Evaluation Title

The Academy: a report on outcomes for participants

Type of evaluation

Data type Qualitative and Quantitative

Evaluation Focus Distinctive contribution of Arts, ETE Education Training and Employment, Learning outcomes

Key indicators Attendance, Attitudinal change, Capacity to learn, Completion rates, Confidence, Social and Life Skills, Team work

Project output Structured workshop programme

Methodologies Asset analysis, Attendance registers, Feedback forms, Interviews, Observation, Outcomes analysis, Participant observation, Questionnaires

Research limitations Incomplete data, Longer term impact

Summary of evaluation

An evaluation of the two-year experimental phase of Dance United’s Academy project, this report showed that the Academy’s dance-led education programme delivered measurable increases in their capacity to learn and imparted a range of so-called ‘soft’ skills, which can, in turn, be linked to very favourable ‘hard’ outcomes in criminal justice terms. 

Project description

The Academy programme runs for 12 weeks, during which participants work a 25-hour, five-day week. Each cohort comprises a three-week performance project culminating in a live, professionally staged public production. Participants then embark on a differentiated programme of activities incorporating wider educational outcomes within the dance-led curriculum.

In this two-year period six 12-week cohorts involving more than 70 young offenders and young people at risk of offending passed through the Academy,including referrals from schools, HMP/YOI Askham Grange, HMP/YOI Wetherby, Bradford YOT and Leeds YOS.

Key Quote

The key learning outcomes for participants include increased confidence and self-awareness; more flexibility and self control; the capacity to cope with and adapt to challenges; improved communication skills; a willingness to reflect on and address personal strengths and weaknesses; and the ability to transfer learning between contexts.


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Arts Alliance Evidence Library