Conference 2026: Call for abstracts now open!

The UK Evaluation Society’s 2026 Conference — Bridging the Gap: Evaluation to Action — is now inviting abstracts. This year’s programme looks squarely at how evaluation moves from evidence to real-world change, and we’re seeking contributions that speak directly to that ambition.

We welcome submissions aligned to the conference themes:

• Influencing policy and programme change through evaluation – how evidence shapes decisions, tackles barriers to use, and supports adaptive responses in dynamic contexts. 
• Building evaluation cultures – embedding evaluation in everyday decision-making and learning, including capability building, participatory practice, ethics, power, and the evolving role of technology and AI. 
• Communicating evaluation for action – turning findings into usable insights through clear reporting, visual storytelling, behavioural insights, strategic framing, and iterative approaches that inform decisions sooner. 
• Evaluation into action – for work that doesn’t neatly sit in the strands above but still advances the conference theme and sparks discussion about practice and impact. 

All proposals must be proposed via the online registration portal. Once you’ve registered, you can log in anytime to save your progress and make updates before sending in your final submission. We receive many strong submissions each year, and those most likely to be successful clearly demonstrate how they connect to the conference theme, including sharing a new perspective, challenging established ways of thinking, or exploring fast-emerging areas such as AI and new ways of working.

Bring learning from research, practice, or cross-sector collaboration — and help shape a programme that reflects the breadth and depth of contemporary evaluation.