Low cost, low reward? Information provision in the context of school-based intensive outreach activity

Despite substantial investment in outreach and widening participation, there continues to be only limited evidence about what is, and what is not, effective at improving access to higher education. This talk looks specifically at information provision interventions as a sub-set of behavioural nudging approaches. It reports results from a set of randomised controlled trial carried out with learners in the East of England testing a set of messaging interventions set within the context of a wider, more intensive, in-school programme that the University of East Anglia is a partner to (NCOP, now Uni Connect). The evaluation evidence points to minimal impact of these specific light-touch interventions. At the same time, it raises important questions around the sources of information that young people use when making decisions related to higher education; and the manner in which schools and higher education institutions may work together to facilitate better information, and potentially, better transitions to the types of higher education to which young people aspire.