Impact Report
2023-24
Welcome to the School Tasking 2023-24 impact report!
School Tasking is an exciting outreach project that enables young people to learn about interesting aspects of the law through fun and interactive tasks, set in the style of the hit TV show Taskmaster. This report summarises key evaluation findings from 2023-24.
In School Tasking, participating Year 5 classes (all from state schools meeting widening participation criteria) are split into teams of 5-6. During four in-school sessions delivered by university outreach teams and Law students, classes are introduced to some of the most interesting areas of law, and are given a chance to practise key skills, such as teamwork, communication, and lateral thinking. The teams compete against each other, against teams from other local schools, and, ultimately, against schools from across the UK, in a bid to be crowned that year’s School Tasking Champion of Champions.
Just as in the TV show Taskmaster, School Tasking provides the opportunity for all children to shine based on their particular talents and skills, enabling each child to excel at different aspects of the competition and contribute to the success of their team.
Watch School Tasking in action
School Tasking in the classroom
School Tasking Champion of Champions at the University of Warwick
School Tasking on BBC news
School Tasking2023-24 in numbers
18 universities
50 schools
1773
Year 5 students
Evaluation approach
The 2023-24 School Tasking rollout was evaluated by researchers at The Brilliant Club, the UKs largest university access charity. As part of this evaluation, students completed short pre-post surveys in their first and final School Tasking session. In keeping with the format of School Tasking, completing the surveys formed part of a task for which teams could earn bonus points, which also incentivised students to return them. The surveys included questions about students’ understanding of Law and feedback on School Tasking.
Universities transcribed the survey responses into an Excel template and returned them to the evaluation team, with 13 of the 18 participating universities sending in their data. The final sample for evaluation was 1091 students. This report outlines key findings from the evaluation.
Enjoyment of School Tasking
As an outreach initiative aimed at primary school children, a key aim of School Tasking is to be engaging and fun for all participants, regardless of their particular abilities, skills, and interests.
On average, students rated their enjoyment of School Tasking at 4.3 out of 5, and 95% of students gave School Tasking a score of 3 or above.
Favourite element of School Tasking
At the end of the programme, participants were asked to reflect on their favourite part of School Tasking. The graph below shows the top 10 most common themes in their responses. The answers given reflect their enjoyment of the fun, creative and interactive nature of the programme.
What did you like most about School Tasking? (top 10 responses)
tasks fun drawing laws activities learning playdough playing everything challenges
Understanding of the law
School Tasking focuses on teaching children about fun and interesting aspects of the law, including Introduction to Law, Statutory Interpretation, Tort, and Human Rights. The sessions introduce students to both legal knowledge and key legal skills, such as creativity, lateral and critical thinking, collaboration, debating, problem-solving and presenting, through workbook exercises and collaborative tasks.
After taking part in School Tasking 30% of students said they knew a lot about the law, compared to 20% before. The proportion of students who said they know a bit about the law decreased from 67% to 64%, and those saying they know nothing about the law decreased from 13% to 6%, indicating that overall legal knowledge increased over the course of the programme.
How much do you know about the law?
I know a lot about the law I know a bit about the law I know nothing about the law
Interestingly, students started with a relatively high baseline of self-reported law knowledge, considering law does not form part of the primary school curriculum (87% saying they know a bit or a lot about the law). This suggests that children have developed an idea of the law through interactions outside of school.
Conceptualisations of the law
At the start and end of the programme, students were asked what three words they thought of when they heard the word “law”.
Analysis of the top ten most mentioned words revealed some consistency and some changes in participants’ conceptualisation of the law.
Both before and after the programme, students strongly associate “rules” with the law. After taking part in School Tasking, students were more likely to say “court” and less likely to say “police”, reflecting their more specific understanding of the law. They also said “judges” more often than “judging”, perhaps because they knew more about the role of a judge.
Had students watched Taskmaster before?
Just over three quarters (77%) of School Tasking participants had never watched an episode of Taskmaster before starting the programme. A dedicated 3% try to watch every episode.
Have you ever watched Taskmaster?
I have never watched Taskmaster before I have seen a few episodes I try to watch every episode
Over the course of the programme, 29% had watched an episode of Taskmaster, and 26% moved from never having watched Taskmaster to watching some episodes at home since starting School Tasking.
Have you watched any episodes of Taskmaster at home since starting School Tasking?
Yes No
Testimonials
“School Tasking has been running across 6 regions in 2023-24 and it’s been an absolute pleasure to see it flourish in the capable hands of rollout teams across the UK and Ireland. The project aims to bring a little bit of joy, whilst also introducing pupils to some fundamental legal concepts and skills, as well as the notion of university study more broadly. The enthusiasm with which the kids approach the tasks and throw themselves into the finals is showing that Taskmaster really is the most wonderful vehicle for education.”
– Dr Ali Struthers, Creator of School Tasking
“The work that Ali has been doing with Taskmaster and children has been remarkable. It was never meant to be watched by kids, let alone played, but now there’s no stopping them! I’ve hosted task sessions in schools myself, and it’s both fun and exhausting. So, I’m pleased and relieved that Ali and her co-conspirators are taking on the challenge with so much energy and enthusiasm. Thanks to them, with a bit of luck and a lot of work, our nonsense show might just inspire some young people to have fun, work as a team, and be very, very silly.”
– Alex Horne, Creator of Taskmaster
“The pupils who participated were inspired and have such positive memories of all the ideas and skills they learnt. The positive impact your sessions had on them has been so good. The teamwork, negotiation, creativity and problem-solving has really helped those pupils; they definitely see the value of collaboration and working with the ideas of others more than they used to. In addition, the students who ran these sessions were fantastic and a credit to your university.”
“I’ve enjoyed watching the children develop their creativity and think outside the box. Their oracy skills have improved through discussion and speaking to the camera or presenting for their group.”
“It gave them further opportunities to develop their teamwork and communication skills whilst solving some very exciting tasks. They could draw upon their knowledge previously gained in many areas of the curriculum and showcase it in fun and creative ways.”
– Teachers at participating schools
Conclusion
In 2023-24, School Tasking was delivered to more students than ever before, in partnership with 18 universities across the UK and Ireland. The evaluation results show that School Tasking successfully engaged participating Year 5 students as the majority enjoyed their School Tasking experience, rating it 4.3 out of 5 stars on average. Further, students improved their knowledge of the law over the course of the programme, with 94% saying they know a bit or a lot about the law at the end vs 87% at the beginning. As offering a fun, engaging outreach activity that teaches students about the law is a key aim of School Tasking, it is positive to see that this has been achieved in the evaluation.
With thanks to
