Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Youth Evaluator Criteria Workshop
Develop observable service-evaluation criteria with young evaluators while keeping safeguarding and final decisions with adults.
- People
- 4–16
- Base procedure time
- 90 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Organise and narrow ideas; Reflect and learn.
English guide
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How this method works
A method for working with young evaluators to turn important service experiences into observable evaluation criteria. Use it when experiences young people value are missing from adult-created evaluation forms. Young people contribute experiences and separate them into criteria, non-identifying evidence, and matters excluded from evaluation. Design criteria and evidence with young people; adults retain responsibility for safety and final judgement. Arrange consent, withdrawal, payment, and data-use conditions in advance. After withdrawal, the person chooses return, deletion, anonymisation, or cessation of use of their records. The output records criteria, evidence, matters not evaluated, adult support, responsible people, and a response date. This description is an original adaptation of UK government guidance, with changes under OGL 3.0. Do not run it to make participants speak for absent young people or without a safety lead, backup, and adult response lead.
Phase schedule
Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.
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- Check consent, payment, roles, and safety0–10 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Check. Participation: Everyone, the safety lead, and the backup.
Shared record
- Separate important service experiences10–30 minutes from the start (20 minutes)
Action: Identify. Participation: Individually or groups of 2–4.
Shared record
- Turn experiences into observable criteria30–50 minutes from the start (20 minutes)
Action: Refine. Participation: Groups of 2–4.
Shared record
- Decide evidence and exclusions from evaluation50–65 minutes from the start (15 minutes)
Action: Decide. Participation: Groups of 2–4 and the responsible adult.
Shared record
- Decide support, responses, and improvement checks65–90 minutes from the start (25 minutes)
Action: Decide. Participation: Everyone and the adult responsible for implementation.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 10 minutes, check personal consent, required procedures, withdrawal, payment, the safety lead, backup, and consultation contacts in plain language.
- For 20 minutes, identify important service experiences from young people’s perspectives without speaking for absent young people.
- For 20 minutes, turn each experience into a criterion that can be observed or checked and write the scope decided with young people.
- For 15 minutes, decide non-identifying evidence, publication, secondary use, storage, deletion, and matters excluded from evaluation.
- For 15 minutes, specify training, adult accompaniment, peer support, consultation methods, and adult responsibility for safety and final judgement.
- For 10 minutes, specify the implementation lead, recipient of results, response date, adoption or non-adoption, reasons implementation is not possible, and improvement-check date.
If something changes
If
Before starting, any safety lead or backup, same-day contact or urgent-consultation route, or adult responsible for responding to evaluation results is missing.
Then
Do not start criteria development. Cancel, and have only the organisation confirm responsible people, response authority, and a rescheduling date.
If
Even one person indicates withdrawal of consent, a break, leaving, or participation without recording.
Then
Without requesting reasons, stop recording. Return, delete, or anonymise existing records as the person chooses and stop their use. Do not use non-participation in evaluation or reduce payment or participation opportunities.
If
During evaluation, even one safety concern involving harm experienced, harm to self or others, or acute distress becomes known.
Then
Do not turn it into an evaluation score. Stop recording and the conversation, do not promise secrecy, and have the safety lead move to local procedures and emergency or consultation routes.
Preparation
Materials
- One self-made three-column sheet per group for criteria, evidence, and matters excluded from evaluation
- One observability and personal-data-minimisation checklist per criterion
- One copy per person explaining personal consent, treatment after withdrawal, non-participation, and payment conditions
- One card per person with the safety lead, backup, same-day contact details, and urgent consultation contacts
- One shared checklist for publication, secondary use, storage, and deletion
- One choice-card set per person: dictation, drawing, large text, and passing
- One thick pen per person
Room and setup
- Display the safety lead, backup, same-day contact arrangements, local emergency procedures, consultation contacts, and the adult responsible for responding to results. Cancel if any one is missing.
- Explain plainly personal consent appropriate to age and circumstances, required guardian and organisational procedures, withdrawal, no disadvantage from non-participation, payment conditions, and choices to return, delete, or anonymise existing records and stop their use after withdrawal.
- Provide dictation, drawing, large text, breaks, and passing. Collect no personal data or only the minimum, and decide publication, secondary use, storage, and deletion in advance. Separate criteria and evidence designed with young people from adult responsibility for safety and final judgement. Specify the implementation lead, response date, whether suggestions are adopted, and reasons implementation is not possible. Do not ask anyone to speak for all young people or rubber-stamp adult-created materials.
Adjust for people and time
Do not run this method with fewer than 4 people, because experiences and criteria cannot be compared. Divide the participant count by 4 and round up to find the number of groups. Form groups of 2–4 with sizes differing by no more than 1. Compare criteria using fictional examples and do not combine identifying evidence. With 17 or more people, use separate sessions of no more than 16, each with a safety lead, backup, and adult implementation lead.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Cancel if required safety, backup, contact, emergency/consultation, or adult-response arrangements are missing. Respect withdrawal, breaks, leaving, and participation without recording without requiring reasons or reducing payment or opportunities. Let participants choose how existing records are handled and stop their use after withdrawal. Adults retain safety and final-judgement responsibility. Do not promise secrecy about safety concerns or score them; stop and use the prepared safeguarding and emergency routes.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- GOV.UK Methods for engaging young people: Youth/peer evaluators and inspectors
Adaptation under OGL-3.0; changes made
- Conditions of OGL-3.0
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
OGL-3.0
Current-page licence notice
A Taiwa no Fumen adaptation based on the UK government publication identified below. Any separately stated terms apply to the material they identify.
Changes: timings, instructions, materials and branches have been edited for this site. The English edition translates the Japanese manuscript, not the government text verbatim.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
This notice does not grant blanket rights to third-party works, personal data, organisational logos or trademarks.
This is not an official or government-endorsed method.
See the licence for its no-warranty and other terms.
© Crown copyright 2026
Credits on the checked source page
- Published by: Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: Methods for engaging young people.
Source lineage
Open Government Licence v3.0 · Legal code · Official source policy
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Diagram, print, and video language
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Editorial provenance
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