Evaluation Task Force Output and Outcome Indicators (March 2025)
This report provides an update on progress against the Evaluation Task Force’s (ETF) output and outcome indicators.
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This report provides an update on progress against the Evaluation Task Force’s (ETF) output and outcome indicators. As outlined in the Evaluation Task Force Strategy, the ETF monitors progress against a range of output and outcome indicators, which are designed to track activity across government that aims to:
- Improve the scale and quality of evaluation
- Increase transparency surrounding research and evaluation outputs
- Support evidence-informed decision making.
The ETF will report publicly on each priority indicator on an annual basis. Across indicators that note ‘within the last 12 months’ this denotes financial years. In this round of reporting last 12 month figures cover 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. Where cumulative figures are reported, these are taken from the ETF inception (April 2021).
The indicators are not wholly controlled or ‘owned’ by the ETF. Driving progress towards the targets outlined in the ETF Strategy will be dependent on cross-government partners working together to build an improved evaluation ecosystem.
Outcome 1: Government departments design and deliver robust and proportionate evaluation across their portfolio
| Target | Achieved | |
| Number of evaluations ETF has advised on (cumulative) | 300 | 549 |
| Value of programmes ETF has advised on (cumulative) | £80 billion | £554 billion |
| Number of evaluation awareness-raising opportunities ETF has led in the past 12 months | 24 | 105 |
Outcome 2: Government departments have a transparent approach to their evaluation activity, publishing evaluation outputs in a timely fashion
| Target | Achieved | |
| Number of planned or ongoing evaluations registered on the Evaluation Registry | 350 | 353* |
| Number of complete evaluations registered on the Evaluation Registry | 1,200 | 1,281* |
Outcome 3: Good-quality evaluation evidence informs decision-making in government
| Target | Achieved | |
| Number of HM Treasury business cases and spending review bids that the ETF has advised on (cumulative) | n/a | 233 |
| Proportion of senior evaluation stakeholders who agree evaluation evidence informs the design and delivery of policies | 60% | 70% |
| Proportion of senior evaluation stakeholders who agree their department needs to do more to ensure evaluation evidence informs spending decisions | 20% | 83% |
| Proportion of senior evaluation stakeholders who agree that SCS support evaluation | 60% | 65% |
*Please note that the Registry metrics were collected on 2nd April 2025 and therefore represent a slightly longer time period than other metrics, which were finalised on 31st March 2025.