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Please note our resources are not for commercial use. Please see below to find out about more about our license and how our resources can be used.

We’re pleased to provide an extensive range of resources to help organisations with evaluation. Please note our resources are not for commercial use.

Unless otherwise stated on a specific resource, our resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence.

You are free to copy, share, and adapt the material for non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given and any changes made are indicated. To view a copy of this licence, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Attribution (Unless otherwise stated on a specific resource): Please credit Evaluation Support Scotland.

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Resources tagged ‘ESS resource’ are those which ESS has developed e.g. Support guides, Method sheets, Webinars, Case studies.

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5 Principles for good evaluation

Publication date: 21/06/2022 (Updated 18/03/2026)

ESS resource: ESS Support Guides

Resource theme: Embedding evaluation

Principles for good evaluation: About what matters, Communicated well, Fits the way you do your work, Involves the people you support, Used by you

Evaluation pathway stage: Setting outcomes and Indicators, Collecting evidence, Analysing and Reporting, Acting on your learning

At Evaluation Support Scotland we are clear that there is no absolute standard for self-evaluation. What is good enough depends on what you need evaluation for, your context, the needs of your service users and practical considerations like time and resources.

However, the following 5 principles, which are the distillation of our many years of experience, can help you judge if you are happy with your evaluation.

Our Tailored Support is fully flexible and offers dedicated time to help you meet your specific evaluation needs. Whether you’re just getting started or facing a complex challenge, we’ll work with you to strengthen your evaluation approach in a way that makes sense for your organisation. See if tailored support is right for you. 🎯

We also run various workshops throughout the year which are designed to help third sector organisations demonstrate the difference they make. Learn more about our workshops.✏️

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