Student safeguarding evaluation and resources

Evaluation of the student safeguarding Catalyst programme

We commissioned Advance HE to carry out an external evaluation of the programme of 119 student safeguarding projects.

They have produced:

• A thematic report covering the first round of funding (September 2018)
• A thematic report, addressing the second round of funding (June 2019)
• A final summative report on rounds one and two (June 2019)
• A thematic report, relating to the third round of funding (November 2019)
• A final report, concluding round three. It highlights emerging practice and identifies knowledge gaps in work carried out by providers to address religious-based hate crime and harassment (August 2020).

View the external evaluation reports.

Across Advance HE’s evaluation reports it has been found that:

• the programme has stimulated a wide range of activities across a significant number of higher education providers
• tolerance for sexual misconduct has decreased within the higher education sector in recent years through awareness raising, and reporting of incidents by students is now increasing. Students have an increased confidence that their provider will respond to their reports and disclosures
• there is room for improvement, for example: universities’ understanding and prioritisation of hate crime and online harassment seems to be lower compared with levels of understanding and action to address sexual misconduct.