The Evaluation Task Force (ETF) has announced the allocation of £4.7 million to 40 projects as part of Phase 5 of its Evaluation Accelerator Fund (EAF). This funding, part of an overall £6.5 million for the 2026/27 financial year, supports research and evaluation in government priority areas.
The competitive grant fund aims to create actionable evidence, address evidence gaps, and provide robust evidence of financial or efficiency savings from new policies or service delivery approaches. Priority areas for Phase 5 include projects designed to improve the evidence base around Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), as well as those related to artificial intelligence, local government, and other government priorities.
Among the funded projects, the University of Sussex received £218,909 for RADAR, an AI-enabled tool to improve access to domestic abuse research and evidence. The London School of Economics was awarded £124,481 to evaluate the wider economic impacts of Income Tax changes and £83,152 for a project measuring public confidence in neighbourhood policing. Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) secured £114,330 to evaluate an exam centre for young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).