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With our feet firmly into 2026, our Research Officer, Arthur Pander Maat has been taking stock of the data analysis reports CORC produced for our members last year. He reflects: 

Each report we produced wasn’t just a collection of charts or significance tests; it was a window into how services evolve, adapt, and ultimately improve the young lives of those they work with.  

The various reports we have delivered to healthcare trusts and voluntary sector organisations have provided a snapshot of change, using different outcome measures ranging from widely recognised tools like the SDQ and RCADS to completely bespoke measures designed with and for the service.    

Every report began with an overview of how everyone in the dataset developed. By tracking changes in scores over time - through mean change, significance testing, and individual improvement patterns - we helped services understand whether their day to day work was translating into meaningful shifts for the young people they support.  

Each service can choose from a number of additional analyses they want to focus on in their analysis, such as a subset of young people seen by a specific team, or how scores and score changes varied by characteristics such as age or gender. 

Whilst this information is private to each organisation, we wanted to share some examples of the impact their reports have enabled: 

Communicating impact to trustees 

One voluntary sector member used their report to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programme to trustees. By grounding their case in robust outcome data, they were able to secure confidence, and funding for their next phase of work.  

Empowering team leaders with evidence  

A healthcare trust used bespoke team level analysis to give leaders insight into how their teams were supporting young people. For many, it was the first time they could clearly see patterns in improvement, stagnation, or deterioration, enabling better conversations and more targeted practice development.  

Understanding the impact of a change in service 

A community service merged two programmes they offered to different age groups, so they requested an analysis of change split by age groups to test whether the merge had affected either age group negatively – fortunately, the data suggested both groups were still making meaningful progress! 

Obtaining funding for non traditional models  

A community based service used their membership report to present compelling evidence to funders. Their model differed from typical mental health services, but by combining narrative with outcomes data, they demonstrated that their distinctive approach could achieve meaningful improvements.  

Across all organisations, CORC members valued the ability to see clearly what’s working, and where energy needs to shift.