UK MARKET, THE VALUE OF
HIGH STAKES EXAMINATIONS
The UK has well-established assessment and awarding practices; our exams are highly ranked throughout the world. Equally, there is still opportunity to develop current assessment and qualification systems to further improve the knowledge and skills seen as vital for future life, work, and citizenship in the UK. Stephen Austin is here to continue this development of quality and integrity.
A TIME FOR REFORM
Calls for reform proved even louder during Covid-19, which inevitably sharpened the debate about the delivery and role of assessments.
But, as many discovered during the pandemic, the logistical implications of moving from pen and paper to online are not to be trivialised, nor should the potential downsides of digital assessments like the increased use of ‘essay mills’ seen during Covid. It will take considerable time and investment to create environments where new forms of assessments can be launched and securely scaled up.
The pace at which change should happen will be different depending on which stakeholders are asked, from parents to teachers, pupils to employers. According to The Future of Qualifications and Assessment for 14-19 year olds, some 4 out of 10 young people would still prefer a pen and paper approach to digital assessments when sitting their final exams.
HOW WE HELP
We’ve made the secure printing, packaging and distribution of high-stakes assessment our specialism for over 70 years. We already work with many of the UK’s higher education institutions (HEI), national awarding organisations and professional bodies and are acutely aware of the issues they face. Many HEIs and vocational and professional bodies, for instance, have limited internal resources and value the single source, end-to end service we offer.
No company is better placed than us to deliver such things as:
Modifying core papers to be inclusive, for example, accommodating visually impaired candidates.
Packing question papers in fixed denominations of 5, 10 or 20 to meet specific security or distribution models.
Customer portals to track progress of exam materials in real-time.
Personalising question papers with candidates’ names or numbers.
Marking and reporting for vocational and professional bodies.
CONTACT US
TO IMPROVE YOUR HIGH STAKES EXAMINATIONS DELIVERY
Wherever you are in the world, we can help ensure the integrity and credibility of your national examinations; talk to us now.