Evaluation
How do you know if your communications activity has been successful? Whilst it's easy to rely on 'gut feeling' or general impressions, a more structured approach will help you tell if the messages are really getting through. Evaluation can also help you to demonstrate the value of your activities to others and provide useful feedback to inform future plans.
Knowing how far you've gone means you need to know the point that you started from. Putting a 'stake in the ground' against which you can track changes is the first fundamental step to take. At the simplest level this may be measuring numbers of young people from the Aimhigher target cohort in your area entering HE over time.
At the outset of any communications activity consider what your objectives are and then set your success criteria accordingly. Try to identify measurable outcomes and be as specific as possible. Click on the links below for guidance on the types of evaluation tools you can use to measure the success of your communications activity.
