Introduction to Evaluation Online

*Applications for 2025 are now closed*

The Introduction to Evaluation online short course is designed for social care, local government, and frontline health service staff with little or no prior experience in conducting service evaluations. The course covers key guidance from the planning stages of conducting an evaluation through to sharing your findings. It will equip you with the knowledge and skills to undertake your own evaluation of a local intervention or service. 

Why take this course?

• Gain practical evaluation skills that allow you to capture the real-world impact of your services on individuals and communities.
• Discover techniques for evaluating a local service or intervention and for appraising other evaluations.
• Learn adaptable evaluation methods that fit the realities of resource-limited health and social care environments and the changing needs of your community and service users.
• Gain confidence in meeting reporting and accountability requirements and learn how to clearly demonstrate the impact of your services to stakeholders.

Teaching is delivered entirely online by experienced health and care research experts. Through real-world examples and case studies from social care, health, and local government sectors, you'll see how evaluation techniques can be applied in practice. You'll learn by taking part in lectures and interactive activities, and by participating in the discussions that accompany each step.

The course supervisors will be available to give you direct guidance on planning your evaluation and will facilitate discussions among participants, creating opportunities for you to get feedback from professionals across a range of health and social care roles.

What will this course cover?

• Different types of evaluation, including their pros and cons.
• How to select suitable methods and approaches for evaluating a local programme or service.
• Practical skills and tips for using evaluation methods and approaches.
• Ways of sharing your evaluation findings to make an impact.

How much does the course cost?

• We offer free places to members of any organisation partnered with NIHR ARC North Thames (see our list of partner organisations here).
• The cost to members of non-partner organisations is £150 (£180 inc. VAT).

   

Who is the course for?

This course is suitable for social care, local government, and frontline health service staff who need to evaluate local programmes or services as part of their work. It is not aimed at academics and/or researchers and no previous knowledge or experience of evaluation, study design, or statistics is required.

We encourage participants to attend the course with an evaluation in mind that they may have to carry out.

How long is the course?

The course will open on the 20th January 2025 and runs for 9 weeks, ending on the 28th March 2025. We estimate that completing the course will require a total of 12 hours of study time. As a self-paced course, you can work through the material at your own speed.

Participants will receive a certificate of completion, which can be exchanged for CPD credits, if they complete at least 80% of the course activities and provide feedback on the course.

How do I apply?

Applications for 2025 are now closed.

We announce applications opening for all of our courses via our mailing list. If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive these notifications or have any queries about this course, please email arc.academy@ucl.ac.uk.

Feedback from our previous participants:

"I have gained confidence and feel able to explain what an evaluation is and how it should be conducted."

"It has made the whole process of evaluation much clearer and more systematic."

“The learning was easily transferable to my real-world setting, and I have completed an evaluation using it!”

"I was able to evaluate the programme I had implemented and share the findings with internal and external stakeholders."

“The course showed me how to break down all the aspects of an evaluation and consider them in relation to real-world settings. I found the advice about taking time to plan properly and getting support to complete different tasks very helpful - this made for a better more rounded evaluation without so much stress!”

“I really enjoyed the course. I have learned a huge amount in a short time.”

“This course had really developed my skills and knowledge in the evaluation of an intervention. It has definitely improved my ability to gather qualitatively and quantitative data for analysis.”