Collaborating to overcome a changing education landscape

by Will Saville, 06 April 2018
William Saville, our Business Development Manager for the UK at Cambridge Assessment English, reflects on his first visit to the UCAS Annual Admissions Conference, held this year in Newport, Wales.

I have just returned from my first visit to the annual UCAS Admissions Conference which brings together colleagues from the admissions teams of UK Higher Education Institutions to reflect on the state of the industry, think about the future of higher education and to connect with professionals from similar institutions.

The theme for this year’s conference was Collaboration and Change, which is particularly pertinent for Cambridge Assessment as our organisation shares the same values: collaborative, innovative and responsible. Cambridge Assessment has been around since 1858 and a lot of change has happened in the last 160 years, not least the fact that we have moved away from being a predominantly UK focused awarding body into an international exams group delivering assessments to over eight million learners in over 170 countries.

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The reason behind the strength of the organisation is that we understand the need to constantly change to in order to remain at the forefront of the industry. We also understand the need to partner with external organisations to deliver high-quality products. One of the most successful examples of this for us is the IELTS partnership, which is a three-way alliance between Cambridge Assessment English, the British Council, and IDP: IELTS Australia, which delivers over three million tests annually.

I wasn’t the only first time attendee to the conference, it was Clare Marchant’s inaugural appearance as the new Chief Executive of UCAS, which turned 25 this year, and in her closing speech, Clare reflected on the increasingly competitive nature of the industry and how important it was to work in partnership to deliver innovative solutions to some of the challenges affecting learners.

We need to think about what learners want and expect in five years’ time, rather than next year, and adapt our thinking to deliver products and services in an agile way. Cambridge Assessment English is striving to achieve this and has established a team dedicated to delivering innovative digital English language learning products, putting the learner at the heart of everything we do. You can learn more about our latest digital developments on the Cambridge Assessment English website, where you can also sign-up to get early access to trial versions of our products.

The education landscape is changing and it is a really exciting time to be part of it.

William Saville
Business Development Manager, UK, Cambridge Assessment English

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