Bradford 2025: Local Stories for Learners
We evaluated a National Lottery Heritage Fund place-based cultural learning programme that translated Bradford’s hidden histories and stories into free, curriculum-aligned resources for learning environments across the city.
SECTOR
Heritage
WHAT WE DID
Framing the Work
Evaluation framework designed for a new and emerging model of place-based learning, grounded in Bradford's civic ambitions around heritage, representation and the long-standing case for a ‘Bradford Curriculum’.
Outcomes were co-developed with the Bradford 2025 Cultural Learning team to reflect the full arc from resource creation to classroom use.
Equity built in from the start, with SEND, alternative provision and home education settings treated as core audiences rather than afterthoughts.
Learning and Evidence
In-depth interviews with educators, creative partners and the Cultural Learning team to understand how and why resources were developed and used.
Focus group workshops with learners across primary, secondary and alternative provision to capture how young people responded to seeing their city's stories in the classroom.
Download data and website analytics analysed alongside qualitative insight to distinguish reach from genuine engagement.
Sense Making and Legacy
Evaluation report evidencing early impact on learner confidence, pride and sense of belonging.
Findings framed around the longer-term argument: that local heritage belongs in everyday learning as entitlement, not enrichment
Recommendations for what sustained stewardship, CPD and community contribution would need to look like to protect the programme's legacy beyond 2025.