Policy paper

National School Evidence Centre Evaluation Strategy Summary: How we will evaluate the National School (HTML)

Published 26 October 2026

How will we evaluate the National School of Government and Public Services?

We will use a theory-based, mixed methods evaluation approach to understand the impact the National School is having over time, and test our assumptions about how it can best achieve its intended impact and generate public value. We will regularly feed evaluation insights into decision-making and learning design, to drive continuous improvement.

An impact-led National School

Our theory of change sets out the impact we expect the National School to have, and how we expect that impact to be achieved. This provides the framework that will guide our evaluation activities. By using theory-based evaluation we are not only testing whether the National School is on track to achieve its intended impact, but also why, so we can learn lessons and refine our strategy, business model and activities over time. 

We will prioritise our monitoring and evaluation activities to track and assess our progress and impact in a data-led way, and to address critical evidence gaps or assumptions.

Evidence enabled learning design and delivery 

Research and evaluation carried out by our Evidence Centre will guide National School learning and development practitioners in knowing what works. By working in partnership with practitioners, stakeholders and users of the National School, we will make sure that our evidence is relevant, accessible and actionable. This will be a two-way dialogue in which practitioners’ insights and learners’ experiences meaningfully inform the questions we ask, the data we draw on, and how we interpret and communicate findings. 

Coherent, efficient and modern data collection and analysis will enable practitioners to monitor progress and drive continuous improvement.

Delivering credible, relevant and actionable evaluation through partnership: 

• Our users, staff and stakeholders will have the opportunity to define what ‘value’ for the investment in the National School looks like, to drive meaningful accountability.
• Our College of Experts will provide cutting edge advice and critical friendship on our research and evidence synthesis; monitoring and evaluation plans; and our approach to mobilising evidence into practice.
• We will work with our Civil Service and public sector partners to develop a monitoring and evaluation model that works for everyone - efficient, secure data flows; co-design of evaluation questions and approaches; and user-friendly outputs that support real world decisions. 
• We will add to the stock of actionable knowledge on effective professional learning in government by publishing evaluation plans and reports transparently.

A proportionate approach

Data-led foundations

Standardised and relevant data collection and analysis across the whole of the National School and our partnerships will provide timely insights into our progress, and an early warning system for any issues developing. 

This will allow us to benchmark our performance, and drive continuous improvement.

Embedding evaluation

Building a focused Evidence Centre into the National School provides the flexible expertise we need to embed efficient evaluation into our activities from the start, and get new insights to the people that need them as quickly as possible.

Drawing on ‘test, learn and grow’ approaches, we’ll use evaluation to support innovation and optimise our offer for learners.

Knowing ‘what works’

We are committed to using the most robust evaluation methods, like randomised control trials, where it is genuinely proportionate and necessary to do so to answer the question that matter.

This won’t be the right approach for evaluating everything we do, but it is the best way to fill genuine evidence gaps about ‘what works’ to develop public service skills.

We will evaluate: The National School as a whole | our business and operating model - our curriculum and learning offer

Foundations for success

1. We are not starting from scratch. Our activities build on previous research and evaluation of learning and development carried out by the Civil Service; public sector partners; academic experts; and research organisations. This ensures our activity is focused on genuine evidence gaps. 
2. Our Evidence Centre will bring together the right expertise and relationships, and will balance the use of tried and tested research and evaluation approaches with innovation, all guided by the Magenta Book and Cabinet Office Evaluation Strategy.
3. We are informed by the ‘What Works’ model, focusing on improving the way government accesses, creates, shares and uses high quality evidence on skills, learning and development to drive the positive development of the Civil Service and public sector workforce.
4. Our governance, management and advisory structures ensure strategic and operational alignment with the work of the National School. We will develop, embed and share best practice principles to guide all elements of our work, ensuring quality and consistency.