Assessment criteria

Eligible applications will be assessed against our assessment criteria.

There is a standard application form for all of Sport England’s funding streams. To capture the additional information of particular relevance to the Active Women Themed round we also ask Additional Questions. The additional questions document must be completed and returned as part of an application for it to be assessed.

Applications that score poorly against the Relevance, Evidence, Value For Money, Ability to Deliver and Impact criteria are likely to be rejected.

1. Relevance to the theme

Applications must fully engage with the needs of either women in disadvantaged communities and / or women caring for children under 16. Projects should address the barriers to participation for the target group and include the components that we believe are necessary for success

In detailing the where, what and how of projects, applications must present the rationale to explain how the project will attract women from one of the two groups to participate in sport or become more regular participants.

Where the project will involve participants from outside the two groups, for example activities for mothers and their children, it must be clear that the project is designed around the needs of the target women.

In addition, applications must provide the location of the project and where the participants will come from. Projects targeting women in disadvantaged communities must benefit participants from one of the top 20% most deprived areas in the country,

Key questions:

Who will be the beneficiaries of your project?

• In what areas do the proposed participants of your project live?
• What barriers to participation in sport by either women in disadvantaged communities or women caring for children under 16 will your project address and how will it do so?

2. Evidence

The quality of the evidence and rationale provided in applications to the Active Women Themed round will be assessed through its contribution to the other five assessment criteria below.

Applications must provide a sound evidence base and rationale for why a project has been designed in a particular way and the impact you anticipate it will have. This might include use of the tools on our website. In particular the market segmentation tool can be used to demonstrate how participants within the two target groups will be the main beneficiaries of your project.

Strong applications will demonstrate how they have solicited the views and wishes of those women who will benefit from the proposed activity, and how that information has been used to inform the design of the project.

Any applications involving facility development must demonstrate that the project is part of a broader facilities strategy.

Find out more about our marketing segmentation and planning tools

Find out how we define disadvantaged communities

3. Value for money

Projects will be assessed on the basis of value for money in terms of the number of people who will benefit. We will take into account both the cost of the project as a whole, and the size of the grant you are requesting from us. In your application you should include an estimate of the number of people who will benefit from your project

4. Ability to deliver

Applications must demonstrate that a project is actually able to deliver what it has outlined. It should be clear how applicants will address any resource requirements that the implementation of the project could create.

For example, applications should express how they will attract participants into the project’s activities.

Applications must also include robust business planning, including:

• Showing that the tasks and activities to deliver the outcomes have been carefully thought through;
• Setting realistic timescales and budgets;
• Having regular, measurable milestones and deliverables in place in order to track progress;
• Identifying key risks and having plans in place to manage them;
• Good financial health and governance, evidenced through the track record of the organisation and its referees.

Key questions:

• How have you determined that there is a demand for the activities that your project will provide?
• How will potential participants find out that your project is taking place?
• Do you have a clear and realistic timeline for the delivery of your project?

5. Impact on Sport England’s outcomes

Applications should demonstrate how the project will deliver opportunities to increase the sporting participation of women in the two target groups and so contribute to Sport England’s strategic grow outcome.

Applications must be for awards of £10,001 and over but we will be looking to prioritise larger projects that can have a more significant impact on our outcomes.

Projects will need to be clear as to both the nature of their impact on the targeted groups and the size of that impact. This includes demonstrating what data will be collected about participation from the project and how this will demonstrate that its outcomes have been met.

The impact must be additional to what has already been included within NGB Whole Sport Plans.

Key questions:

• How many women in disadvantaged communities and women caring for children under 16 will benefit from your project?

• What sporting activities will your project involve?

• How will you measure the number of participants taking part?

Additional assessment criteria

6. Sustainability

Applications should demonstrate how participation will be sustained once the project ends or Sport England funding is exhausted. The outcome of projects should be an increased number of regular participants in sport amongst women in disadvantage communities or women caring for children under 16.

Applications are also expected to show how learning from projects will be shared to ensure that successful approaches can be replicated.

Key questions:

• How will your project result in sustained participation in regular sporting activity?
• How will you share learning from your project with others to enable successful approaches to be replicated?

7. Partnership

Other organisations are already in regular contact with women in the two target groups, providing advice and services. These networks are an important resource for sport to use.

Applications should therefore demonstrate consultation and involvement with local partners who can contribute to the project. Partners should provide both strategic support and financial backing, in the form of at least some degree of partner funding in cash or in kind.

Analysis of the success of Sport Action Zones demonstrated that:

“The most important factor in driving up participation in sport … is being able to consult and then connect with non-participants in the general population – the more partners you have, the more access to local residents, and the more opportunities there are to access sources of funding.”

All applications should demonstrate at least consultation with any relevant national governing body, local sports clubs, county sport partnership and local authority.

Strong applications will involve partnership with local non-sport partners, for example Primary Care Trusts, SureStart, adult social care, housing associations and third sector organisations.

Exceptional applications will show awareness and be linked into local priorities as expressed through, for example, PCT Health Investment Plans, volunteering strategies and Local Strategic Partnership priorities.

Key questions:

• What consultation have you carried out with local sports and non-sports organisations?
• What level of support are other organisations providing to your project?