Teachers as Influencers of University Ambition 2019 – report available to purchase

How the ‘Teachers as influencers of university choices’ 2019 report will help you:

  • Further improve your knowledge and understanding of how teachers influence young people’s university decision-making and what information drives their thinking
  • Assist your marketing, recruitment and outreach teams to approach engagement of teachers in a smarter and more effective way using independently generated national insight which is available to them right now
  • Attract students to your institution by using this insight to inform your strategies for this and future academic years

We also repeated this project in 2021/22, to update insight following the Covid-19 pandemic so you may be interested in the details about that more recent project.

More about the teachers as influencers project

This research project was based on an online quantitative survey of 504 teachers and careers advisors of secondary school, sixth form and college age in the UK. The quantitative survey was followed by a qualitative online community with 26 teachers and careers advisors. The report was completed in August 2019

The full report explores teachers’ influence on their children’s decision-making around higher education and includes a review of the existing literature, an executive summary and practical recommendations.

Report contents include:

  • How and to what extent teachers seek to influence the decisions of their pupils regarding university
  • What teachers’ perceptions of universities are
  • How teachers formulate their opinions and where they seek their information
  • What teachers’ priorities are when helping students make decisions about universities
  • What teachers’ experiences are of the support offered by universities; how this affects their actions and thinking
  • What information teachers want from universities in order to be equipped to assist pupils in making decisions about their future

Project partners

This project was developed in partnership with a number of clients who helped to shape the research design through our collaborative University Futures model. With thanks to:

  • University of Birmingham
  • University of Cumbria
  • University of East Anglia
  • University of Edinburgh
  • University of Exeter
  • University of Manchester
  • Newcastle University
  • University of South Wales
  • Next Steps South West
  • University of Sunderland
  • University of Surrey
  • University of Warwick