Be part of the conversation shaping the future of assessment at Assessment Horizons on 23-24 April 2026. Book before 27 February and access an early bird discount.
Join us in person in Cambridge, or online for two days of insights, innovation, and networking.
This must-attend annual event is designed to connect you with latest knowledge and learning in assessment.
Your tickets include lunch, refreshments, and after a day of learning on Thursday, an exclusive drinks reception at Cambridge University Press and Assessment’s Cass Centre.
Productive Failure - implications for feedback and assessment - Prof Manu Kapur
If learning from failure is intuitively compelling, why do we wait for it to happen? In Manu’s talk he will describe his research program on Productive Failure, exploring how, when and why intentionally designing for failure in a safe way can lead to deep learning.
At the same time, an ever-increasing emphasis on testing and standardisation means that we ought to be seriously wary of the dangers of ‘unproductive success’—an illusion of learning in high performance.
The challenge therefore is to build not only deep knowledge, but also to build it in a way that allows for a flexible and creative use of this knowledge in novel contexts. How do we do that? How do we assess it? And how can technology help? Manu will highlight key trends that force us to rethink what and how we teach, and how we assess deep knowledge, transfer, resilience, creativity, and how well we prepare our children to take on the uncertain future that awaits them.
Professor Manu Kapur is widely known mainly for his research on learning from Productive Failure and has delivered two TEDx talks on the topic. His contributions extend across high-profile journals and conferences, influencing educational policies and practices internationally.
Manu is currently the Director of the Singapore-ETH Centre, and a Professor of Learning Sciences and Higher Education at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
With a strong technical background in engineering and statistics as well as doctoral training in the learning sciences, Manu brings a unique interdisciplinary skill set to the study of human learning, both in terms of the fundamental mechanisms of human learning as well as developing applications for translating these mechanisms for teaching and learning. For more information, visit www.manukapur.com.
The emotional journey of feedback - from reaction to regulation for learning - Prof Anastasiya Lipnevich
Professor Anastasiya Lipnevich is Principal Measurement Scientist at the National Board of Medical Examiners, where she leads innovative work at the intersection of formative assessment and the learning sciences. Prior to joining NBME, she served as a Full Professor of Educational Psychology at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where she continues to supervise doctoral students and maintains her academic affiliation.
Her research centres on instructional feedback, formative assessment, alternative approaches to cognitive and noncognitive assessment, and the role of emotional and other psychosocial characteristics in academic and life success, with work spanning primary, secondary, tertiary, and medical education contexts.
Anastasiya holds master’s degrees in clinical psychology (MS), Italian language and literature (MA), and counselling psychology (MEd). She earned her PhD in educational psychology (learning, cognition, and development concentration) from Rutgers University, where she received the Graduate School of Education’s Excellence in Dissertation Award.
Following her doctorate, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. Her scholarly contributions have been recognized with the New Investigator Award and the Best Article Award from the American Psychological Association’s Division 3 (Experimental Psychology). She is also a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom.
Anastasiya has held visiting professorships at the University of Trento (Italy), the University of Konstanz (Germany), the University of Otago (New Zealand), and the National Institute of Education (Singapore), among others. She has delivered numerous keynote and invited addresses across the world, including in Europe, Asia, North America, and Oceania.
She is the co-author or co-editor of four books: Psychosocial Skills and School Systems in the 21st Century (Springer, 2016); The Cambridge Handbook of Instructional Feedback (Cambridge University Press, 2018); Instructional Feedback: The Power, the Promise, the Practice (Corwin, 2023); and Unpacking Students’ Engagement With Feedback Through Artefacts, Discourse, and Survey Findings (Routledge, 2023).
Panel: AI and assessment – where are we now?
Rose Luckin
Rose is an internationally respected academic and influential communicator across multiple stakeholders about the future of education and technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI). With over 30 years of experience, she is a recognised expert on AI in education, serving as an advisor to policymakers, governments, and industry globally. Professor Emerita at University College London and Founder and CEO of Educate Ventures Research Limited (EVR), a company that provides thought leaderships, training and consultancy to the education sector to help them leverage AI ethically and electively.
