Principle 2. Evaluative, not descriptive

Evaluative, not descriptive

The process focuses on whether approaches are effective, not just what is being done. Providers offer clear, evidence-based evaluations about quality and performance, identifying what works well and what needs improvement.

This adds rigour to the process and helps providers avoid surface-level reporting. A strong evaluative stance enables more meaningful judgements and sharper improvement planning.

Reflective questions

• To what extent does our self-evaluation judge the effectiveness of our approaches, rather than simply describing activities or processes?
• What evidence do we use to evaluate the impact of our provision on outcomes for learners, and how well does this evidence support our key judgements?
• How clearly do we identify which approaches are most effective, for whom, and in what contexts; and which are less effective?
• Where our evaluation identifies areas for improvement or inconsistency, how precisely do we explain why these exist and what needs to change?
• How well do our evaluative judgements focus on quality and performance over time, rather than one-off initiatives or recent actions?
• How consistently do leaders and staff use agreed criteria or benchmarks to make secure, shared judgements about effectiveness?
• How effectively does our self-evaluation inform prioritised, measurable improvement actions and sharpen our planning for improvement?