Supporting student success: strategies for institutional change' is the final report to the What works? Student retention and success programme a Paul Hamlyn Foundation initiative working with the Higher Education Academy Action on Access and 13 UK universities across 43 discipline areas. The programme examined what works in terms of retention and success and crucially developed understanding about how to implement change.
The What works? programme showed that effective interventions have an academic purpose relevant to all students and are delivered in the mainstream facilitating collaboration between students and staff. Interventions are most successful when ongoing and part of a programme of measures featuring the monitoring and follow-up of engagement by individual students. The final report highlights the importance of an institution wide approach to improving retention and success including senior leadership and the crucial role of research and evidence in developing solutions to issues of concern.