Throughout her career, Rose has held key leadership roles in academia, including serving on the Director's Strategy Group at the UCL Institute of Education from 2011-2015 and as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Sussex, Director of Undergraduate Studies for Science and Technology, and Co-Founding Director of the Human Centred Technology research group all at the University of Sussex.
In recognition of her contributions, Rose was honoured with the Bett Outstanding Achievement Award in 2025, as a Leading Woman in AI EDU at the ASU-GSV AIR Show in 2024 and she received the 2023 ISTE Impact Award, becoming the first person outside North America to receive their top honour. She was also awarded the International Francqui Chair in 2018 by the Francqui Foundation in Belgium, named one of the 20 most influential people in education in the 2017 Seldon List and one of the 50 most influential women in UK tech by Computer Weekly in 2024.
A prolific author, Rose has published extensively in academic journals, books, and conference proceedings. Her 2018 book, Machine Learning and Human Intelligence: The Future of Education for the 21st Century, available in English and Mandarin, describes how AI can be electively used to support teaching and learning. Her most recent book, AI for Schoolteachers, published in 2022, is an essential and accessible guide to AI for anyone involved in education.
Rose regularly delivers keynotes and public lectures across the globe on AI, ethics, and the future of education. She engages with the public through a monthly column in the Times Educational Supplement and op-eds in the Financial Times, Guardian, and China Daily. Rose has also appeared on various media outlets, including BBC Radio 4, ITV News, and CNBC.
In addition to her academic and entrepreneurial roles, Rose serves as an advisor to Cambridge University Press and Assessment and is co-founder of the Institute for Ethical AI in Education. She is also President of The Self-Managed Learning Centre in Brighton and sits on a range of advisory boards within the education and training sector, including membership of the UK Department for Education Science Advisory Council.
Rose holds a PhD in Cognitive and Computing Sciences and a First Class Bachelor's degree in AI and Computer Science, both from the University of Sussex. Prior to her academic career, she achieved Associateship of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.
Bryan Maddox
Professor Bryan Maddox is Research Director for Digital Assessment Futures at the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI), Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, and Executive Director of Assessment Micro-Analytics Ltd. Bryan is an Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, where he was previously Professor of Educational Assessment. He has held Visiting Professor roles at the Centre for Educational Measurement, University of Oslo, and at the University of British Columbia.
Bryan is particularly interested in digital assessment futures from a cross-cultural perspective. A social anthropologist by training, he has conducted ethnographic, observational research in educational contexts as wide ranging as Mongolia, Senegal, the UK and France
Paul Muir
With a career in the education and assessment industry spanning 25 years, Paul is currently the Chief Customer Officer at risr/. From roles delivering ‘country first’ education and curriculum reform projects across the world, to transformational roles at Awarding Bodies and Regulators in the UK, Paul’s roles have focussed on delivering change, often utilising technology, to deliver wide-spread policy change and transformation in assessment. Paul is a frequent speaker and panellist at industry conferences on issues such as test security, the digital divide and the impact of technology on assessment, with an increased focus on how AI is reshaping our industry. Paul also volunteers extensively throughout the industry. As well as his role as a Director and Chair of the Board of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP), he is currently serving as Chair of the ATP Security Committee, a founding member of the ATP AI Committee and an ambassador for The Assessment Network at Cambridge membership scheme
Dan Bray
Dan Bray is Director of Assessment Innovation and Transformation at Cambridge University Press & Assessment. He has extensive experience in Assessment across a wide range of educational levels and contexts.
He has a strong track record in the delivery of large-scale education reform projects with governments, school groups and NGOs. He also leads on innovative assessment methodologies for international qualifications at CUPA which are used by more than 10,000 schools globally.
Prior to taking the role Dan was a senior assessment advisor focusing on the design, delivery and standardisation of IGCSE, A Level, O Level and Checkpoint qualifications. He has also worked in publishing and as a classroom teacher.
Key areas of expertise include designing assessments frameworks, conducting research-based analysis of education systems, ensuring examination production quality, using assessment to inform classroom practice, developing diagnostic assessment models and implementing protocols to ensure robust and fair assessment systems.
Hear about new research and leading insights with our breakout sessions.
Re-imagining assignment-based assessment in the age of AI: A methodological shift - Kirsty Parkinson
Kirsty Parkinson, Head of Assessment Development, Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS)
Theme: AI and assessment – where are we now?
