New research method aims to improve university access for young people in care

A new partnership between researchers and practitioners has developed an innovative way to evaluate how young people in care can be better supported to enter and succeed in higher education.

Academics from the University of Birmingham and the University of Cambridge, working with the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL), have created a new research method to assess the impact of an education navigator (EN) model being piloted in Camden.

The approach is designed to fill a major gap in how small-scale, personalised interventions are evaluated, particularly when programmes involve a small number of participants with diverse needs and circumstances.

While around half of young people now progress to university, only 15% of care-experienced young people do so. Researchers say this is not simply due to academic attainment, but to the lack of advice, advocacy, and family experience that typically helps other young people navigate the system.

Nearly two thirds of care-experienced young people report having no knowledge of the support available to them in higher education.

To help address this, the Inner Circle Educational Trust (ICET) is funding an education navigator to provide long-term, tailored support to Camden’s young people in care, working with them from age 14 through to the completion of a degree. The role is part of ICET’s Head Start into Higher Education programme, delivered in partnership with Camden Virtual School.

ICET has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Head Start programme by the University of Birmingham and NNECL, with the aim of understanding how the EN model affects young people’s educational outcomes and life chances. The evaluation also seeks to test whether this kind of personalised approach could be replicated across other areas of England.

Because every care-experienced young person’s journey is unique, the research team has had to move beyond traditional evaluation methods, which typically rely on large participant numbers and control groups.

Instead, the team is using a new ‘best odds’ analytical approach, comparing individual grades and progression routes against wider educational data to determine how each young person’s experience aligns with broader patterns.

Alongside this quantitative work, researchers are collecting detailed insights into how the EN’s engagement helps participants overcome academic, personal, and financial barriers. Together, these methods will build a richer picture of what types of support make the greatest difference.

The team also highlights challenges in securely sharing and analysing sensitive data — a factor that has long limited understanding of how small, intensive interventions work for under-represented groups.

By addressing these challenges, the project aims to create a model that can be applied more widely, not only for young people in care but for other groups under-represented in higher education.