Evaluation Accelerator Fund (Phase 5): Project summaries

In May 2026, the Evaluation Task Force (ETF) announced Phase 5 of its Evaluation Accelerator Fund (EAF). The EAF is a competitive grant fund and supports research and evaluation projects that:

Phase 5 of EAF had an overall value of £6.5 million for 2026/27 financial year. Its areas of priority focus were:

In total, £4.7 million were awarded to 40 projects via a competition, this total includes a contribution of £1.1 million from UKRI to support projects related to VAWG and £590,000 from DWP for projects related to employment. £1.4 million were awarded directly to What Works Centres and a further £376,000 were awarded to Mayoral Strategic Authorities. 

Funded projects through open competition

Reducing barriers to opportunity and NEETness: Offering GCSE examinations to enhance post-16 transitions in the Exeter Exam Centre Project – a blueprint for national good practice?

This project evaluates the impact of an exam centre run by the University of Exeter (UoE), Devon County Council, Cornwall Council and Exeter College for Year-11-equivalent young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), offering mock and real GCSE examinations in Maths and English. The independent evaluation assesses the feasibility and scalability of the centre for reducing NEET numbers and provides a replicable blueprint for university-college-council collaborations to improve access to GCSEs and reducing post-16 NEETness.