The rapid evolution of AI and large language models (LLMs) has disrupted traditional assessment practices—particularly those relying on written assignments.
This session will explore how CIPS are adapting their methodology to embrace AI as a tool for learning rather than a threat to assessment. In this presentation Kirsty will share how her team are rethinking task design to ensure assessments remain meaningful, authentic, and valid in a world where AI assistance is ubiquitous.
Kirsty is Head of Assessment Design and Development at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. She has over a decade of experience designing assessment methodologies for Transnational Education programmes. Kirsty holds a Postgraduate Advanced Certificate in Educational Assessment from the University of Cambridge and a Master of Education.
Her work focuses on evolving assessment strategies to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by AI, ensuring validity, fairness, and relevance in a rapidly changing educational landscape.
The ethics of deploying Large Language Models in high stakes auto-marking - Frank Morley
Frank Morley, Data Scientist, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Theme: AI and assessment – where are we now?
This presentation imagines three scenarios where LLM-based auto-marking is applied to a high-stakes exam context and examines three ethical issues identified based on current LLM technology as of June 2025.
These scenarios allow us to discuss:
- Explainability, whether auto-marking decisions can be explained;
- Bias, whether auto-markers could make biased decisions disadvantaging certain demographic groups; and
- Adversarial attacks, how vulnerable auto-markers might be to actors exploiting their vulnerabilities to produce a higher mark.
This presentation will focus on these three issues with regards to LLM-based auto marking rather than the scenarios.
Frank is a Data Scientist at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, with a background in AI and computational social science. He studied Sociology at the London School of Economics and then Policy Research and Data Analytics at Bristol and Anglia Ruskin respectively.
Frank started his career as a teacher, gaining experience in international English teaching and in UK secondary education. He has spent the previous four years at Cambridge, where he has worked as a Research Assistant, Researcher and Data Scientist. Frank has published on ethics, AI, and auto marking, and presented research on AI malpractice to Ofqual. He is interested in both the technical and the ethical sides of AI, and the impact it will have on education and assessment.
Creating job-ready learners: Assessing essential skills for work in mainstream secondary and further education - Dr Rebecca Conway
Dr Rebecca Conway, Director of Research and Innovation at NCFE
Theme: Skills and competence assessment
Recent research from the CIPD (December 2024) highlights a potential skills gap in young people entering the workforce. Only 28% of employers who had recently recruited a young person stated that they were prepared for the world of work.
Learners must develop essential skills such as communication and social interaction to thrive in the workplace. These skills are challenging to assess via many traditional assessment methods. This presentation explores the competencies that underpin workplace readiness and examines how we might effectively assess them.
Rebecca moved into the awarding sector in 2012 after starting her career in Higher Education as a PhD researcher and tutor. She has held technical assessment roles with several organisations, including Cambridge University Press & Assessment where she worked in an innovative and fast-paced international education development team. She moved from there to the Federation of Awarding Bodies where she led on policy and strategy during the Covid pandemic.
Rebecca joined NCFE, one of the largest technical and vocational awarding organisations in the UK and an educational charity in August 2024 and has overall responsibility for the organisation’s research, insight, innovation and social investment work. Rebecca has a longstanding interest in practitioner research and professional development in assessment and awarding.
She has trained hundreds of assessment and education professionals on CPD and postgraduate courses for The Assessment Network at Cambridge, international schools, universities and awarding organisations. She currently supports professional learners with practitioner research projects through her role as a part-time Academic Supervisor on the University of Cambridge’s Postgraduate Advanced Certificate in Educational Assessment.
Oracy: Assessing talk and assessing through talk - Dr Ayesha Ahmed
Dr Ayesha Ahmed, Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, By-Fellow of Hughes Hall and a founding member of Oracy Cambridge
Theme: Skills and competence assessment
Session abstract information to be confirmed.
Following her PhD in Developmental Psychology, Ayesha has been working in the field of educational assessment since 1997, first at UCLES (now Cambridge University Press & Assessment) and then freelance, before joining the Faculty in 2013 where she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Her research centres on validity issues in assessment design, and her current focus is on assessment of and through oracy. In 2024 she was awarded a Visiting Research fellowship at the University of South Australia, where she furthered her worked on oracy assessment.
