How the ‘University decision-making of students eligible for Free School Meals’ report will help you:
- Inform the strategy and work involved in communicating and engaging with prospective undergraduate students eligible for Free School Meals effectively
- Identify opportunities for new programmes or initiatives that could better support the decision-making journeys of young people who are eligible for Free School Meals
- Provide evidence to support your university’s activities with Free School Meal eligible pupils for widening access and progression plans
- Provide an evidence base to secure the necessary funding for new work/initiatives, and engage stakeholders in a joined-up approach
We also ran a follow on project to this, looking at the UG university experiences of Free School Meal eligible students so you may be interested in the details about that project too.
More about the ‘University decision-making of students eligible for Free School Meals’ project
This research project brought together Alterline and 13 Universities from around the UK to gather evidence exploring the lived experience of students eligible for Free School Meals and how universities could better support their decision-making and recruitment journeys.
Across October and November 2024, 30 narrative interviews were conducted with year 12 and 13 students who had been eligible for Free School Meals in the prior 6 years.
The full visual research report includes an executive summary and practical recommendations.
Report contents include:
- What young people’s educational journeys have been like and how their wider circumstances change their experience of education
- The key drivers of decision-making and what influences decisions about FSM eligible young people’s futures
- The barriers to considering study at university; what support could be provided and at what points in time
- What support students have received/been aware of but not engaged with
- Specific hopes, fears and aspirations which are underpinning young people’s information needs
- Types of messaging that resonate with students eligible for Free School Meals
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:
- Imperial College London
- Kingston University
- Northumbria University
- Sheffield Hallam University/HEPPsy
- University College London (UCL)
- University of Birmingham
- University of Hertfordshire
- University of Manchester
- University of Southampton
- University of Surrey
- University of Sussex
- University of Warwick
- University of Winchester