upReach Impact Report - Flipbook - Page 11
upReach Associates outperform peers after graduation
This year, upReach invested in its impact measurement efforts by purchasing sector-wide data
from HESA. This allowed us to compare the outcomes of upReach Associates against national
averages, as well as build more comparable benchmarks based upon academic and socioeconomic background.
Similar Academic and Socio-economic Background
upReach employs an academic eligibility criterion of at least BBB (on a contextualised basis) at A
Level (or an equivalent qualification) for a majority of its programmes. The academic benchmark
considered A Level (or equivalent qualification) results and degree attainment, in addition to the
range of universities attended and courses studied.
Associates participating in our programme must have attended state schools only prior to
commencing university study, and have a household income that is less than £42,650. The second
benchmark considered graduates who attended state schools only prior to university. Since HESA
does not distribute data on household income we adopted a proxy measure using NS-SEC
classification, recognising that is not a perfect replacement.10
6.5 percentage
points
upReach Associates had a Graduate Destination Score
6.5 percentage points higher than graduates from a
similar academic and socio-economic background
Fig 4. Graduate Destination Score (GDS) of upReach Associates vs Graduates with a Similar
Background 11
76%
72%
69.5%
Notes
10. NS-SEC is based on the occupational class of a graduate’s highest earning parent/guardian, unless they are aged 21 or over when
commencing university study, in which case their own occupational class is recorded. See more at
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/students#socio-economic-classification. Though there are concerns around the reliability of this selfdisclosed variable - recent literature suggests it is a more valid measure of socio-economic disadvantage compared to the other variables made
available by HESA, such as POLAR4 quintile and whether or not a student is the first in their family to attend university. For instance, see Boliver et
al. (2022) Who counts as socioeconomically disadvantaged for the purposes of widening access to higher education?
11. upReach Associates who did not achieve BBB+ or equivalent at A Level have been removed from this comparison. They will have been
admitted onto our programmes for achieving this on a contextualised basis. You can read more about our contextualised recruitment tool
REALrating here: realrating.co.uk
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