The Cambridge Assessment Network team blogs on the AELP National Conference 2016.
This was the first year that the
Cambridge Assessment Network has exhibited at the AELP (Association of Employers and Learning Providers) conference, and listening to Skills Minister Nick Boles MP talk about the cross-party support for apprenticeships confirmed our belief that we were in the right place at the right time: the theme of assessment was a recurring one throughout the two day event.
OCR were the headline sponsors of the annual conference for the skills and employment sector, and you can read
more about the implications of Nick's speech in Charlotte Bosworth, Director of Skills and Employment at OCR's column for
FE Week.
The event took place on the first working week post-Brexit, and unsurprisingly many of the speeches and conversations were coloured by what this would mean for the sector, but it was also an opportunity for us to have a conversation with delegates about their assessment training requirements. We've recently noticed an increase in the number of bespoke training requests coming from these groups so wanted to find out more.
We invited a range of professionals working in the skills and employment sector to take part in a survey (the pictured champagne encouraged participation!) and tell us whether they thought they needed to know about assessment for their job. 69% said yes, although we found that several of those who said no had changed their mind by the time they reached the end of the survey.
At the end of the first night, Paloma Faith’s backing singers 'The Faithettes' wowed us with an energetic selection of Motown classics including 'Heard it through the grapevine' – an apt song for a conference full of interesting discussion.
Rosie Applin
Communications and Events Manager, Cambridge Assessment Network