Ayesha is a Fellow of the Association for Educational Assessment -Europe, Chair of AQA’s Research Advisory Committee and is on the Advisory Board of the journal Assessment in Education: principles, policy and practice.
Designing performance-based assessments that make competencies visible - Verónica Floretta
Verónica Floretta, Educational Consultant
Theme: Skills and competence assessment
This session looks at how performance tasks can generate meaningful evidence of competence, drawing on work in Uruguay’s curriculum reform, where curricular design based on competencies has been encouraged. Verónica will explore how task conditions, criteria, and scaffolding affect validity and inclusion, and participants leave with a clear design protocol they can adapt in their own contexts.
Verónica is a researcher, educator, and international assessment consultant specializing in educational assessment, performance-based task design, competence-based curriculum implementation, and teacher development. She holds a master’s degree in educational Assessment and has over a decade of experience training pre-service and in-service teachers in assessment literacy, reflective practice, curriculum design, and inclusive pedagogy.
As an Assessment Consultant, Lecturer, and TESOL Trainer, she has led professional development programmes across Uruguay and Latin America. In 2025–2026, her work has centred on supporting institutions navigating Uruguay’s national competence-based education reform.
She is the author of Validity in an English Diagnostic Test: How to Design Meaningful Diagnostic Tests and has contributed to international conferences such as LABCI, FHCE, and multiple events for The Assessment Network at Cambridge.
As an Ambassador for The Assessment Network at Cambridge, she collaborates with global experts to promote innovative, ethical, and teacher-centred approaches to assessment. Her work advocates for human-centred education in the AI era, emphasizing teacher professional judgement, ethical assessment design, and the responsible integration of technology to enhance pedagogical decision-making.
Any learner anywhere? - Dee Arp and David Towlson
Dee Arp, Chief Quality Officer NEBOSH and David Towlson, Director of Learning and Assessment, NEBOSH
Theme: Maintaining validity through inclusive assessment
The challenges of delivering online assessment authentically when learners globally have such different access to technology - do we work on access for all learners or has the dial shifted too far from assessment for learning to solving technological challenges? If so, what are the alternative assessment strategies that will tick the assessment principle boxes? This case study session is based on a current qualification/assessment.
Dee is a Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner of IOSH and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors. Dee became a qualified health and safety practitioner 25 years ago whilst working at RoSPA, where she developed and taught a wide range of courses and helped several boards to implement safety governance.
As NEBOSH’s Chief Quality Officer, Dee has responsibility for providing leadership on qualification development and assessment and on all compliance matters.
Dee previously studied with Cambridge University for the Certificate of Continuing Education (Principles and Practice of Assessment) and is now undertaking further study with Cambridge University for a Masters in Education.
Dee is INSHPO Immediate Past President, a RoSPA Ambassador, a OneWiSH mentor and is a judge on several Industry Awards including the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, the IIRSM Risk Excellence Awards and the SHE Excellence Awards.
David started his working life in the chemical manufacturing industry, working for several different multinationals (not all at the same time), first in research and development and later as a safety advisor. He later moved into Health and Safety Training.
He now works as Director of Learning & Assessment for NEBOSH where his job, in a nutshell, is to make sure NEBOSH’s qualifications, courses, publications and assessments are designed and developed to be fit for purpose. He is the AI adoption lead within the organisation.
Beyond language and content: Unpacking hidden factors in CLIL assessment through a psychoanalytic lens - Aydil İnal
Aydil İnal, Science Teacher, The Koç School, Türkiye
Theme: Maintaining validity through inclusive assessment
In CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) classrooms, assessment often appears to measure two things: language proficiency and content understanding. Yet classroom reality shows that a third layer, students’ cognitive-emotional dynamics, quietly shapes performance and can blur the distinction between what learners know and what they are able to express.
This session examines how affective factors such as language anxiety, fear of failure, learner identity, inner narratives, and subtle defence responses can become entangled with assessment outcomes. Drawing on classroom experience and psychoanalytic perspectives, the session explores how these hidden dynamics may unintentionally mask content learning or amplify linguistic challenges.
Aydil is an experienced educator working at the intersection of international and national curricula, currently serving as a science teacher at The Koç School in Istanbul. Over the past ten years, she has taught science in English using CLIL approaches across primary and lower secondary levels, designing inquiry-based and bilingual learning environments.
