Over the years, the CAF has evolved and grown to become the well‐known quality model for the public sector that it is today. Considering the evolution of the CAF since the previous CAF study in 2005 and the last improvement of the CAF in 2006, the CAF Expert Group felt it was time to reflect on the use of the CAF in order to prepare its future. In the introduction we will discuss the evolution of the CAF, the structure of the CAF network and the purpose and scope of this study.

To stimulate and give input to discussions at the 6th CAF user event, a study on the use of CAF in the Educational Sector was commissioned. This study was carried out by the European Institute of Public Administration  (EIPA).  The research was conducted with the objective to analyse the impact of  self  assessment  with  CAF  and  the  resulting  improvement  actions  on  the  performance  of  education  and  training institutes, and lessons to be learned by all public sector organisations.