In March this year, the Evaluation Task Force launched the
Evaluation Registry: a website which will act as a single home
for evaluations across Government.
Evaluation is critical to understanding what works in public
policy, for whom, and under what circumstances. It's the key to
ensuring that government programmes are delivered effectively,
have a positive impact and provide good value for money to the
public. Evaluation supports us to make evidence-based decisions
about which policies, projects and programmes should be
continued, modified, or stopped.
But it can be difficult to find and access the right evaluation
evidence when you need it. The Evaluation
Registry brings together evaluation plans and reports in
a single, accessible website.
So what is the Evaluation Registry?
In simple terms, the Evaluation Registry is a GOV.UK site where
all UK government planned, live and completed evaluations should
be registered. As well as registering evaluations, users can
search and browse the Registry to learn from previous evaluation
findings and plan new research.
As of June 2025, the Registry contains over 1,750 entries and
counting, making it one of the largest sources of evaluation
evidence in the world!
Why do we need a Registry?
In our founding plans for the Evaluation Task Force, we
identified the need for a single location for evaluations to be
found - whether that's planned evaluations, evaluations currently
underway, or those that are complete with findings to report.
We weren't alone in identifying a need for this - when the
National Audit Office (NAO) investigated evaluation in Government
(click here
for the report), transparency and publication of evaluation
findings were identified as areas needing improvement and called
for the ‘open by default' approach to evaluations to be
reinforced. The Public Accounts Committee also recommended that
the Cabinet Office develop a tracking system for evaluations
(click here
for the report) that the Government accepted and committed to
meeting via the development of the Evaluation Registry.
The Registry makes it easier than ever before to search and
browse published evaluations, whether you're a public servant
looking for evidence to support a new business case or an
evaluation specialist looking to compare research designs.
Who can use the Registry?
Any member of the public can use the Registry to search and
browse entries, enabling greater accessibility, accountability
and transparency.
Any employee of a Government Department or Arms Length Body, as
well as colleagues in organisations which are part of
the What Works Network,
can create an account for the Registry in order to log in and
register evaluations. Central evaluation teams or leads within
organisations are responsible for overseeing the entries
registered on the site. If you are a government staff, get in
touch with your central evaluation team with any questions about
uploading entries from your Department.
The Registry isn't just for analysts and social researchers - we
encourage civil servants of all professions and those outside
government to make use of the Registry to understand what works -
and what doesn't - across different policy and delivery areas.
Get involved, and join us on our mission to ensure evidence sits
at the heart of Government decision-making. Click
here to access the Registry and start exploring today!
If you have questions, please contact evaluation.registry@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