She holds a master’s degree in educational Measurement and Evaluation, where her thesis focused on standard setting for a hybrid Cognitive Skills Inventory using the Angoff, Contrasting Groups, and Bookmark methods. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction.
Scaffolding as inclusive assessment practice - supporting SEN students in EFL classrooms through reflective pedagogy - Prof. Lic. Valeria Miño
Prof. Lic. Valeria Miño, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Theme: Maintaining validity through inclusive assessment
This presentation draws on a qualitative, multi-case study exploring how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers scaffold learning for students with special educational needs (SEN) in inclusive primary classrooms. Grounded in sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978; Lantolf & Thorne, 2009), the study examines scaffolding (Gibbons, 2015) as a pedagogical and assessment tool that supports equitable access to learning (Packer, 2017) while preserving the validity of language assessment in diverse educational contexts.
Valeria is an English as a Foreign Language teacher and inclusive education specialist with experience in pedagogy, curriculum design, and educational technology. She is pursuing a Master’s in Teaching Foreign Languages (English track) at Universidad de la República, with ongoing research and thesis work. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pedagogy and graduated from the English Teaching Program at the Instituto de Profesores Artigas in Uruguay. Valeria has also completed international programs at Arizona State University (USA) and the Commonwealth Education Trust (UK), as well as postgraduate diplomas in digital technologies for inclusive education and teaching competencies for inclusion.
Valeria coordinates the English Department and teaches primary and secondary levels at Colegio Santa María in Montevideo. She leads workshops on inclusive education for teacher training courses. She has presented her research at national and international conferences, focusing on scaffolding and inclusive strategies for students with special needs. Her work combines pedagogy, technology, and language learning to create reflective and inclusive practices that support meaningful learning for all students.
The assessment we overlook: literacy, transparency, and the impact of the UK university admissions process - Rebecca Dowbiggin
Rebecca Dowbiggin, Educational Consultant
Theme: The value of assessment literacy
Admissions processes are high-stakes assessments influencing motivation, self-efficacy, and learning behaviours. The university admissions process operates as one of the most consequential assessments students face.
The reliance on predicted grades positions teachers as assessors and students as subjects of evaluation, long before their qualifications are achieved. Understanding how students perceive and respond to this form of “assessment” can shed light on patterns of motivation, confidence, and engagement - issues central to assessment and feedback literacy. Highlighting admissions as a form of assessment challenges the assumption that assessment only happens within classrooms, encouraging educators to consider its broader psychological and pedagogical implications.
Just as students must learn to interpret feedback in academic contexts, they also need to understand and make meaning of feedback within the admissions system. Misinterpretation of predicted grades or university offers can undermine confidence and lead to counterproductive decision-making. The presentation would argue that developing assessment literacy, specifically the ability to understand the purposes, values, and limitations of such judgments, is vital for supporting students through transitions. It connects assessment literacy to real-world
Rebecca studied as an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge, before graduating with Distinction from the MSc in Educational Assessment at the University of Oxford. Rebecca has worked as an Education Consultant for over fifteen years, specialising in university admissions advisory; she has a particular interest in the constructs assessed by admissions assessments, namely students’ cognitive skills and capabilities. Rebecca’s postgraduate research evaluated the impact of current structures and prospective reform of admissions in both the UK and international contexts on students’ self-efficacy and motivation.
Rebecca also works as an Academic Tutor and Mentor; she is extremely experienced in designing and delivering curricula and assessments for students who require, or specifically benefit from, an alternative learning pathway to mainstream schooling. Rebecca writes a wide range of educational resources; she has recently worked with a number of schools to develop virtual programmes that seek to build and recognise students’ skills and abilities that fall outside of traditional assessment methods, whilst creating a classroom culture that promotes student well-being and emotional literacy.
Having also previously trained and worked as a professional actor, Rebecca seeks to articulate the importance of the role and value of the arts and advocate for an arts-rich education. Rebecca has a keen interest in professional development in assessment and is an Academic Supervisor and Tutor for the Postgraduate Advanced Certificate in Educational Studies: Educational Assessment, co-convened by Cambridge Assessment and the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge.
