All of Cambridge English’s products and services are designed to improve the lives of our learners, teachers and wider society. In the Impact Team, our goal is to evaluate the outcomes of these products and services to find out if they have the impact intended. Our work is a key part of the ‘Impact by Design’ cycle (see diagram below) and is underpinned by our Impact Framework.
In order to collect information on our impact, we implement monitoring and evaluation projects to measure products against a range of key performance indicators, and we also carry out more in-depth impact evaluation studies.
The outputs we produce (reports, case studies, infographics, blogs) explain the benefits of our products for their users, and also present data analysis which we use to improve our products.
What is an impact evaluation study?
Impact evaluation studies (hereafter: impact studies) are an in-depth investigation of the consequences of using our learning and assessment products on stakeholders. For example, an impact study might investigate the effects of an exam or a course on teaching and learning (‘washback’ or micro impact). Impact studies also aim to investigate the consequences of the product or service beyond the classroom, for example, on individual career/ life changes, and on educational systems and society (social impact or macro impact).