On the impact of the Bristol ChemLabS’ outreach programme on admissions to the School of Chemistry

Analysis of the average number of applicants received from schools that engaged in the Bristol ChemLabS Outreach program prior to a student‟s application with those that did not engage, shows a significant increase in applicants from engaged schools. The significance is weaker when just Post 16 students are considered but this is almost certainly due to a smaller sample size. When this analysis was inspected in terms of the distance of the school from the University of Bristol, there was an increase in the number of applicants from engaged schools irrespective of distance. However, a statistically significant increase was observed for schools within 50 miles of the University from an analysis of just Post 16 students. Students who applied to the department from an engaged school were more likely to accept an offer and also to make the department their firm acceptance. A slightly higher number of applications that were rejected came from engaged schools too. There are two possible reasons; first, the engagement may have encouraged more students who did not have the required entry qualifications. Second, during the period of analysis, the overall entry grades went up by one grade each year. Such a dramatic rise was probably the reason for the slightly elevated numbers.