EYU Phase 3 Evaluation

Explore Your Universe (EYU) is a national programme celebrating the physical sciences developed by the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) in partnership with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). 

EYU began in 2012 and in the first year of Phase 1, 156,880 children and adults took part in events at 10 science and discovery centres and two STFC facilities. Phase 2, which began in 2014, saw 184,834 visitors taking part in events at 10 more centres. Phase 3 started in April 2016 and finished in March 2018. In total, 39,273 people participated in Explore Your Universe activities, events and workshops in 14 science and discovery centres. 

Evaluation of Phase 3

Phase 3 of Explore Your Universe has just been completed, engaging 39,273 children and adults, largely from underserved communities, in 14 regions of the UK and across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Phase 3 aimed to increase the value-for-money, sustainability and legacy of the Explore Your Universe Programme, further extending the reach into disadvantaged and underserved schools and communities to engage those who are remote from STEM.

11% of participants were evaluated - 213 teachers and 4,282 students took part in the evaluation. 

• Boys and girls were equally positive about the activities with some slight differences for some aspects. 
• Students from schools in areas of higher deprivation were slightly more positive about the activities than students from schools in areas of lower deprivation although both groups were overwhelmingly positive. 

The main findings are as follows:

• Students from schools in areas of higher deprivation (91%) were slightly more positive about the activities than students from schools in areas of lower deprivation (88%).
• In total, 79% of students felt inspired by the activities. More primary school students (87%) were inspired than secondary school students (75%).
• More students from schools in areas of higher deprivation (83%) were inspired than students from schools in areas of lower deprivation (80%).
• Three-quarters of students said that they would tell friends and family about the activities with female students being more positive, especially those from primary schools.
• More than half the students reported that they had ¬never used the equipment in the activities before.
• More than half the students were more likely to consider a career in STEM after taking part in the activities (53%). The likelihood was greater for primary than secondary students. Similarly, male students were more encouraged by the activities than were female students.
• Female students participating in careers events were more positive than male students, and students who attended more deprived schools were more positive about the activity than students who attended less deprived schools.
• Students liked the hands-on nature of the activities and enjoyed using sometimes novel equipment.
• Overall, 93% of the teachers gave a positive evaluation of the activities. And almost all teachers (98%) would recommend these activities to other teachers.
• The funding for visiting the centre was crucial for teachers; if the cost is covered then over 90% of teachers reported that they would take students to a science centre or arrange an outreach visit. With no cost cover this percentage dropped to 30% and 43%, respectively.
• Teachers from more deprived schools were more positive about the content and the expertise of staff than those who work in less deprived schools.
• Most of the teachers did not know about STFC before the activity (88%).
• All centres benefitted substantially from the funding which allowed them to engage with new schools or to strengthen existing relationships. Some centres had identified strategies to ensure that these links could be maintained after the project finished. Many centres seem to have benefitted from a focus on outreach to schools and, in one case, to a prison. Centre staff felt more confident in delivering EYU-type activities beyond their own institution.
• The kit was uniformly valued as one of the major legacies of the project.

Participating centres chose to organise outreach events involving visits to schools or other locations and/or careers events involving local and national employers. Some centres chose to provide bursaries so that schools could take part in events that they would not normally have been able to afford.

Total Numbers of participants in Explore Your Universe Phase 3:

13,373 students took part through either outreach (8836), bursary (4085) or careers (452) events

25,200 people took part (not schools)

• 21,768 through family and community events
• 2067 through careers events
• 1365 through other EYU activities

700 teachers took part

• 335 through outreach events
• 202 through bursary events
• 39 via school careers events, and
• 124 took part in a teacher CPD session

Download the Explore Your Universe Evaluation Report - Phase 3