Overview

TASO is seeking to appoint an external supplier to develop an economic evaluation tool and accompanying guidance. The project will run from October 2023 to March 2024.

Scope

TASO’s objective for this project is to develop and publish tools and guidance for conducting economic evaluation in HE. The aims are:

  • To support the HE sector to better understand and conduct economic evaluation.
  • To understand how economic evaluation has been calculated for existing interventions in the HE and other disciplines.
  • To encourage practitioners and evaluators in the HE sector to conduct economic evaluation using the tool and guidance developed via this project.

TASO are commissioning a supplier to conduct the following three-phase project:

Phase one:  Review existing literature and consult stakeholders 

  • Conduct a desk based review of the types of economic evaluation tools and guidance that already exist (such as cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis and social return on investment) and explore their relative suitability as an economic evaluation methodology for the HE sector. This desk-based review is to include examples from HE as well as other sectors.
  • Consult relevant HE stakeholders, using a combination of survey-based and qualitative methodologies, to:
  1. Map the type of economic evaluations being conducted across the sector.
  2. Gather perspectives and insight as to which economic evaluation methodology would be most useful and appropriate for the HE sector (based on the desk research).
  3. Please note, that TASO welcomes suggestions from suppliers utilising various methodologies (both quantitative and qualitative) on how to gather this information.
  • Produce a report summarising the options available and outlining the case studies where economic evaluation has been conducted in HE. At this point, the supplier will meet with TASO to decide on the most appropriate economic evaluation method.

Phase two: Develop and design the framework

  • Develop a framework for the chosen economic evaluation methodology that can be applied across various intervention types in the HE context. TASO are flexible about the final elements to be included in the framework (pending findings from phase one) but would like it to consider:
  1. The framework’s ability to categorise costs/benefits.
  2. The ability to consider economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits (this also includes suggestions for hidden costs that may not be foreseen by developers of a specified intervention, e.g., hidden cost in mentoring programmes).
  3. The different types of cost and benefits (adjusted for the HE context; for example, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) suggest that cost can be grouped into pre-requisites, start-up, and recurring implementation costs).
  • Test the framework with stakeholders
  1. The draft framework produced is to be shared with TASO’s Evaluation Advisory Group (EAG) and Research and Evaluation Committee (R&EC) for comment and feedback.
  2. TASO convenes these two groups once a quarter and is open to suggestions for how best to consult the members. For example, via a survey, by sharing draft documents and requesting annotations, or by requesting verbal feedback during a meeting.
  3. The framework is to be iterated and updated based on feedback from the relevant stakeholders.

Phase three: Produce guidance 

  • Produce a bespoke guidance document on economic evaluation and how to use the framework. The aim of the guidance is that it will provide generalist and specialist advice, so that evaluators and practitioners will be able to choose between the most relevant guidance that applies to their context. For example, if a provider wanted to cost a multi-intervention programme versus a mentoring programme, they would have all the factors detailed in the guidance to accomplish this task.
  • The guidance should also support:
  1. Economic evaluation of an intervention when implemented in a new context.
  2. Providers to address the challenge of adapting interventions to diverse contexts.
  3. The implementation of economic evaluation alongside impact evaluation methodologies and implementation and process evaluation.
  4. The inclusion of counterfactuals in cost and benefit calculations.
  5. Approaches to assigning monetary value to non-market costs, such as the life satisfaction approach (LSA).
  • Produce an accessible user guide to help evaluators and practitioners implement the economic evaluation framework in their context.

How to apply

To find out more about the project and details on how to apply read the full invitation to tender document (ITT) below.
Download the full invitation to tender (ITT)

The deadline for applications to take part in this project is 10am on Monday 23 October 2023. If you have any questions you can get in touch with us over email via research@taso.org.uk.

Document accessibility: TASO is committed to making all documents accessible for all audiences. If you have any difficulty accessing the links or documents, or need these resources in another format, please email info@taso.org.uk.