Impact & Evidence

Good intentions aren't enough. Show what changed.

Youth Futures Partnership aims to build measurement into programmes from the beginning — understanding who we reach, whether young people engage, what they gain, where they progress and what wider changes partners observe.

Our impact framework

Four levels of evidence.

Attendance matters, but it is only the beginning. Youth Futures should look beyond footfall to understand engagement, development and progression.

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1. Reach

Who did we reach? Where did they come from? Did provision reach the intended communities and groups?

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2. Engagement

Did young people participate, return, complete activities and tell us the experience was worthwhile?

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3. Development

What skills, confidence, knowledge, relationships or achievements did participants build?

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4. Progression

Did engagement connect to further activity, training, education, mentoring, work experience or employment?

Theory of change

How we believe opportunity can reduce risk.

The Youth Futures model is based on a testable chain rather than an assumption that simply providing an activity automatically prevents harm.

1

Opportunity

Bring attractive, accessible activities into places where young people are.

2

Engagement

Interests create a reason to participate and build relationships with trusted adults and peers.

3

Capability

Participation develops skills, confidence, belonging and knowledge of possible futures.

4

Progression

Young people gain routes into positive activity, education, training and employment.

5

Contribution

Over time, partners can examine whether wider community and harm indicators move alongside sustained intervention.

What we could measure

Build a dashboard that tells a useful story.

Measures should be proportionate to the programme. A six-week school project does not need the same evaluation model as a multi-year place-based partnership.

📍 Reach & access

  • Unique participants
  • Target-area reach
  • Age ranges and cohorts
  • Sessions delivered
  • Barriers to participation

🔁 Engagement

  • Repeat attendance
  • Session completion
  • Activities chosen
  • Youth satisfaction
  • Participant voice

🏆 Skills & achievement

  • Projects completed
  • Skills milestones
  • Certificates or badges
  • Career Passport evidence
  • Self-reported confidence

🧭 Progression

  • Further programmes
  • Mentoring
  • Training referrals
  • College or provider links
  • Work experience

💼 Employment pathways

  • Employer encounters
  • Workplace visits
  • Apprenticeship referrals
  • Interviews or placements
  • Employment where known

🏘️ Place indicators

  • Partner intelligence
  • Perceptions of safety
  • Relevant hotspot trends
  • Service demand where appropriate
  • Opportunity gaps addressed

Numbers + stories.

“243 young people attended” tells us scale. It does not tell us why somebody came back, what they discovered or what happened next.

Good evaluation needs both.

Youth voice & qualitative evidence

Some changes need young people to explain them.

Alongside quantitative measures, Youth Futures can use proportionate feedback, case studies, interviews and youth-led evaluation to understand what participants experienced.

Where stories are shared publicly, consent, privacy and safeguarding should come first. A powerful case study is never worth compromising a young person's dignity or confidentiality.

Evidence principles

Credibility beats impressive-looking numbers.

Start before delivery

Agree the intended outcomes and baseline information before the programme begins wherever practical.

Be proportionate

Collect enough information to learn and demonstrate value without turning youth activity into a data-entry exercise.

Protect privacy

Collect and share personal information lawfully, securely and only where there is a clear purpose.

Don't overclaim

Distinguish direct outputs and outcomes from wider changes that may have many contributing causes.

For future commissioning: individual pilots should have their own agreed evaluation plan. Where a council, university or research partner is involved, stronger evaluation designs — including comparison data where appropriate — could help build a more robust evidence base over time.
Build the evidence with us

Test. Learn. Improve. Scale what works.

We want partners who are interested not only in delivering activity, but in understanding what makes it effective and using that learning to improve future provision.

Discuss evaluation