Headline insights from GHWY evidence
This page presents a summary of insights developed from across GHWY’s evaluation and research evidence, from 2017 to the present. This will be iteratively updated as new evidence emerges and is published on the GHWY website.
Our collaborative, experiential approach broadens horizons while opening doors to unfamiliar spaces and unexplored identities.
Much of GHWY’s Uni Connect experiential programme design aligns with Harrison’s work on ‘possible selves’. Further to this, collaboration has always been at the heart of GHWY’s approach to reducing inequalities, and this also underpins the impact of our experiential outreach:
Go Higher Industry Insight Days help learners make higher education and career choices
GHWY has been running iterations of experiential subject/industry taster events for some time, and evidence of impact is continuing to grow. Our latest evidence shows significant impact on understanding of industries, knowledge of HE and sense of belonging in HE. Designed to broaden horizons within specific industries, learners frequently report having their eyes opened to the varied opportunities available that they had not previously considered.
All immersive HE campus experiences can contribute to learners developing an interest in HE
From small scale campus visits as part of wider programmes of engagement to large scale residentials, immersion in the campus experience is inspiring for many learners, and often their first opportunity to imagine themselves in an HE environment. As GHWY has seen in the evaluation of the attainment raising programme ‘Think and Go Higher’, combining campus experience with targeted programmes designed to enhance academic ability can directly support learners’ motivation to do well in school in order to reach higher education.
Engaging with learners' sense of place is crucial for localised outreach
Each local authority area within West Yorkshire has its own distinct identity and learners are often heavily rooted to their local area. Some of GHWY’s earlier peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates the importance of bringing HE spaces into learners’ familiar territory within their local area, as well as occupying community spaces where learners already gather as a ‘way in’.
Our sustained approach enables gradual, meaningful impact over time.
In the latest phase of Uni Connect (2021-2025), Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) has adopted an increasingly sustained approach to our HE outreach and attainment raising remits. Some of our most recent analyses of impact are beginning to show the benefits of this approach:
Sustained engagement = higher likelihood to progress to HE
Analysis of the latest available HESA progression data for (2021/22) shows that learners’ likelihood of entering HE increases when they engage in an increasing number of activities. This trend plateaus after a learner engages in approx. four interventions.
Learners value multi-year engagement in attainment raising activity
Learners engaged in our ‘Think & Go Higher’ attainment raising programme for the second year in a row articulate enhanced understanding and utilisation of the metacognitive tools and techniques introduced in the programme.
Consistently high impact of sustained ‘Care to Go Higher’ training
‘Care to Go Higher’ (GHWY’s flagship CPD programme for key influencers of care experienced young people), which is delivered over six progressive sessions, has consistently produced excellent outcomes for participants since its inception in 2019.
Early indication of impact of sustained programmes for underrepresented groups
Although analysis of two of our sustained outreach programmes (‘Go Higher Presents’, for learners from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnicities and ‘Speak Up: Your Voice Matters’, for male learners eligible for free school meals) is ongoing, early indications suggest that a sustained approach, focused on developing learners’ sense of self, is beneficial for learners’ decision-making abilities.
Our bespoke, relational approach addresses the needs of learners based on their lived experience.
A bespoke approach to HE outreach has always been at the heart of GHWY’s Uni Connect, by ensuring that local context is woven into the design of our interventions. Our evidence (much of which publication is forthcoming) points to key principles to most effectively meet learner needs through a bespoke, relational lens:
Relatable role models help learners to ‘see themselves’ in higher education
Our research into the ‘role of role models’ highlights the important role student ambassadors play in helping learners to visualise ‘people like them’ in higher education. Further to this, initial evidence of the impact of ‘Go Higher Presents’ points to the particular strength of our podcasting approach to working with underrepresented groups, as learners have the opportunity to talk to current HE students from similar backgrounds about their experiences in HE.
1-1 careers coaching helps learners to plan based on their skills and interests
Initial (forthcoming) insights from GHWY’s 2023/24 Higher Education Careers Coaching programme suggests that this approach (which is designed to build on conventional careers provision with more intensive 1-1 engagement) successfully helps learners to know themselves better and consequently identify potentially suitable career pathways.
Tailored outreach programmes support relational self-reflection
Since 2022, GHWY has been delivering and refining tailored outreach programmes for underrepresented groups, designed around the contextual experiences of different learner characteristics. Emerging (forthcoming) insights from these programmes suggest that learners value the opportunity to have meaningful conversations about their shared experiences in groups, and that this helps them to feel better prepared for their next steps.
Our metacognitive approach develops skills for learning and decision-making.
Metacognitive approaches to raising attainment are considered ‘high impact, low cost’ by the Educational Endowment Foundation. Since the Uni Connect remit to raise attainment was introduced in 2022, metacognition has been foundational in GHWY’s learner engagement programmes. This is explicitly designed into our ‘Think and Go Higher programme, but is implicit in other areas of evidence too:
Metacognitive skills are significantly improved by GHWY’s Think and Go Higher programme
The evaluation of GHWY’s flagship Think and Go Higher programme measures impact on metacognition as a proxy for raising attainment. Two years of evidence to date shows significant impact of the programme on learners’ metacognition, as well as many other reported benefits, including academic motivation and social emotional skills.
Building metacognitive practice into HE outreach supports learners’ decision-making skills
The GHWY Outcomes Framework places a lot of emphasis on improving cognitive skills and outcomes for learners across attainment raising and outreach engagement. This feeds into our bespoke approach to outreach with underrepresented groups. GHWY hypothesises that supporting learners’ cognitive ability and self-reflection will in turn improve their ability to make informed decisions that are right for them. Evidence of this is beginning to emerge from our bespoke programmes, but are investigations are ongoing.
The impact of metacognition is most powerful when academic ability and decision-making intersects
Improved metacognition can raise attainment and enable more informed decision-making. One clear benefit of this approach is therefore its potential to have impact across access-focused learner engagement. The GHWY case study ‘Meet Henry’ nicely demonstrates this. This also has implications for student success and retention in HE, benefitting learners’ preparedness for the HE academic and interpersonal experience.
