Back to school: your evaluation essentials for the year ahead

Catch up on TASO evidence, guidance, tools and support to get you reading for the new academic year.

That time of year is nearly here again, when campuses come alive with the hustle and bustle of student life: suitcase wheels rattling along pavements, noticeboards plastered with new posters, and those first awkward yet hopeful introductions in seminar rooms. It’s the start of another academic year, and for those of us working to close equality gaps in higher education, it’s a moment of fresh opportunity.

At TASO, we’ve been preparing the evidence, guidance and practical support you’ll need to start strong. From refining how we use institutional data, to exploring the real experiences of underrepresented students, to building platforms for sector-wide knowledge sharing – our aim is simple: to make this the year your evaluations are sharper, your insights richer, and your interventions more effective. What follows brings together the tools, insights, and events that can help turn that aim into real-world impact.

Turning data into change

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of institutional data available – and just as easy to miss the gold in it. That’s why we created the Data infrastructure guide (DIG): a practical resource to help you understand the real stories hiding in your datasets.

Whether it’s spotting where equality gaps are most acute, designing post-entry student success activities, or generating robust Type 3 (causal) evidence on the effectiveness of your support interventions, the DIG walks you through the process. It even covers essentials like planning an evaluation and securing ethical approval – so that when you publish, you can do it with confidence.

Mapping the route from activity to impact

Every effective intervention starts with a clear theory of change – a way of showing exactly how your activities are meant to lead to better outcomes. But we know from years of working with the sector that building one can be fiddly and time-consuming.

Enter our Theory of Change Builder – a new, purpose-built online tool that replaces static templates with a guided, interactive process. Developed and refined with input from practitioners, the tool helps you move from a blank page to a fully-formed theory of change diagram, complete with definitions, examples, and tips built in. You can store, export, and version-control your work, and even expand a Core Theory of Change into a richer Enhanced Theory of Change with a written narrative.

It’s practical. It’s streamlined. And it’s designed to help you meet Office for Students requirements while making your evaluation planning easier and more collaborative.

Want to hear more about the builder? Join us online on 17 September (11:00–12:00) for an online event where we’ll share insights into how the tool was developed, walk you through how to use it effectively, and answer your questions about getting the most out of the tool.

Register: Getting started with TASO’s Theory of Change Builder

Sharing what works – and what doesn’t

Good evaluation shouldn’t live in silos. In spring 2026, we’ll launch the Higher Education Evaluation Library (HEEL) – a free, searchable repository where providers can share evaluations of interventions across access, success, and progression.

The aim? To foster genuine knowledge exchange, to make it easier to see patterns in what’s working, and to encourage a culture of transparency, where learning from each other’s evaluations becomes the norm. From randomised controlled trials to process evaluations, the HEEL will welcome a broad range of methodologies and will be supported by regular digests highlighting emerging trends.

Listening to students’ realities

While tools and guides are vital, understanding lived experience is just as important. Our ‘Student mental health in 2024: How the situation is changing for LGBTQ+ students’ report draws on survey data from thousands of undergraduates, revealing a worrying rise in mental health difficulties – particularly among LGBTQ+ students. Bisexual, lesbian, non-binary and trans students are among the most affected, with many citing mental health as the main reason for considering dropping out.

Another recent report, ‘Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care’, maps the journeys of care-experienced students – from how they enter higher education, to how they progress, compared with peers. The findings highlight both the resilience of these students and the systemic barriers they continue to face.

And in the coming months, we’ll publish case studies from our project on Developing theories of change for a whole-provider approach, working with six universities to show how aligning activity across an institution can create better outcomes for all students. Keen to understand more about the project? Join us on 15 October in Leeds for an interactive session where we’ll discuss key findings and reflections, and explore aspects of whole-provider approaches.

Register: Developing a whole-provider approach

Build your skills this autumn

If you want to sharpen your evaluation practice, join us on 2 October (10:00–16:00) for our online paid-for training session, ‘Creating and developing a Core Theory of Change’. In one day, you’ll leave with a ready-to-implement framework tailored to your programme – and a clear plan for making your interventions measurable and meaningful.

Missed a previous event? Recordings and summaries are available:

This year, make your evaluations count

The start of an academic year is more than just a change in timetable. It’s a chance to re-focus on what works, drop what doesn’t, and commit to building an evidence base that can genuinely improve access, success, and participation.

Explore our Insights and evaluation library for the guides, tools and research to help you get there.

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