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Evaluation of HE Short Course Trials

Fri, 31 May 2019 11:40:50 GMT

The Office for Students appointed CRAC to evaluate a programme it is running with the Department for Education to trial higher education short courses as part of the Government’s approach to delivering the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE). Within this programme, 22 HE institutions and colleges developed new short courses in a variety of disciplinary areas vital to the future economy.

CRAC monitored the development and launch of new courses by these providers and participation by students on the new courses. We implemented a variety of analysis and research to provide an evaluation of the overall programme. We also supported the funded providers to consider evaluation measures as they developed these courses.

The final report can be downloaded here.

Research into performing arts graduates’ careers

Fri, 31 May 2019 11:40:50 GMT

CRAC, supported by the Institute of Student Employers, has undertaken research with graduates of the six constituent schools of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama (CDD) to understand more about the career paths of performance and production graduates:

- Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
- Central School of Ballet
- London Contemporary Dance School
- National Centre for Circus Arts
- Northern School of Contemporary Dance
- Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance

‘It helps to have more strings to your bow’: Exploring the careers and success of graduates of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama’ reveals a wide range of career trajectories and that many of these graduates have complex working patterns. Almost 90% maintain a connection to the artform they studied (through paid or unpaid activity) and 4 in 5 think they have built a good career since graduation – most are, in many respects, highly satisfied with their careers. We present a new, holistic model of graduate success which explores areas such as artistic engagement, wellbeing and making a difference, as well as earnings. The report’s findings will be directly relevant to those with an interest in creative and performing arts education, but the new approach to considering graduate success and course outcomes could be very interesting for other groups, particularly where earnings are not a good measure of career progress or a meaningful one in terms of what graduates value.

Download the report

Evaluation of The AHRC’s Doctoral Training Partnership Scheme

Fri, 29 Nov 2019 15:03:16 GMT

Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) are a central part of the AHRC’s doctoral training programme, introduced in 2014 as funding for cohort-based doctoral training hosted in centres of research excellence. Within DTP1, AHRC made awards to nine institutional consortia and two individual universities (the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge).

AHRC has commissioned CRAC to undertake an evaluation of DTP1 in order to review the effectiveness and impact of the scheme against the original aims and principles of the scheme, which will inform future investment in doctoral education. The evaluation will comprise interview with DTP directors and surveys of students/alumni and partners involved in DTPs.

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Postgraduate transitions: exploring disciplinary practice

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 20:56:06 GMT

Research by CRAC, supported by experts from King's College, London, Durham University and the University of York, for the Higher Education Academy has been looking at the extent to which graduates from UK HE institutions progress to postgraduate study. Data shows that certain UK HE institutions seem to be more successful than comparable institutions in relation to the proportion of their graduates that enter postgraduate study. There are also marked differences between different disciplines. CRAC investigated these differences and investigated disciplinary, institutional and departmental practice that could account for variances of this kind. The report was published in 2016 by the Higher Education Academy:

Understanding how people choose to pursue taught postgraduate study (HEFCE, 2014)

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 21:04:30 GMT

With help from the International Centre for Guidance Studies, CRAC has completed research for HEFCE to understand better and help HE providers to meet the information needs of prospective PGT students, so that they can make well-informed choices. This included:

Desk research to understand better the decision-making process by which prospective PGT students choose courses, and how this is served by existing provision of information.
New primary research to understand the particular information needs of prospective PGT students currently ‘outside' the HE system (i.e. potential ‘mature' students and/or those who have been outside HE for 3+ years). These prospective applicants have some distinct information needs, and they find it somewhat harder than those close to or in HE to find the information they seek.
Illustrating good practice by universities in web-based information provision through a range of case studies.

Click here to read the report