What Works Centre for Children and Families
Department for Education (DfE) · England
This funding supports the establishment of a What Works Centre for Children and Families to generate, evaluate, and share evidence to improve children’s social care and early intervention outcomes.
Summary
Deadline
18 May 2026
Complexity
Medium
Time to apply
20-60 hours
Updated
9 Jun 2026
This funding supports the establishment of a What Works Centre for Children and Families to generate, evaluate, and share evidence to improve children’s social care and early intervention outcomes.
Eligibility
Applicant types
Not specified
Business size
SME
Industries
Children’s social care, public policy, research and evaluation, early intervention services
Match funding
Needs verification
Requirements
Organisations capable of operating a What Works Centre with expertise in research, evaluation, and evidence dissemination within children’s social care and early intervention Verification Required — What Works Centre for Children and Families competition; see Find a Tender notice. Research, evaluation, and evidence synthesis to improve policies, programmes, and practices supporting children and...
Eligible applicants
Organisations capable of operating a What Works Centre with expertise in research, evaluation, and evidence dissemination within children’s social care and early intervention
Funding and scope
Benefit amount
£85,000,000
Total fund available
£85,000,000
Funding intensity
Not specified
Payment type
Reimbursement
Eligible scope
Research, evaluation, and evidence synthesis to improve policies, programmes, and practices supporting children and families
Eligible expenses
- Research delivery, programme evaluation, evidence synthesis, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement activities
Ineligible costs
- Verification Required
Application and risks
Application platform
DfE eTendering Portal (Jaggaer)
Competitiveness
Closed / Not accepting applications
Decision timeline
Not specified
Assessment process
Not specified
Application sections
Not specified
Application components
- Application submitted via Jaggaer including organisational capability, strategy, and delivery plan
Timeline and partners
Opening date
20 Feb 2026
Project duration
Not specified
Project start
31 Mar 2027
Project end
Not specified
Co-funders
Not specified
Collaboration rules
- Verification Required
Consortium requirements
- Verification Required
Additional guidance
[{"label":"Key Organisational Requirements","value":"Organisation must operate independently, meet What Works Network membership requirements, and demonstrate capability in high-quality evaluation and sector engagement"},{"label":"Funding Structure","value":"Up to £8.5 million per year for a maximum of 10 years"},{"label":"important notes","value":"Funding runs up to 10 years; applicants must meet What Works Network membership requirements; an engagement session was held on 26 February 2026"}]
Quick facts
- Status
- Closed
- Deadline
- 18 May 2026
- Funding amount
- £85,000,000
- Funding band
- Large (£5M+)
- Funding type
- Grant
- Payment type
- Reimbursement
- Audience
- Mixed
- Industry
- Children’s social care, public policy, research and evaluation, early intervention services
- Last updated
- 9 Jun 2026
- Published
- Not specified