The terms ‘evaluation’, ‘evaluate’ and ‘impact’ are firm requirements in a wide range of quality assurance documents, frameworks and professional standards for the further education sector. The job of inspectors of the quality of learning provision in the further education sector is often described as being to ‘evaluate’, to make judgements about, the impact of the whole organisation’s provision (this process often involves the phrase ‘cost benefit analysis’, a business phrase now used in the sector). The terms ‘evaluation’ and ‘impact’ are hotly contested terms in both policy and academic circles. They are always influenced by other factors, such as who the evaluation is for, who is paying for it and what determines any investment in the next steps.

However, at the simplest level, the Evaluate stage of the workforce development cycle helps you answer the question: How effective were our interventions compared with what we had expected to achieve at the start of this process? That question links back to the objectives for your organisation as a whole and to the objectives of individuals and teams for their own professional development.

While being realistic about the ease of identifying impact, the Third Sector Skills Council page on evaluation of learning clearly states the case for linking the objectives of the organisation and any workforce development.