Our Partnership with CROA

LMH is proud to partner with the Department of Economics to support the Centre for Research on Outreach and Access (CROA). This research initiative aims to build a rigorous, data-driven understanding of access to higher education, particularly at selective institutions like Oxford, and to explore how outreach initiatives and financial support can shape the lives of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

For LMH, the partnership reflects our commitment to developing effective outreach and to understanding what works. It also gives us an opportunity to connect LMH’s academic and research strengths with our work in outreach. Nationally, there is still limited empirical evidence about the causal impact of Higher Education outreach programmes, despite the significant time and funding invested in this work across the sector. 

Partnering with CROA will allow us to undertake an academically rigorous assessment of one of our own programmes, helping us to better understand its impact and learn from the findings and also contribute to building a stronger evidence base about what works in Higher Education access and outreach. 

Launched in 2026, The Wayfinder Programme works with selected high attaining Year 10-11 students from schools in LMH’s link regions to support them in exploring their options for post-16 study and to provide information and guidance about Oxford and other selective universities. 

The Wayfinder Programme takes a sustained approach to outreach, giving LMH the opportunity to build longer-term relationships with students and schools. Like many Oxford colleges, much of LMH’s outreach has traditionally involved one-off activities with high-potential students from schools in our link regions, helping to demystify Oxford and providing support with applications. Research to date indicates that engaging with students over a sustained period may have a greater influence on young people’s higher education choices than traditional ‘one-off’ interventions. 

A sustained programme like this requires significant time and resource to develop and deliver. We therefore want to understand whether it is achieving the intended outcomes, and to use what we learn to strengthen our outreach approach over time. Refining our programmes in the light of this evaluation will help us make sure the programme best meets the needs of students and schools, while also ensuring that the support of our generous donors is being used most effectively.    

While planning The Wayfinder Programme, we worked closely with researchers at CROA to structure it in a way that allows it to be rigorously evaluated. Alongside this, CROA researchers have designed a randomised control trial to assess the programme’s impact. 

While we are in the initial trial stage, The Wayfinder Programme is open to schools on an invite-only basis. However, if you are interested, please register your interest in future years of the programme by contacting Eleanor Chamings-Manley, Head of Access and Admissions Support at: headofaccess@lmh.ox.ac.uk.  

The LMH Outreach Team and researchers at CROA would be very happy to talk to any outreach practitioners, outreach evaluation leads or researchers about our work. Please do get in touch with headofaccess@lmh.ox.ac.uk or mathias.jensen@economics.ox.ac.uk.