Authors: Dr Holly Taylor-Dunn, Caroline White and Richard Newman
Location: United Kingdom
Policy Area: Education and early years
This report, commissioned by the City of Doncaster Council (CDC), is an evaluation of the Big Picture Learning (BPL) service that was part funded by the Life Chances Fund (LCF).
The BPL project targeted young people in Doncaster facing difficulties in mainstream education, helping them develop personalised learning plans tailored to their unique needs and supporting their reintegration into school.
BPL is the first service in the UK to adopt the Big Picture Learning model which originated in the USA in 1995. It focuses on individualised teaching methods that recognise the diversity of student learning styles. The programme sought to transform learning environments to better engage students by aligning education with their personal interests and aspirations.
The evaluation revealed the positive impact of the service on the majority of participants, noting improvements in students’ engagement with learning, self-awareness, and coping strategies. It also highlighted increased involvement of parents and carers, who felt more connected to their child’s education and had a positive experience with the service.
Despite these successes, the project faced challenges, including a slow start and lower-than-expected referrals, which limited the number of outcomes achieved. Additionally, the social impact bond (SIB) framework introduced extra monitoring requirements for CDC. The evaluation also acknowledged the difficulty in defining appropriate outcome measures for a new service under the SIB model.