What works? Student retention and success change programme (Phase 2: 2012-15)

Liz Thomas is leading the What works? Student retention and success change programme on behalf of the Higher Education Academy, and working with Action on Access and Professor Mantz Yorke to evaluate its impact and research the process change.

Between 2008-11 the Higher Education Council for England (HEFCE) and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation funded the What works? Student retention and success programme. This £1 million programme provided funding to seven teams to identify and evaluate effective approaches to improving student retention and success.

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has provided additional funding to the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and Action on Access to develop, deliver and evaluate Phase 2: What works? Student retention and success change programme. This phase focuses on implementing change informed by the findings from the first phase in higher education institutions between 2012/13 and 2014/15, and evaluating the impact. The Programme aims specifically to:

• Use the learning from the What works? Student retention and success programme, institutional data and institutional review to identify strengths and challenges and priorities for change at the strategic and course/programme level (2012-13).
• Improve the strategic approach to improving the engagement, belonging, retention and success of students (2012-13 onwards).
• Implement or enhance specific interventions in the areas of induction, active learning, co-curricular activities in three selected discipline areas (2013-14 onwards).
• Evaluate the impact of the changes in both formative and summative ways, drawing on naturally occurring institutional data, bespoke student surveys and qualitative methods such as telephone or face-to-face interviews with staff and students (On-going)

The Programme attracted interest from a wide range of institutions and this is reflected in those selected to participate. There are currently 13 institutions progressing into the second year of the Programme. For further details see HEA site.

Find out more
Principles of effective practice
Reflective checklist: induction and transition
Reflective checklist: active learning and assessment
Reflective checklist: personal tutoring/academic advising
Reflective checklist: peer mentoring

All discipline teams participating in this programme need to complete a survey. It can be completed by the team leader, or collaboratively. The survey can be downloaded here.

Please download the survey and save it with the following file name Survey-institution-discipline, for example survey-poppleton-sociology. Please email the completed survey as an attachment to research@lizthomasassociates.co.uk.

All surveys should be returned by 5 September.

Download Survey >

The first Briefing is available here.
Keep in touch by signing up to the retentionandsuccess JISCmail list.
There will be an end of programme conference in 2016

For further details please contact liz@lizthomasassociates.co.uk