What difference can an outdoor learning experience make to a young person who might otherwise miss out? Early findings from Adventures Away from Home suggest that the programme has widened access, strengthened wellbeing and given young people greater confidence to take on new challenges.
For the past four years, Adventures Away from Home has offered outdoor learning experiences to young people facing barriers to access and participation. Funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and delivered through UK Youth and outdoor learning providers across England, the programme has reached more than 30,000 young people this year alone.
We’re excited to share some early insights and learnings, as we continue to evaluate the programme.
Delivering Adventures Away from Home at scale, without losing the magic
Adventures Away from Home 2025/26 was delivered at more than three times the scale of the previous round in 2024/25. Between October 2025 and April 2026, 103 Outdoor Learning Providers delivered 1,845 experiences to 31,160 young people, exceeding the programme’s overall participation target. Importantly, this scaled-up delivery did not come at the expense of inclusion:
- 46% of participants came from the 30% most deprived areas in England
- 44% had special educational needs and disabilities
- 33% came from minoritised ethnic backgroundsch
- 64% had experienced outdoor learning only once before, or not at all
Encouraging signs for young people’s wellbeing and confidence
Previous evaluations of Adventures Away from Home have found a positive association between participation in outdoor learning and improvements in young people’s social and emotional skills. This latest evaluation builds on that evidence by examining how these experiences affect wellbeing.
The early findings are promising. 60% of young people surveyed (n=3,721) reported an overall improvement in their wellbeing scores after their experience. The largest gains were in ‘happiness’, followed by ‘feelings of worthwhileness’ and ‘life satisfaction’.
Confidence also stands out. Almost half of young people (49%) said they felt more confident to take on new challenges after their experience. Young people described discovering that they were more capable than they thought, persevering through unfamiliar situations and becoming more confident in overcoming difficulties.
“I can do things that surprise people and I don’t have to continue being the same” Young participant, AAfH 25-26
Oscar Bingham, Assistant Director of Research and Impact said: “For many young people, an Adventure Away from Home is a really big deal. It’s a new environment with new people, they might be homesick, and they’re doing activities that are designed to expose them to new physical, psychological and social challenges.
“Over a long and harsh winter, young people were getting wet, cold and windswept. But they also warmed up around the fire, with new friends, over a hot chocolate. This is why we’re not just interested in young people’s immediate reaction to their experience, our evaluation is exploring what changes in young people in the six months after it.”
Youth practitioners and outdoor learning providers have benefitted too
The role of youth practitioners and outdoor learning providers in creating safe, inclusive and meaningful experiences has also been highlighted in our early findings.
96% of group leaders surveyed (n=158) said the programme helped them develop stronger, more trusting relationships with young people, while 82% gained skills they could use in their professional practice. With a Net Promoter Score of +95, groups leaders were also highly likely to recommending Adventures Away from Home to others.
Outdoor learning providers were similarly positive. 89% said the programme helped them build or develop relationships with new youth groups or schools, while 67% said it supported new ways of working that could be sustained in the future. Providers also highlighted benefits, including reaching underserved communities, strengthening local partnerships, improving inclusion and sustaining staff and services through the quieter winter months.
David Watts, Director of Outdoor Learning said:“The evidence is clear: this is a programme that really works, is exceptionally well received, and gives young people opportunities they may otherwise never have. I sincerely hope funding can be found to continue and grow this work, because young people need these experiences to build confidence, improve wellbeing and strengthen their life chances.”
There’s much more to come out of this evaluation
All our early findings are outlined in our interim report, and this evaluation will continue throughout 2026. We’ll explore whether short-term positive changes persist over time, which young people experience the greatest benefits, what barriers to participation remain and the wider economic value of the programme.
We are working with PBE (formerly Pro Bono Economics) to estimate the wellbeing value generated by Adventures Away from Home for every £1 invested.
In parallel, staff and students at the Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour at Liverpool John Moores University are analysing two years of data from the programme to explore the links between young people’s social and emotional development and wellbeing, and how these outcomes are understood and achieved.
The final evaluation report will also investigate the “hidden” or less-well-understood barriers that still persist for young people in accessing inclusive outdoor learning. These include transport and equipment, staffing capacity, young people’s anxiety and fear of the unknown, parental concerns, cultural considerations and more complex accessibility needs. Understanding which barriers can be addressed through funding and programme design, and which require wider systems-level change, will be essential to make outdoor learning genuinely inclusive.
The final report is due in winter 2026, with recommendations for outdoor learning practice, policy and future research.
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