Young Carers in Schools evaluation: Invitation to Tender

Carers Trust and The Children's Society are inviting suitable applicants to tender to complete an evaluation of the Young Carers in Schools (YCiS) programme. Carers Trust are leading the tender process. The evaluation will inform the delivery and structure of support available for young carers through the Young Carers in Schools programme.

The Young Carers in Schools programme is a free initiative delivered jointly by Carers Trust and The Children's Society. The programme works with schools and carer services across England to increase awareness and knowledge of young carers amongst education professionals, increase identification of young carers and ultimately help young carers achieve their full potential in education.

The evaluation objectives are: 1. Whether achieving the Award has an impact on: - School staff knowledge of young carers and confidence in identifying young carers - The number of identified young carers in schools - Young carers' wellbeing, attendance and attainment 2. Whether additional activity, such as toolkits and webinars, are helpful for schools and if any additional activity is required to support schools improve their young carer provision. 3. To evaluate the process around what's working well (for whom and in what context), what is not working well and any recommendations for change. 4. The role of partnership working in delivering the Young Carers in Schools programme, specifically young carer services and local authorities.

We would expect four outputs from the evaluation: 1. To deliver an interim report that presents a clear and targeted set of recommendations. This report would focus on the impact of the previous Award (January 2021 to December 2023) in order to inform current programme delivery. Interim report target date December 2024. 2. To deliver the final report to in September 2025 that includes programme activity from January 2024. 3. To identify a clear set of guidelines for continuous monitoring, evaluation and learning. This will include a review of the Theory of Change. To be provided alongside the interim report in December 2024. 4. To identify any policy messages that emerge from the findings in both the interim and final report.

The required reports should be delivered as follows:

Interim report with findings - by 6 December 2024 Learning and Recommendations workshop - by 31 January 2025 Final report - September 2025

We welcome bidders' proposals of suitable methodologies and approaches in conducting this evaluation.

Submissions should be received to [email protected] by 23:59, 22 May 2024. The subject line should be "Young Carers in Schools Evaluation - [name of consultancy partner]"