Context

The University of Bath is committed to broadening access to higher education and ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds can benefit from its academic programmes. Disparities and persistent inequalities in access and educational outcomes are evident across socio-economic and demographic groups (Crenna-Jennings, 2018). Therefore, the University has developed a range of widening access programmes designed to engage with prospective post-16 student groups.

Some post-16 programmes that Bath deliver are singular interventions, some are residential programmes and some are defined as “black box” interventions, whereby a multi-faceted approach is taken to provide students with support via multiple methods and within a broader timespan. Currently this includes programmes like campus visits, school talks, Discover Bath, Target Bath and Pathway to Bath.

Evaluation Questions

• What are the effects on student HE knowledge, HE expectations, sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy for those that complete a selected University of Bath Widening Access Programme?
• Does participation in a University of Bath Widening Access programme increase Bath's applications rates among eligible applicants, compared to those who did not attend?
• Do outcome measures differ depending on the length/depth of the programme?
• Is there any correlation between key components on a multi-intervention programme and students' rates of applying to University of Bath?
• Does attending a University of Bath residential summer school programme impact a student’s likelihood to apply to Higher Education, high-tariff university and/or University of Bath?
• Are different student groups who attend a University of Bath residential summer school programme more or less likely to go into Higher Education?

Methodology

This is a two-stage research project.

Published in September 2025:

• Pre- and post-survey analysis of students who attended 2024 Pathway to Bath and 2024 Discover Bath, reviewing validated TASO Access and Success Questionnaire scales
• Participant engagement analysis for 2024 Pathway to Bath

Published in February 2026:

• Analysis of all summer school residential information from Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT), conducting a non-random comparison group with matching to determine likelihood of attending a residential summer school and applying to Higher Education, a high-tariff university and/or University of Bath. Regression models and propensity score matching will be used to assess the likelihood of university attendance among residential attendees compared to non-attendees.

See links below to access the reports.

Type of evaluation evidence

Using the OfS standards of evidence this project used Type 2 (empirical evidence)

Key Findings

Bath post-16 widening access programmes

• Both programmes improved students’ HE knowledge, academic self-efficacy, and sense of belonging.
• Minimal change in HE expectations was found, potentially reflecting a high baseline of motivation found in those attending.
  
• Academic content combined with guidance and experiential learning emerged as a strong driver of HE application behaviour.
  
• Undergraduate application rates to the University of Bath were significantly higher among programme participants compared with similar non-participants (those who applied for the programme but did not participate). Discover Bath attendees applied at higher rates overall (61%) but Pathway to Bath project completers achieve the highest application rate (75%), suggesting depth of engagement is as important as programme length.
  

View the full report

Bath summer schools

• HE progression was higher among Bath summer school participants, with modelling suggesting a +6.3pp increase in likelihood of enrolling in HE once socio-demographic characteristics are controlled for.
• Progression to high-tariff institutions was slightly higher for Bath summer school participants (+4.0pp in the adjusted model), though this effect was not consistently statistically significant.
• The strongest high-tariff effects were for students from low HE participation areas, with substantial gains for POLAR Q1 (+17.6pp) and Q2 (+18.4pp) participants compared with non-participants from similar low participation areas and with similar individual socio-demographic characteristics.
  
• Progression to the University of Bath was significantly higher among participants, with a +4.3pp increase in likelihood of enrolment after controlling for individual characteristics.
  
• Impacts were not uniform across groups for progression to Bath, with larger effects for male than female students, significant effects for White participants but not other ethnicities, and no significant difference by disability status.
  

View the full report

References

• Crenna-Jennings, W. (2018). Key drivers of the disadvantage gap: Literature review. Education in England Annual Report. Education Policy Institute. Available at https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/EPI-Annual-Report-2018-Lit-review.pdf.

Published evaluation documents

Bath post-16 widening access programmes

• View summary report
  
• View evaluation report

Bath summer schools

• View evaluation report

Useful links

https://www.bath.ac.uk/professional-services/widening-participation/