A tale of two countries: parental assessment literacy - Dr Simon Child
Dr Simon Child, Head of Assessment Training, The Assessment Network at Cambridge
Theme: The value of assessment literacy
This presentation shares insights from initial findings of a study investigating the extent to which parents have the knowledge and skills to support their children with assessment activities, and what type of support (if any) they would like to receive to improve their assessment literacy.
The presentation will introduce our conceptual model for parental AL, and how it connects to the survey instrument Simon and Dr Ourania Ventista (University of The Aegean) used to gather data from 678 parents in two countries (England & Greece). Inspired by the findings from the study, Simon will make some suggestions for how parental assessment literacy can foster an effective school culture.
Dr Simon Child is Head of Assessment Training at The Assessment Network at Cambridge. Previously, he was a Senior Research Officer in the Assessment Research and Development Division of Cambridge Assessment. He's conducted research in the field of qualifications reform and development since 2012.
His other research interests include quality of marking processes, curriculum development, formative assessment and Higher Education. His background is in developmental psychology. In 2011, he received his Ph.D from the University of Manchester, which focused on the development of symbolic cognition in pre-school children.
Who are ‘the public’ for educational assessment and do their views matter? - Isabel Nisbet and Stuart Shaw
Isabel Nisbet and Stuart Shaw, Educational Consultants
Theme: The value of assessment literacy
This session will explore the concepts associated with public confidence in (or public opinion about) assessment. Public confidence is a statutory objective of the assessment regulators in England and Wales. But who are the public and what does it mean for them to have confidence in assessment?
The session will start by exploring concepts including public confidence and public opinion in the context of educational assessment. It will then set out and consider arguments for and against the relevance of the public's views. Should we lead, follow, measure or ignore the views of the public? The public may be inexpert in assessment, most will be untutored in measurement theory and practice, and they may be influenced by inaccurate or partisan reporting. Should assessment professionals, researchers, teachers and lecturers take account of their views, engage in public debate and/or change what they do to gain public approval?
Isabel's professional career was in government and regulation. She was the first CEO of Ofqual, the regulator of exams and qualifications in England. She is now active in consultancy and non-executive roles and has continued her academic interest in educational assessment and in the philosophy of education.
From 2021-2023 Isabel served on a panel appointed to review all aspects of education in Northern Ireland. Their report was published in December 2023.
Isabel was the co-author, with Stuart Shaw, of Is Assessment Fair? published by SAGE in 2020 and Educational Assessment in a Changing World: Lessons Learned and the Path Ahead, published by Routledge in 2024.
Isabel has served on the Boards of Governors of four universities in the UK and is currently Vice-Chair of Governors of the University of Bedfordshire. She has served on the Board of Qualifications Wales and continues on its Research Advisory Group. Isabel also served on the Transition Board overseeing the establishment of Qualifications Scotland. She is a Trustee of the Methodist Independent Schools Trust.
Stuart is an educational assessment researcher, consultant, and author. He is Honorary Professor of University College London in the Institute of Education - Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment.
Stuart has worked for international awarding organisations for over 20 years and is particularly interested in demonstrating how educational, psychological, and vocational tests seek to meet the demands of validity, reliability, and fairness. He has a wide range of publications in English second language assessment and educational/psychological research journals, as well as books. Stuart is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA). He is also a Fellow of the CIEA with Chartered Assessor Status.
Stuart is a Fellow of the Association for Educational Assessment in Europe (AEA-Europe), an elected member of the Council of AEA-Europe and is Chair of its Scientific Programme Committee. He is also an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Board of Trustees of the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA). He has recently been appointed Director on the e-Assessment Association Board and is Chair of the ‘Research’ Awards Panel for the e-Assessment International Conference & Awards.
Stuart regularly presents at British, European and International conferences and has given keynote presentations. He is currently engaged in a major writing project with research colleagues from Trinity College Dublin University (Ireland) – Prof. Damian Muchan and Dr. Evgenia Likhovtseva, which takes as its focus externally moderated school-based assessment from an international perspective. This book, entitled: International practices in moderating high-stakes, school-based assessment will be published by Palgrave in mid-2026.
New for 2026, we are pleased to be showcasing practical stories of innovation and sharing insights from members of The Assessment Network.
