During your studies you’ll be accessing huge amounts of information and need to consider using many potential sources. An important skill to develop is being able to discern credible sources from those lacking in authority and reliability - this critical evaluation skill is both essential for academic success and for navigating information in the rapidly changing digital age.

Why is critical evaluation so important?

Critical evaluation goes further than just assessing the quality of a source – you need to consider the context, purpose, and potential biases that may influence the information presented. This allows you to:

• Make informed decisions: determine the trustworthiness and relevance of sources, ensuring you are using quality evidence in your research and assignments.
• Avoid misinformation: critically evaluating sources helps you to identify unsubstantiated claims and misleading information.
• Develop independent thinking: becoming an independent learner means questioning and analysing information, showing you can apply these principles in a measured and consistent way.

How can you enhance your evaluation skills?

The Academic Skills Kit provides a wealth of resources to help you develop your critical evaluation skills.

Critical Thinking

Over on the Academic Skills Kit you will find some new materials and resources on critical analysis to support you with upcoming assessments. The Academic Skills Team have added a 3-part video which unpicks the meaning of critical analysis in different contexts and demystifies how to apply it in your work.

There is also an interactive resource of a sample paragraph where you can see how a writer has applied critical analysis throughout. It demonstrates how this can be expanded and developed with some useful strategies.