Cesare Aloisi
Published 6 Feb 2023
AQA’s Head of Research and Development, Cesare Aloisi, gives his perspective on some of the barriers to using artificial intelligence (AI) systems for marking high-stakes assessment.…
Phoebe Surridge
Published 9 Dec 2022
Phoebe Surridge* discusses some insights from the literature on how a student’s gender may impact subject choice and outcomes.…
Will Pointer
Published 18 Oct 2022
Will Pointer, AQA’s Head of Standards and Awarding, reflects on student outcomes and the grading process in summer 2022.…
Sheradan Miller
Published 11 Aug 2022
Sheradan Miller considers how qualifications can assess the skills students need for the workplace today and in the future.…
Phoebe Surridge
Published 31 May 2022
Phoebe Surridge highlights some of the research we’ve been doing to make our qualifications as accessible and inclusive as possible.…
Victoria Armstrong
Published 1 Mar 2022
Our researchers shed some light on student and teacher experiences of piloting an on-screen GCSE English assessment.…
Katy Finch
Published 21 Jan 2022
AQA research project lead Katy Finch has been exploring A-level students’ experiences of practical science at home and school during the Covid-19 pandemic.…
Corina Balaban
Published 22 Nov 2021
AQA Researcher Corina Balaban* and AQA’s Head of History Eoin MacGabhann explore student and teacher views on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the history curriculum…
Kate Kelly
Published 2 Nov 2021
Kate Kelly, a lead researcher at AQA, explores the link between trust and transparency in a digital age.…
Kate Kelly
Published 20 Oct 2021
Are concerns about learning loss misplaced when it comes to the summer break? Kate Kelly and Katy Finch discuss the value of experiential learning.…
Steve Wooding
Published 7 Jul 2021
To what extent do young people’s beliefs, experiences and home circumstances influence their educational choices and future socio-economic status? AQA researchers attempted to find out.…
Corina Balaban
Published 27 May 2021
AQA researcher Corina Balaban and AQA’s Head of Research and Development Cesare Aloisi explore the concept of being a native speaker in relation to assessment.…
Katy Finch
Published 19 Apr 2021
AQA researcher Katy Finch explores what students really think about online learning and the future role of technology in assessment.…
Cesare Aloisi
Published 16 Mar 2021
AQA’s Head of Research and Development identifies the barriers to using AI/machine learning systems as a second marker or reviewer, while considering opportunities AI can offer.…
Steve Wooding
Published 21 Jan 2021
AQA lead researcher Steve Wooding discusses outcomes from the Project Calibrate research partnership, which proposes improvements to practical science teaching and assessment at Key Stage 4.…
Naomi Winstone
Published 15 Dec 2020
AQA funded a research project between Dr Naomi Winstone (researcher at the University of Surrey) and Dr Rob Nash (Aston University) exploring how much A-level students retain from teacher feedback.…
Katy Finch
Published 5 Mar 2020
The University of Manchester’s annual Inclusion and Inspiration Conference is a chance for teachers and academics to share their experiences of working in diverse schools with recently qualified and student teachers. This year, I went along to give a talk about my PhD work, which focuses on pupils learning English as an Additional Language and how they might process language differently to their peers.…
Lena Gray
Published 1 Oct 2018
A new publication, Examination Standards: How Measures and Meanings Differ Around the World, was recently launched at the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) annual conference. The book is edited by leading education assessment experts, including CERP’s Lena Gray.…
Emma Armitage
Published 12 Jan 2018
Emma Armitage weighs up consistency versus compensation in the Great British Bake Off and the world of assessment…
Charlotte Stephenson
Published 6 Nov 2017
Charlotte Stephenson considers how the EPQ can reduce the risk of subject choice…
Ruth Johnson
Published 3 Nov 2017
Ruth Johnson thinks about how to assess collaborative problem solving in the classroom…
Yaw Bimpeh
Published 30 Oct 2017
Yaw Bimpeh explains why it’s so difficult to validate a test.…
Ben Smith
Published 27 Oct 2017
Ben Smith investigates how we can measure marking reliability…
Kate Kelly
Published 28 Apr 2017
'Standards only move in one direction. At the beginning of the world, standards were established and they've been slipping ever since.'– Edward Stevenson…
Ben Smith
Published 14 Mar 2017
Ben Smith discovers the power of propensity score matching…
Kate Kelly
Published 19 Jul 2016
What does that innocuous '%' symbol really mean? Kate Kelly ponders percentages …
Ben Jones, Emma Armitage
Published 20 Apr 2016
Emma Armitage and Ben Jones dispel some of the myths that surround the evolution of standards, as historic A-level Computer Science papers come to light…
Ben Smith
Published 18 Feb 2016
Ben Smith investigates claims that there is a 'North-South' divide in exam attainment, and offers an alternative analysis…
Kate Kelly
Published 22 Dec 2015
This blog post comes with a public service announcement: look away now if you have yet to learn the results of Strictly Come Dancing's final, for here be spoilers…
Victoria Spalding
Published 17 Dec 2015
As the latest instalment of Star Wars hits our screens, Victoria Spalding explains tongue firmly in cheek how Han Solo can help with mark scheme design…
Emma Armitage
Published 30 Oct 2015
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is back in the limelight as the focus of an autumn consultation. Emma Armitage examines its impact…
Kate Kelly
Published 15 Oct 2015
Kate Kelly explains how low scores in the populist TV dance competition encourage fairness…
Victoria Spalding
Published 22 Sep 2015
CERP’s Assessment Expertise Training Developer Victoria Spalding considers the challenges of question writing…
Stuart Cadwallader
Published 22 Jan 2015
Coming from someone who works for an awarding organisation, the above question might appear a little petulant. It could read as though I've had enough of the public debate about standards and marking accuracy1 and just want to be left alone to get on with things. I assure you that's not the case I'm not just throwing my toys out of the pram! What I'm really trying to get my head around is the following question:…
Anna Nagle
Published 7 Aug 2014
When I was sitting my GCSEs, I remember getting pitying looks from friends at other schools when they learned that we would be taking exams with the board that had a reputation for setting 'harder' papers.…
Anne Pinot de Moira
Published 1 Jul 2014
Children born later in the academic year appear less likely to choose to study 'facilitating subjects' favoured by top universities, according to a recent CERP analysis. Anne Pinot de Moira considers the difficulties faced by summer-born children.…
Anna Nagle
Published 12 Jun 2014
There may be concerns about the number of girls choosing STEM subjects at A-level, but tens of thousands more girls (and boys) are studying science post-16 than in the ‘90s...…
William Pointer
Published 27 Mar 2014
William Pointer looks at the reliability of marking of GCSE science exams and asks: is it ok for examiners to mark biology, chemistry and physics items?…
Neil Stringer
Published 12 Dec 2013
Neil Stringer explains how we combine exam paper scores to produce a subject grade, what this means for grade boundaries, and why we maintain standards at subject level.…
Christopher Wheadon
Published 17 Oct 2013
Chris Wheadon looks at whether pupil progress is a fair basis for determining performance-related pay.…
