Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Impact Report
Impact Report
Foreword
By Mary Curnock Cook, OBE
Chief Executive, UCAS
This report is a phenomenal story of success. Its about the success of committed staff and leadership in The
Access Project, of farsighted school leaders, and of generous and professional volunteer tutors from successful
businesses. But most of all it is a resounding success for the students who, with a nudge from The Access
Project, had enough belief in their own potential and the motivation to take up the one-to-one tuition offer and
reach for the stars.
It is difficult to overestimate the distance that young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds may need
to travel to acknowledge that they have the potential to succeed at any university, let alone a highly selective
university. It is about so much more than academic ability. Many students in schools which have welcomed The
Access Project may know no-one in their families or communities who has been to university. Our research at UCAS
tells us that many people accessing our website do not understand the lexicon of university admissions they
may not know what the word undergraduate means, they have no knowledge of what university is for or what
participating in higher education is like. We know that for some, there is a feeling that university is not for people
like me.
While all families want the best for their children, their aspirations are framed by their own experiences and those
of their communities. Interventions such as The Access Project play a vital role in demystifying what it means to go
to university, the benefits of higher education and how to use the UCAS application process to support the best
outcome for each individual student.
And just as higher education itself is about more than securing a better career and higher lifetime earnings, The
Access Project provides much more than the opportunity to improve grades through targeted individual subject
tuition. Students participating in the programme undertake their extra tuition in the tutors workplace, which
provides them with additional insights to the world of work and the beginnings of a network they can tap into as
their studies and careers progress. As a relationship builds with a tutor, so the students self-confidence and selfbelief is also transformed.
This report provides the hard data on the impact The Access Project has on the students it supports, with higher
achievement and well-supported UCAS applications leading to a significant increase in the number of students
progressing to selective universities. But it is harder to pinpoint the multiple soft-benefits that undoubtedly accrue.
Being a Trustee of The Access Project gives me first-hand experience of the very real commitment of the staff in
building the aspirations of young people on the programme, of guiding them to set higher goals for themselves,
and allowing them to believe that social disadvantage does not have to mean educational disadvantage.
I hope this report provides a springboard for a further year of progress and expansion for The Access Project
so that its impact can be spread more widely into schools and communities that can benefit from a focus on
progression to higher education.
2012 / 2013
3310
2013 / 2014
8160
Number of tutored students
2012 / 2013
300
2013 / 2014
530
Number of volunteers
2012 / 2013
319
2013 / 2014
548
Average hours per student
2012 / 2013
11
2013 / 2014
15
15%
2%
7x
When the focus is directed at the countrys most academic and competitive
universities, the picture of inequality becomes even starker:
In 2014, 75% of senior judges, 59% of the Cabinet and 47% of newspaper columnists all
went to one of two universities: Oxford and Cambridge. Source: The Social Mobility and Child Poverty
Commission (2014)
The odds of a child from a state school who is eligible for free school meals being
admitted to Oxbridge are almost 2000 to 1. By contrast, the odds of a privately educated
pupil being admitted are 20 to 1.
The barriers
The obstacles to reaching a highly selective university for students from disadvantaged
backgrounds are threefold: they are less likely to achieve the top grades needed; they are
less likely to apply and, even when they do apply, they are less likely to win a place at a
highly selective university. Source: Oxford admissions data via The Financial Times
A
B
C
The solution
The Access Project works with schools to tackle each of the barriers to progression, giving
each student we work with the best chance of achieving their potential and progressing to
a highly selective university.
Academic impact
Drawing on our partner schools data, we can assess the impact of The Access Projects
tuition for our 2014 GCSE cohort by comparing the progress tutored students made
against their target grade to their classmates who did not receive tuition.
Across our schools, more students met or exceeded their target when in receipt of tuition
than those who were not on the programme.
55%
50%
73%
71%
69%
67%
70%
53%
81%
73%
60%
53%
64%
49%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
French
Geography
Maths
Tutored
37%
A
History
english
Science
Not tutored
A*
22%
30%
40%
of A target
students achieved
an A*
of B target students
achieved at least
an A
of C target students
achieved a
B or above
Case Study: Olly Southwick: PhD student at UCL and Tutor, and Toyo:
Student, Oasis Academy Enfield.
Olly has been working with his tutee Toyo for 18 months, supporting him in his
Maths and Further Maths A-levels. They meet every week at UCL.
Olly: Working with Toyo has been fantastic, he is really motivated and works very hard.
He has a talent for maths and having a tutor has meant he has been able to push beyond
the syllabus. I only needed to suggest it once for Toyo to apply for and be awarded a
Nuffield Research Placement and he also got himself a place on the highly competitive
UNIQ summer school in Oxford.
Toyo: Last year I had tutorials with Olly nearly every week. The sessions are more
personal than my classes. Olly knows my strengths and weaknesses and he can
tailor each lesson so that were focusing more on what I need help with.
Olly: Over the past year, weve explored
challenging and fun maths problems,
problems that demand creativity and
sharp thinking instead of formula books
and calculations. Toyo has developed
critical and independent thinking:
confidently exploring new problems and
testing his own thinking by asking himself
how he knows something is true or how
he can test a rule.
