Posted 24 March 2026

We live in a world where trusted, verifiable evidence is increasingly at risk. AI tools are infiltrating all parts of our lives and changing the way we work, live, think and create. Regardless of your feelings about this shift, it is difficult to deny the huge implications for knowledge creation. We are in a brave new world that challenges long-held assumptions about the meaning of ‘evidence’ and the process behind its manifestation. Alongside heightened expectations on higher education (HE) providers to demonstrate the impact of their widening access and success activity, this societal transition may have a potent impact on evaluation processes and outputs across the HE sector. 

Meanwhile, a debate about the value of human interpretation and creativity for knowledge creation is gaining momentum across the educational spectrum. HE providers are grappling with the preservation of academic intellect and integrity. Schools and colleges are entering a new educational era focused on developing sustainable skills for life, learning and work. Employers are seeking candidates with similar such skills which will enable them to problem solve, collaborate and innovate – very human qualities. How we harness and apply these capabilities as a society and as a sector will have far-reaching consequences for the quality and interpretation of evidence in an otherwise uncertain context. 

Research and evaluation practices present some of the greatest opportunities to use these highly lauded skills, as they often involve analysing, interpreting and translating complex data. This is especially the case for qualitative methods, which are based upon the application of nuanced subjective meaning and, often, a deep understanding of the context at play. Yes, AI and automation tools may have roles to play in processing data, but there is opportunity here to really harness and promote the value of human interpretation… as long as we enable this analytical process to feel accessible and achievable for anyone tasked with doing evaluation, regardless of theirbackground or experience. 

This is precisely why Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) has developed a new suite of analysis tools, designed for non-specialist evaluators to conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis as part of impact evaluation practices. These tools demystify the analysis process and provide thorough scaffolding to make the process easy to understand and undertake. This enables evaluators and practitioners alike to be curious, think deeply and apply contextual understanding to develop powerful evaluative insights and tell affective stories about impact. Sharing, learning and improving become the natural next steps, and are also supported in the toolkit. 

So, while the age of AI presents many opportunities for efficiency and technological growth, it also presents huge opportunity to strengthen human skills, creativity and insight in parallel. GHWY’s analysis tools do just this, celebrating everyone’s capacity for higher order evaluative thinking with the right tools at their disposal. 

The GHWY Analysis Toolkit is currently in testing phase, prior to becoming a freely available public resource. If you would like to find out more about the toolkit and take part in the testing, giving you early access to the toolkit, please email Natalie at [email protected].

 

Natalie Aldridge, GHWY Data, Evaluation and Impact Manager