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Additionally, students also develop their understanding of and aspirations towards higher education (HE) through sustained interaction with student ambassadors, who support all sessions throughout the week. Based on the conceptual framework of the theory of change, the intervention primarily addresses the barrier of soft skills, including increasing students' self\u2010belief, while also addressing some of the barriers of socio\u2010economic factors to HE participation namely knowledge, understanding and likelihood of applying to HE in future, through increased exposure to HE role models. In this paper we report our findings from the evaluation where we are studying the effectiveness of the programme. Through survey questionnaires data was collected from over 698 students in year 9 and year 10, studying at 42 schools across Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset who took part in the \u2018Articulate\u2019 programme, which was run in collaboration with Next Steps South West (NSSW). Results show the majority of participating students went on to perform well in the ESB exam; furthermore, participants were more likely to have positive attitudes towards HE and considered applying to HE in future. The findings will be of particular interest to practitioners and activity providers.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:boxed-text content-type=\"box\" position=\"anchor\">\n                      <jats:caption>\n                        <jats:title>Context and implications<\/jats:title>\n                      <\/jats:caption>\n                      <jats:sec>\n                        <jats:title>Rationale for this study<\/jats:title>\n                        <jats:p>This paper summarises the mid\u2010term evaluation of an outreach programme designed for under\u2010represented groups to build their soft (communication) skills and develop their understanding of higher education (HE)\u2014in terms of applying to university, support available and the possibilities HE can offer.<\/jats:p>\n                      <\/jats:sec>\n                      <jats:sec>\n                        <jats:title>Why the new findings matter<\/jats:title>\n                        <jats:p>It is possible to achieve medium\u2010term goals only after a sequence of short\u2010term goals are completed and built together to form a long\u2010term pursuit. Evaluating these goals is particularly useful for those delivering them and for the funder. Long\u2010term plans are what we are working towards, but the value of moderate to mid\u2010term goals is that they let us check our progress and evaluate whether we are still heading towards our long\u2010term pursuit and whether our plan, design or choices need to change to reach desired outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                      <\/jats:sec>\n                      <jats:sec>\n                        <jats:title>Implications<\/jats:title>\n                        <jats:p>We expect the paper will be of particular interest to funders, regulators, practitioners and activity providers delivering similar programmes and will encourage them to evaluate the programmes they run for effectiveness and accountability. Based on the work done by some research team members, the Office for Students has recently published a report encouraging higher education institutions, outreach and activity providers to consider the standards of evidence and programme evaluation. Our work is one example of a mid\u2010term review for an ongoing programme with long\u2010term goals. Such reports are relatively rare, and we expect this evidence\u2010based practice will set a good example for colleagues involved in similar work.<\/jats:p>\n                      <\/jats:sec>\n                    <\/jats:boxed-text>\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/rev3.3391","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,6]],"date-time":"2023-04-06T07:39:21Z","timestamp":1680766761000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Evaluation of the \u2018Articulate\u2019 widening participation intervention aimed at improving soft skills and\n                    <scp>HE<\/scp>\n                    aspirations of students from traditionally under\u2010represented backgrounds"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4317-3756","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pallavi","family":"Banerjee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education University of Exeter  Exeter UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Charlotte","family":"True","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Next Steps South West University of Plymouth  Plymouth UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rob","family":"Hart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Next Steps South West University of Plymouth  Plymouth UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eleanor","family":"Hodgson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education University of Exeter  Exeter UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kristi","family":"Dingwall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education University of Exeter  Exeter UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhimin","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education University of Exeter  Exeter UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-444-53444-6.00001-8"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/13562510701595325"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/02680939.2013.790079"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/713655373"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203986943"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lindif.2018.06.009"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/03054985.2014.953921"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01425690120102854"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1529-1006.01431"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2273.2007.00355.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1365480214556419"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/berj.3235"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17508481003731042"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/03057925.2011.566688"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_16_1","first-page":"241","volume-title":"Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education","author":"Bourdieu P.","year":"1986"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_17_1","first-page":"241","volume-title":"Education, culture, economy, society","author":"Bourdieu P.","year":"1997"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_18_1","unstructured":"Callender C.(2003a).Attitudes to debt: School leavers and further education Students' attitudes to debt and their impact on participation in higher education: Report for universities UK and HEFCE. 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