Partnership
Open call: quasi-experimental impact evaluations
Express your interest in partnering with us to generate robust evidence about youth employment through quasi-experimental approaches.
Overview
We find out What Works to support marginalised young people secure and thrive in good work and share those insights to drive change in policy and practice.
With increasing access to UK administrative data there are new opportunities to generate strong causal evidence retrospectively about existing youth employment interventions using quasi-experimental designs (QEDs).
We’re interested in partnering with evaluators to build the UK-specific evidence base – particularly where international evidence is strong but domestic evidence is thin – using QEDs.
This opportunity is an options-generation exercise and subject to funding.
Eligibility
Read more about EligibilityWe welcome expressions of interests proposing QED impact evaluations of existing interventions that are:
- delivered in the United Kingdom
- designed to improve education, training, or labour market outcomes
- for young people aged broadly 14-24
We are particularly interested in evaluations that focus on young people who are at higher risk of poor labour market outcomes, including but not limited to:
- Young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET
- Care-experienced young people
- Young people with learning disabilities or autism
- Young people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds (Black, Pakistani, Bangladeshi)
- Young people with experience of the justice system
- Young people with mental health challenges
Applications are welcomed from organisations both within and outside Youth Futures Evaluation Panel.
Consortium and partnership applications are welcome to apply. The lead applicant must represent a UK-registered charity, company, statutory body, community interest company, or higher education institution.
Full eligibility criteria is given in our application pack.
Application timeline
Read more about Application timelineThe application process is in two stages:
Stage 1 – We’re inviting for organisation who are experts across QED methods to propose evaluations that can be delivered by the end of 2028, with the aim of building a portfolio of credible, ready-to-commission evaluation options.
Stage 2 -We’ll invite shortlisted applicants to develop full proposals, with the view of launching between 1 and 6 evaluations, subject to funding availability.
Key Dates
- 5 June 2026 – Stage1 expressions of interest open
- 26 June 2026 – Deadline for stage 1 questions and clarifications
- 24 July 2025 – Stage 1 applications close, submission deadline 12pm (noon)
- W/c 24 August 2026 – Invitations issued for stage 2
How to apply
Read more about How to applyApplicants should be aware that no awards are guaranteed. We have designed this call to keep the burden on applicants proportionate to this uncertainty.
Please read the full application pack before applying, and for guidance on how to complete the Expression of Interest Form.
Email your completed Expression of Interest form and accompanying CVs to our Evaluation Team by 12pm (noon) on Friday 24 July 2026.
Thank you for considering this call. We are looking forward to reading your proposals.