Evaluation of Integrated Aimhigher: Tracking Surveys of Young People. Research Report RR811

The integrated Aimhigher programme was established in 2004 to widen participation in higher education by raising the aspirations and developing the abilities of young people from underrepresented groups. In order to explore the extent to which young people subsequently made a successful transition at 16 and intended, or had decided, to continue into higher education, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) commissioned the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) to undertake follow up surveys of surveyed young people who had completed their compulsory education between one and three years previously. The aim of the evaluation of the integrated Aimhigher programme was to estimate the impact of the different interventions that had been provided by Aimhigher partnerships. More specifically, the evaluation aimed to identify, as far as possible, the range and type of Aimhigher-related interventions in which young people had taken part both pre-16 and post-16; and examine the associations between these activities and young people's outcomes in terms of aspirations, intentions and actions. The research found that the majority of young people surveyed had made a successful transition at 16 and were content with their choices. In addition, while some young people made a definite choice not to participate in higher education, around three-fifths of those aged 16 to 17 and 17 to 18 planned to undertake a higher education course in the future. Two-fifths of those aged 18 to 19 had embarked on a higher education course and a further 16 per cent planned to do so in the future. There were indications that particular Aimhigher-related activities were associated with positive attitudes towards higher education and a positive intention or decision to enter higher education. The findings suggest that, of the range of activities, visits to higher education institutions, discussions with staff and current undergraduates in higher education, and participation in an Aimhigher Roadshow and week-long summer school may be the most effective activities as they were associated most strongly with young people's intentions and attitudes. Family and friends continued to be widely consulted and this highlights the central role of such individuals in informing young people's choices. Aimhigher partnerships may wish to consider ways of further ensuring that activities to promote higher education and raise awareness and understanding among young people are sufficiently broad to include their friends and families to enable them to give informed support and guidance to young people. The financial considerations involved in undertaking a higher education course emerged as one of the main areas of concern for respondents in all cohorts and as an area on which they would like further information. Five appendices are included: (1) Cohorts of Young People; (2) Profile of Young People Who Responded to the Survey; (3) Factor Analysis of Student Attitudes; (4) Multi-Level Model Description and Variables; and (5) Tables of Coefficients. (Contains 36 footnotes, 2 figures and 44 tables.) [This report was produced by the Department for Education and Skills.]