Skip to content

What to include in your self-evaluation plans

When you apply to certain programmes, you will be asked to provide details of your plans for self-evaluation. Programmes with two-stage applications, for example, may require a brief outline at stage one and more detailed proposals at stage two.

When we look at your self-evaluation plans, we are interested in the answers to the following questions:

For outline evaluation plans

  • Does the evaluation have a clear aim?
  • What questions will the evaluation answer?
  • Are these questions linked to the project outcomes?
  • Is the scale of the evaluation proportionate to the size of the project?
  • Who will be involved in managing and carrying out the evaluation?
  • How will the findings from the evaluation be used?

For detailed evaluation plans

  • If the work is to be commissioned, is there an evaluation brief and how will the work be commissioned?
  • If project staff carry out the work, do they have the necessary skills and will any support or training be provided?
  • Will baseline data be collected at the start of the project and, if so, what will this consist of?
  • How will the evidence be gathered? In other words, what will be the research methods?
  • How will local stakeholders and people who use the project be involved?
  • Will the evaluation build on or link in with other research?
  • What are the costs of the self-evaluation? How were they calculated?
  • How will the evaluation be used? What plans are in place to feed emerging lessons back in to the work and direction of the project?
  • What outputs will the evaluation deliver? How will reports or other results of the evaluation be communicated and acted upon?