New CPD Course Coming Soon: Access & Participation Evaluation Essentials

Cosmos Admin 6 Feb 2026

We are pleased to share that a new CPD course will be launching soon, Access & Participation Evaluation Essentials, developed in partnership with the NERUPI Network.

This course has been designed to support those involved in delivering, managing and evaluating Access and Participation Plan (APP) activity, at every stage of their evaluation journey. Whether evaluation is a core part of your role or something you contribute to alongside delivery, the course is built to make evaluation feel more realistic, accessible and genuinely useful.

Why this course, and why now?

Evaluation is a critical part of effective access and participation work. Yet across the sector, competing priorities, limited time, uncertainty around data quality, and a lack of shared understanding across teams can all make evaluation feel complex or disconnected from day-to-day practice.

Access & Participation Evaluation Essentials responds directly to these challenges. The course focuses on building confidence, capability and shared understanding, helping evaluation become something that supports delivery.

Who the course is for

The course has been developed for a wide audience involved in APP activity, including:

Professional services staff working in access, participation, outreach or evaluation roles
Academic colleagues contributing to or overseeing APP activity
Students and practitioners involved in delivery who want to better understand evaluation
Teams looking to build a more consistent and confident approach to evaluation across their organisation

No prior evaluation expertise is required. The course is designed for those who want to strengthen their understanding and practice in a way that fits real workloads.

What the course covers

The course is structured around making evaluation practical and embedded, rather than theoretical or abstract. Key areas of focus include:

Understanding why evaluation matters for access and participation work
Collecting data with confidence, rigour and ethical awareness
Embedding evaluation into delivery, rather than adding it on at the end
Using evaluation findings to improve activities and student engagement
Supporting evidence-informed and responsive practice

Alongside individual confidence, the course also supports organisations to build stronger evaluation capability by improving data quality, strengthening APP reporting, and developing a shared sense of responsibility for evaluation across teams.

Designed to fit real workloads

This course has been intentionally designed with busy professionals in mind. It combines structure with flexibility to maximise impact while minimising time pressure.

The course includes:

Three online masterclasses
Self-led toolkits to support learning and application between sessions
Practical examples and real-life scenarios drawn from sector practice
Clear, accessible language and design throughout

The aim is to ensure learning feels relevant and immediately applicable, not abstract or overly academic.

What’s next

Access & Participation Evaluation Essentials will be launching soon, with more details shared shortly. Registration is not yet open, but you can register your interest to be the first to hear when it does.

This course reflects a shared commitment between Cosmos and the NERUPI Network to support high-quality, meaningful evaluation practice across the sector. We look forward to sharing more as the launch approaches.

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