Toyo: One-on-one tutorials have provided me the space to think beyond the
curriculum. Working with Olly has given me the confidence needed to answer a
question aloud without worrying about being wrong. They have greatly helped me
throughout AS maths, and the outcome has been a more confident approach to my
A-levels as a whole.
Olly: For me, the skills that tutoring builds are very useful and its fantastic to see a
student realise their passion for a subject. Particularly when its something you love
yourself. For him, I think having this connection to someone who is a few steps further
down the line is really valuable and I think he has gained a lot from that. Ive been able
to help him realise how good a mathematician he is and help him get ready for the next
steps.
Olly: This programme is an example of when relatively little external help can
be a catalyst for a big impact for a student. I am a firm believer in the need to
widen participation at university, and tutoring with The Access Project is an ideal
opportunity for me to use my skills and help this happen.
In my
tutorials
I play an
active role
94%
agree
94%
agree
In my tutorials
my tutor
addresses my
understanding
95%
agree
The topics in
my tutorials
reflect my
individual
needs
90%
...of our tutors say that tutoring gives them a strong feeling of accomplishment
88%
...agree that they get to use their skills in a meaningful way by tutoring a student
94%
...say that The Access Project is an excellent place to volunteer
94%
...of our tutors would recommend tutoring with The Access Project to a colleague or friend
University Progression
In 2014, 45 students from across our schools confirmed their places at Russell Group
universities, a progression rate of almost 12%: double the progression rate of similar schools
in London. Across our schools 97 students progressed to a highly selective university (i.e.
institutions placed in the top third of universities by selectivity). This progression rate of
24% is again double the average in similar London schools.
24%
12%
12%
6%
Progession to Top Third University
In our longest standing schools, the average progression before and after The Access Projects intervention shows
a dramatic increase in progression to Russell Group universities.
10
8
Pilot School
School 1
The project challenges students in many ways and provides excellent support
for the most able students who should, and now are, seriously considering Russell
Group university places as realistic pathways that they can follow.
Mark Emmerson, Principal, The City Academy Hackney
* The comparison is based on the most recent progression data released by DfE for the 2011/2012 academic year. Similar schools in London have more than 30% of students in receipt of free
school meals, based on 2013 data.
Looking forward
By Andrew Berwick
Director, The Access Project
This report is a story of change. Of a changing organisation - one that has grown in the last year
to become a regional organisation, beyond our original London base. And of changes in young
peoples lives: driven by committed leadership and teaching in schools, inspirational volunteer
tutors, and wise and passionate advice and guidance from our staff in school.
Sadly, stories like those in this report are the exception. Despite an increase in the number of
young people from all backgrounds going to university in recent years, those from affluent
backgrounds remain 7 times more likely to go to a selective university than their less affluent
peers. Put another way, in each of the last 3 years around 45 students on free school meals went
to Oxbridge.
This needs to change. The good news is that the next 5 years is our once in a lifetime
opportunity to make this happen: we are about to see phenomenal growth in university access
and the professions. The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission estimates that by 2020
there will be 100,000 more university places and two million more professional jobs than today.
Reaching the top of society is not a zero-sum game.
At The Access Project we want to ensure these new opportunities are open to young people
from all backgrounds. This means collaborating with fantastic national organisations like Teach
First and Impetus The Private Equity Foundation to increase our reach and hone our impact. It
also means working directly with more students, in more areas of the country. By 2020 we want
to be working in 100 schools nationally, supporting 6,000 students every year.
We need the help of others to do this. We need to find 80 more inspirational school leaders
who are excited about our approach to improving access. We need to find an additional
5,000 committed volunteers. And we need to find many more businesses who believe in the
importance of this once in a lifetime opportunity for change - and are willing to support this with
time and resources.
We hope that you are as excited as we are about making this change happen.
Social impact is at the heart of what we do. Weve written this report to try to
outline the impact we have had to date, but as we grow we need to continue
to improve. Were passionate about ensuring the best outcome for every
student we work with and are lucky to have several amazing organisations
helping us to do this:
The Access Project is currently validated by The Centre for Social Action
Innovation Fund, and our evidence partners TSIP, at Level 2 on Nestas Standards
of Evidence. This means we are condent that they can accurately demonstrate a
positive change in their target outcomes in this case students attainment and
access to Russell Group universities. They have been able to measure their impact,
and in doing so hold themselves accountable to the young people, businesses and
funders that they work with.
Vicky Sellick, Director of Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund, Nesta
The Access Project has a very clearly dened social mission. The organisations
delivery model reects their commitment and is well aligned with their goal of
narrowing the access gap. The Access Project is very committed to using monitoring
and evaluation to both improve student outcomes and to continuously rene its
programme over time; this will stand the organisation in good stead to drive impact
for its students and to replicate a programme that works nationally.
Sebastien Ergas, Impetus The Private Equity Foundation
The
Access
Project
Aimia
AKTII
Ashurst
Haverstock School
Bellenden
Bloomberg
Holte School
Credit Suisse
Edelman
KPMG LLP
Groupon
Linklaters
Instant Impact
Moseley School
Neil Cosgrove
MFS
Nesta
Teach First
Olswang
OxFizz
Rexam PLC
St Aloysius College
ThoughtWorks
EC2Y 5DN
info@theaccessproject.org.uk
www.theaccessproject.org.uk
Registered charity: 1143011
@TheAccessP