkit will continue to be added to and developed during 2019 and 2020.

 

Key Outcomes

Interventions to widen access to and success in higher education may affect a range of different outcomes. This is reflected in the evidence we reviewed. In order to compare impact across a range of different interventions, we focused on the effects of a relatively narrow range of outcomes. These are as follows:

Access: Improvements in knowledge of higher education and how to apply; improvements in attitudes towards higher education; increased intention/aspiration to apply to higher education/post-secondary education; application to /offer from higher education/post-secondary education; increased higher education enrolment; increased enrolment on particular courses/institutions (for example, selective institutions);

Retention: students registering for the following term/ semester/ period of study (relevant mainly in North America); students continuing with their higher education studies (either at the same or a different institution) after a year; drop-out / non-completion rates; students completing their programme of study/graduation within the appointed timeframe;

Attainment: including obtaining a ‘good degree’ (2:1 or First); assessment scores and grade point averages (again, this is mainly used as a measure in North American studies);

Success: students progressing to employment or further study after graduation; students in graduate level employment.

The Toolkit Explained

How Should I Use the Toolkit?

The Toolkit will help you consider the types of widening participation intervention that best suit your context and needs. The Toolkit page lists intervention types along with an indication of the direction of impact (negative to positive), strength of evidence and broad cost category for each one. These three indicators should be considered together, particularly the direction of impact and strength of evidence – an intervention that appears to have a positive impact may be based on limited evidence.

You can also filter interventions by learner journey stage, outcomes and different target groups. You can order and filter interventions according to cost, strength of evidence and direction of impact.

Once you have identified interventions of interest, click on the intervention name to read further detail. This provides a fuller description, including what outcomes have been evidenced, who the intervention has been tested with, and insights from the evidence on how best to design and deliver the intervention. It is important to read this further information to understand the specific ways in which interventions have been found to be effective and how relevant the evidence is to your institution and target audience. You will also see an example of the intervention being used in the Scottish context and be directed to further information and reading.

 

Why Can't I find a summary for a particular intervention in the Toolkit

The development of the Toolkit is a long-term project. We have prioritised creating Toolkit summaries for a small number of interventions designed to improve access, retention and attainment in higher education. More summaries for other interventions will be added over time.

Future plans for the Toolkit

 

The Toolkit will continue to be added to and developed during 2021.

Can I contribute evidence to inform the Toolkit

We will be adding to and updating the Toolkit until 2020. If you have carried out an evaluation of an intervention to widen access to higher education or improve retention, success and progression for under-represented or disadvantaged students and would like to submit evidence for inclusion in the Toolkit, please get in touch.

If you are planning to evaluate a fair access initiative, see the Evaluation guidance section of the website for information on how you can make your evaluation as robust as possible.

Key Outcomes

Interventions to widen access to and success in higher education may affect a range of different outcomes. This is reflected in the evidence we reviewed. In order to compare impact across a range of different interventions, we focused on the effects of a relatively narrow range of outcomes. These are as follows:

Access: Improvements in knowledge of higher education and how to apply; improvements in attitudes towards higher education; increased intention/aspiration to apply to higher education/post-secondary education; application to /offer from higher education/post-secondary education; increased higher education enrolment; increased enrolment on particular courses/institutions (for example, selective institutions);

Retention: students registering for the following term/ semester/ period of study (relevant mainly in North America); students continuing with their higher education studies (either at the same or a different institution) after a year; drop-out / non-completion rates; students completing their programme of study/graduation within the appointed timeframe;

Attainment: including obtaining a ‘good degree’ (2:1 or First); assessment scores and grade point averages (again, this is mainly used as a measure in North American studies);

Success: students progressing to employment or further study after graduation; students in graduate level employment.