Access to free period products in educational settings during the 2018-19 academic year: monitoring and evaluation report

Annex A: Research questions and data collected

Q1 What delivery models were used to provide access to free period products? What were the advantages and disadvantages of the delivery model?

Sub-questions:

a) What delivery models are currently being implemented?

b) Are free sanitary products being made available outside of term-time? If so, how?

c) Did institutions achieve full roll-out of the provision and, if not, what are the reasons?

a) How did institutions decide on delivery models?

b) Did institutions provide access to sanitary products prior to the pilot and, if so, how does the delivery of the PfG Government commitment differ?

c) What were the advantages and disadvantages of the selected delivery model/s chosen? How did the delivery model impact on uptake?

Data source: Biannual institutional reporting, local authority workshop

a) Are students aware of where and how they can access free sanitary products at their institution?

b) Amongst those who accessed free sanitary products, how did they do so? Did the delivery model impact on their ability to access products?

Data source: Student survey

Q2 How was co-ordination and distribution of products/the means to purchase products managed and what challenges were encountered?

Sub-questions:

a) How did institutions cope with demand and how burdensome was it for them to administer their distribution of products/the means to purchase products?

b) What logistical/operational challenges did institutions face in distributing products?

Data source: Biannual institutional reporting, local authority workshop

a) Amongst those who accessed free sanitary products, did they experience any barriers to access?

b) Amongst those who did not access free sanitary products, what were the reasons? Did the products available or delivery model impact on their decision?

Data source: Student survey

Q3 What level of demand was there for sanitary products?

Sub-questions:

a) How many sanitary products were distributed to students?

b) How many sanitary products were taken by students?

c) Did institutions engage in any activities to promote the availability of free sanitary products?

Data source: Biannual institutional reporting

a) What proportion of students reported accessing free sanitary products at their institution? Did this differ by institution type, location, protected characteristics?

b)

c) How often did students access free sanitary products at their institution?

d) How many products did students take on each occasion?

e) Were students aware of activities to promote free sanitary products in their institutions?

Data source: Student survey

Q4 What volume and type of products were required?

Sub-questions:

a) How did institutions advertise the availability of free sanitary products? What impact did these activities have on uptake?

a) How many and what types of sanitary products were purchased and distributed to students?

b) Were there any changes to the range of products purchased during the roll-out of the provision?

Data source: Biannual institutional reporting

a) Were students able to access the products they needed, when they needed them?

b) Were students able to access their preferred type of product/s?

c) Were students able to access the volume of products they needed?

d) How many students are interested in trying reusable products in the future?

Data source: Student survey

Q5 How much did delivering the PfG commitment cost?

Sub-questions:

a) What was the total spend to date on delivering free sanitary products?

b) What was the total spend on purchasing the sanitary products?

c) What is the unit cost of each sanitary product purchased?

d) What additional costs did institutions incur (e.g. marketing, delivery)?

Data source: Biannual institutional reporting

Q6 Why were students experiencing need?

Sub-questions:

a) What issues had students experienced accessing products for themselves/ their family in the past? How did students cope with these issues?

b) Amongst those who accessed free products, what were the drivers?

Data source: Student survey

Q7 What impact did the availability of free sanitary products have on students?

Sub-questions:

a) What are the students' views of the perceived impact of the availability of free sanitary products at their institution?

b) Do the perceived impacts differ between those who accessed free products and those who did not?

Data source: Student survey