Higher Education Engagement among Students with Armed Services Backgrounds: A Literature Review

A systematic review of the literature relating to British military families (service and ex-service personnel, spouses and partners and children) and access to, and retention in, higher education; the review evaluates twenty-one articles and reports. Lord Ashcroft’s 2014 Veterans’ Transition Review provided a comprehensive account of the contemporary situation with regard to military service personnel and their families, and transition into civilian life (including access to higher education). This review examines the findings of the Ashcroft report and subsequent research to identify (positive and negative) factors that influence access to, and retention of students with an armed forces background in higher education. By synthesizing the literature, this report makes recommendations about actions to improve access to university, and retention, of students with an armed services background. Students with an armed services background are not a single homogenous group; the Centre for Military Research, Education and Public Engagement identifies at six distinct groups. This report examines the different barriers encountered by different groups and makes specific recommendations for different groups of students with an armed services background.