Education Support Helpline Impact Evaluation

Information Sheet

The information sheet sets out the aims of the project evaluation and your role in it if you decide to participate.

1. Why have I been asked to take part?

You recently received a routine request from WPO to provide feedback on the Education Support helpline. This contained a request for participation in this independent evaluation and a link to this web page.

Following a link to this page does not oblige you to take part, and if you do decide to participate in the evaluation you can withdraw at any point in the process without giving a reason. We can also remove any evaluation data we collect from our records on request. No personal information about your usage of the Helpline is shared with us.

2. What is being evaluated and why?

Education Support works to support and improve the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and education staff. Their helpline, delivered by Workplace Options (WPO) forms an important component of their charitable offer.

Education Support would like to improve their understanding of what happens for callers after they engage with the helpline and the impact calling the helpline has on those that use it. The intention is to inform future decision-making and development work at Education Support, so that they can continue to provide the most valuable support to the education sector. They also wish to be able to communicate the benefits of the helpline more effectively.

The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has been contracted to lead the evaluation. IES is an independent, international centre of research and consultancy in education, public employment policy and organisational human resource management. You can find more information about IES here.

The evaluation is planned to run until spring 2024.

3. What will the evaluation do?

IES will conduct a mixed methods evaluation to investigate health, wellbeing, and employment outcomes using the methodologies listed below. Participation is entirely voluntary.

Online surveys

IES will administer a survey in three waves, to capture outcomes of helpline contact at the following approximate time points:

■    This survey represents the first wave;

■    Approximately 7-8 eight weeks from now;

■    Approximately six months from now.

Any other calls you make (or have recently made) to the Helpline will not affect the timing of the surveys.

The focus of our survey is on your wellbeing and whether the Helpline has influenced this. Other topics covered by the survey include:

■    your usage of service and reasons for usage,

■    satisfaction with the service,

■    knowledge of other forms of support,

■    effects on mental outlook

■    working life, workplace relationships and career intentions or changes.

■    impacts on work-life balance and personal circumstances,

To track changes over time, some items will be included in every survey wave. IES is administering each survey online via SNAP with automated reminders. All personal data will be collected and stored securely.  

Research interviews

IES will conduct 10 semi-structured research interviews to explore the survey themes in depth, allowing exploration of each individual’s specific experiences. A representative sample for interview will be selected from survey respondents who volunteer for this.

Reporting and synthesis

IES will synthesise findings from the above data-gathering activities and report these thematically. We will set out conclusions to inform Education Support on the impact they are making through the Helpline and also include actionable recommendations for future delivery. We will not report anything that identifies you or your school.

4. How will my data be shared and used?

■    All data collected for the purpose of the evaluation will be treated with the strictest confidence and will be transferred securely and saved in secure locations only accessible by the project team in line with GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

■    Education Support and WPO are the joint data controllers for the information collected for the evaluation and are therefore responsible for how the data is used and stored. IES is a data processor and will work with WPO to establish secure transfer of personal data.

■    The legal basis for processing data for this project is legitimate interests (IES and Education Support). Educations Support’s privacy notice can be found at https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/privacy-policy/

■    IES will not use real names or any similarly identifiable information, in any report arising from this project such as staff, school, academy or trust names.

■    IES will securely delete all personal data within six months of the project finishing.

5. Agreement

■    If you decide to complete the linked survey please indicate in the appropriate box that you have read this information and consent to participating in the evaluation. This does not oblige you to complete subsequent surveys and you can drop out of the evaluation at any time.

■    If you require further information please contact Dr Sally Wilson, Evaluation Manager, at sally.wilson@employment-studies.co.uk

■    If you decide at any point before now and March 2024 that you would not like your data to be included in the evaluation analysis and final report please use the above contact details to instruct us of this.