Nancy Prabhu, Chatrabhuj Narsee School, Mumbai
AI and the learner: Empowering reflection, reasoning, and growth
A case study of AI use in the classroom
"In my classroom, I integrate AI-driven approaches to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment. By using AI tools for feedback, reflection, and question design, I help students understand what quality looks like, develop stronger reasoning, and build the confidence to become reflective, self-regulated learners. Thoughtful and constructive feedback supported by both human insight and AI forms the foundation of the transformative pathways for my learners, so they grow into independent and confident thinkers.
Using AI for assessment design and constructing questions pushes the learning curve into higher-order thinking. AI reviews question papers for overlaps, appropriate difficulty levels, and balanced assessment objectives, ensuring they align with key assessment principles such as validity, reliability, fairness and comparability.
This process ensures questions measure what they are meant to measure, and students are assessed consistently across all groups. The standards remain consistent across both the components of business studies, and assessments become more transparent and instructionally meaningful.
When guided thoughtfully, the partnership between AI, the teacher and the learner transforms the assessment and reflection process into pathways for transformative and sustainable growth."
Takeaway for attendees:
- How do we balance technology with the irreplaceable human element?
- How can AI elevate metacognition and self-reflection in assessment preparation?
Nancy is an Upper Secondary IGCSE Business Studies teacher at Chatrabhuj Narsee School in Mumbai. She is a member of The Assessment Network at Cambridge, and a Cambridge Assessment Specialist with experience of more than eight assessment cycles.
Joseph Onyancha Mogunda and Caroline Baldwin, Yingya St. Peter’s School in Haikou, China
Examiner feedback to student action: building feedback literacy for all
A case study of feedback literacy for mixed stakeholders
Joseph Onyancha Mogunda is Head of Humanities and a Further Mathematics teacher at Yingya St. Peter’s School in Haikou, China. In his case study session, "Examiner Feedback to Student Action: Building Feedback Literacy for All," Joseph draws on his classroom experience, examining background, and school-based innovation work to explore how feedback can be designed and delivered so that students understand it, value it, and use it.
The session focuses on building feedback literacy among teachers, students and parents, and on practical strategies that turn examiner-style feedback into concrete next steps for learning.
Joseph’s interest in developing a feedback ‘innovation’ at Yingya St. Peter’s School arose from a shared recognition that feedback must go beyond comments on work and become information that learners can act upon to make measurable progress. In response, the school has put a mechanism in place to ensure that feedback is captured and forms a key part of the weekly learning behaviour reports.
These reports include a specific segment on students’ responses to feedback, allowing teachers to monitor how learners engage with and act on the guidance they receive. The reports are also shared with parents, helping to keep the feedback loop open between school and home and to promote a consistent focus on improvement.
In Joseph’s leadership role he oversees curriculum planning and implementation across the Humanities department, ensures the quality of assessment design and marking, and leads professional development for colleagues. A keen assessment practitioner, Joseph is working towards the Advanced Assessment Practitioner Award and is currently pursuing an MA in Educational Leadership. He has been teaching in high schools for the past 14 years and serves as an examiner for an awarding organisation as well as a professional development facilitator.
Joseph’s co-presenter for this session will be Caroline Baldwin, Dean of Academics at YSPS. Caroline has responsibility for overseeing assessment systems, curriculum design, and academic standards across bilingual and international pathways. She holds an MA in Educational Technologies & Instructional Design, with research grounded in data-informed teaching and instructional system design.
Over the past 15 years, Caroline has gained teaching and leadership experience in the UK, China, Myanmar, and Cambodia across public, private, and international settings. She has also worked within Montessori, PYP, Oxford International, and Cambridge IGCSE programmes, with particular focus on the development of coherent literacy pathways and data-driven intervention models.
At YSPS, the English curriculum has been strengthened through the introduction of reading interventions, vocabulary development frameworks, and structured self-study pathways for language acquisition.
Prior to senior school leadership, Caroline spent more than five years as a Project Manager and Instructional Designer. Caroline has also published comparative work examining post-colonial education policies in China, Singapore, and Myanmar, with a particular interest in the intersections between globalisation, curriculum reform, and national development agendas.
Her professional practice remains centred on data-driven school improvement, instructional design, and the creation of sustainable academic systems that raise student outcomes.
Further details to come.
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