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CloseThematic Reports & Projects
As well as using our rich longitudinal tracking dataset for thematic research, we work on a number of collaborative projects across the sector.
- Research & Evidence
- Thematic Reports & Projects
HEAT works on a number of projects, finding new ways to work with sector partners and to combine HEAT’s data with other data sources to add value by investigating themes such as the geography of outreach delivery, links between outreach delivery and educational outcomes, and the impact of nationally-funded outreach programmes.
Our thematic reports take a particular research theme and explore trends in outreach participation under that lens. These publicly available reports are based on all HEAT member data and aim to maximise the use of the HEAT longitudinal tracking dataset in furthering the sector’s knowledge and understanding of particular aspects of risks to equality of opportunity in education.
Find out more about our current projects and thematic reports below.
Since widening participation students are not one homogenous group, HEAT classifies its members’ outreach participants into groups based on both their socioeconomic background and their prior attainment. This classification system allows us to compare similar students in terms of their likelihood of progressing to higher education. We use the HEAT Groups alongside other individual deprivation measures such as POLAR4 or the Indices of Multiple Deprivation. We have published a number of Reports using this methodology:
The HEAT Groups Thematic Paper
Using the HEAT Groups, this paper examines attainment and progression outcomes for HEAT’s student groups and identifies critical points in the educational pathways of certain groups. The report provides insight into when outreach interventions might be needed most. This paper has been updated with Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) data to provide insight into application and acceptance in higher education (HE) for widening participation (WP) outreach participants. To read more, download the full report (last updated October 2019).
The HEAT Groups Thematic Paper
The Predictive Power of the HEAT Groups (in partnership with the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT))
For this report, HEAT asked the Behavioural Insights Team to deconstruct the HEAT Groups methodology to ascertain how well the HEAT Groups predict progression to higher education. To read more, download the full report (last updated January 2020).
Predictive Power of the HEAT Groups
Upcoming Research
As part of the work on the Contextualised HE Entry Track, the HEAT Groups have recently been reviewed to ensure the methodology remains timely and evidence based for upcoming analyses. We look forward to using them in our member-level and aggregate analyses of the Contextualised HE Entry Track dataset.
The National Outreach Coverage Project was a collaborative research project that took place between June 2020 and July 2021, co-funded by the Office for Students, to examine the coverage of outreach delivery across England.
Learn more about this project by visiting the following webpage.
TASO HE and HEAT work closely to compliment each other’s work where possible. We collaborated to integrate TASO’s Mapping Outcomes and Activities Tool (MOAT) into our Theory of Change builder supporting members to select the most appropriate outcomes for their interventions, based on the available evidence.
In the past, we have worked in collaboration to analyse HEAT’s aggregate longitudinal tracking dataset of outreach participants and investigate the relationship between outreach participation and success in key educational milestones. These milestones include Key Stage 4 (KS4) attainment, higher education (HE) access and access to a Top Third HE Provider. The report (last updated March 2021), published by TASO HE, is available here.
We continue to work closely with TASO ensuring a joined-up approach with sector guidance.
This paper explains the approach taken by the HEAT Service when classifying packages of outreach as more or less intensive.
We discuss two different methods which make use of fields available on the database and conclude by combining aspects from these to inform a method that will be used for the purpose of aggregate HEAT Track reporting. Download the full report (last updated August 2023) to learn more.
With the cost of living crisis feared to damage the life chances of disadvantaged young people, it is critical that activities aimed at narrowing the school attainment gap are targeted towards those learners who need them most.
This paper adds to the debate around attainment raising outreach by, first, proposing that lower attaining learners are the most appropriate target recipients, before examining the extent to which these learners have engaged in the attainment raising outreach recorded on the HEAT database. Download the full report (last updated September 2022) to learn more.
This infographic shows regional differences in the Key Stage 4 performance of pupils who engaged in pre-16 outreach delivered by HEAT’s member organisations.
Participants are allocated to a region based on the location of their school. The analysis shows the number of participants engaged in pre-16 outreach in each region alongside a profile of their prior attainment at Key Stage 2 (KS2). The report then looks at the absolute and relative KS4 performance of these participants in comparison with their school average. Download the report (last updated February 2020) to learn more.
HEAT commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to interrogate the HEAT outreach data to try to ascertain whether taking part in an on-campus outreach activity increases propensity towards HE entry.
Download the report (last updated January 2020) to learn more.
This infographic draws on HEAT’s tracking data to increase our understanding of why disadvantaged white males are underrepresented in higher education (HE).
In this report, the educational outcomes of disadvantaged white males, from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 5, are compared with outcomes for other disadvantaged groups. Download the summary report and infographic (last updated June 2017) to learn more.
With a focus on young people living in isolated rural and coastal areas, this thematic explores whether remoteness may be a barrier to participation in outreach. This report aims to improve our understanding of the influence of place on access to higher education.
Download the paper (last updated February 2017) to learn more.
This report characterises our HEAT collective outreach cohort in terms of both socio-economic disadvantage and prior attainment at age 16.
It details quasi-experimental research to provide evidence that universities are working with schools to raise attainment at KS4. It uses a quasi-experimental research design in response to the Office for Fair Access (now the Office for Students) Standards of Evaluation report and meets the highest level (Level 3) of evidence quality. Download the paper to learn more.
Discover more Research & Evidence
Case studies
Read more about the high quality evaluation work we do with our members using data supplied through the HEAT Track.
HEAT Track Impact Reports
Read our annual reports for members and the public, examining the impact of outreach on participants’ educational outcomes.