Uk Evaluation Task Force

Evaluation Accelerator Fund Phase 4 £3.5M Project Summaries

The UK Evaluation Task Force and Cabinet Office announced Phase 4 recipients of the Evaluation Accelerator Fund (EAF), making available up to £3.5 million in the 2025/26 financial year. Funded projects will evaluate government priority areas including health missions, public sector reform, and technology/AI use in the public sector. Recipients include universities and research organisations conducting evaluation work on topics ranging from NHS surgical hubs to AI chatbots for homelessness prevention.

Labour Markets Evaluation and Pilots Fund: Funded Projects

HM Treasury and the Evaluation Task Force announced Round 1 funded projects under the Labour Markets Evaluation and Pilots Fund. Projects awarded in August 2023 include research on Tax-Free Childcare labour market impacts, endometriosis and employment outcomes, and other labour market evaluations. The fund, announced at Spring Budget 2023, provided government departments with funding to build evidence on what works to improve labour market outcomes.

Guide for Civil Servants on Policy Evaluation

The UK Evaluation Task Force published guidance for civil servants on incorporating evaluation into the policymaking process. The guidance, updated October 2025, provides a framework for assessing whether government interventions achieve their intended outcomes. It addresses policy evaluation methodology including Theory of Change development, pilot programmes, and Randomised Controlled Trials. The guidance applies to policymakers, evaluators, social researchers, commissioners, and analysts across government.

Evaluation Academy July 2025 Training Programme Final Evaluation Report

The Evaluation Task Force published its final evaluation report on the July 2025 Evaluation Academy training programme. The programme used a train-the-trainer model to improve civil service analysts' ability to teach evaluation methods. The impact evaluation employed a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with a two-arm, individual-level waitlist design, finding large and significant effects on participants' confidence in delivering evaluation training (approximately 1-point increase on a 5-point scale) and network size (average increase of 8 people), but limited statistically significant effects on knowledge of evaluation methods and processes.

Evaluation and Trial Advice Panel Role and Membership

The UK Evaluation Task Force has published updated guidance on the Evaluation and Trial Advice Panel (ETAP), including the March 2026 member list. ETAP provides free evaluation and experimentation advice to civil servants, local government, and What Works Centres across various policy areas including education, transport, employment, and crime.