Evaluation of ‘Get Into Heritage Skills’

In 2011, we were asked by the Prince’s Trust to perform a summative evaluation, and make recommendations for further iterations, of their ‘Get Into Heritage Skills’ scheme. The course was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

‘Get Into Heritage Skills’ was a programme of nine residential courses, run over three years, which aimed to assist unemployed 16‐25 year olds in the South West, who found that a lack of skills, experience or qualifications prevented them from accessing apprenticeships and job opportunities in the Heritage Skills sector.

Since the project was intended to impact upon the lives of each course participant, Graphic Science proposed a methodology that would focus on the personal user experience, resulting in the composition of case studies which detailed the experience and impact on individual beneficiaries.

Wider impacts and learning were gleaned through an analysis of the documentary evidence provided by the Prince’s Trust; interviews with course attendees and their mentors;  a group interview with members of the team at the Prince’s Trust, (which helped us to learn more about the initial aims of the project, how it progressed and developed); and a focus group with the Prince’s Trust’s delivery partners at the National Heritage Training Academy SW (NHTA SW); Gloucestershire College and the Royal Agricultural College.