What is self evaluation?

  • ‘Self-evaluation’ is a process of review and action applied to a chosen area of activity.
  • It aims to establish the strengths of the activity, and to identify any actions that will bring about improvement.


The crucial difference between self-evaluation and any other type of evaluation is that:

  • Self-evaluation draws on the widest possible range of evaluative material as evidence, so as to see the quality of a piece of work from a variety of perspectives.


A Quick ‘How To’ reminder:

  1. Firstly, choose the area/s of activity to be self-evaluated.
  2. Then collect a variety of evaluative material that relates to the chosen activity .
  3. Sift this collected material to draw out common themes, and use these to answer a set of pre-determined questions about the activity – generally something like:
  • ‘What went well?’ ‘What are the strengths?’ or ‘Where are we now?’
  • ‘What could be better?’ or ‘Where do we want to go next?’
  • ‘What actions would achieve improvement?’ or ‘How do we get there?’ and perhaps
  • ‘How will we monitor improvement?’ or ‘How will we know?’