This is the one hundred and fifty-first Annual Report of the Syndicate to the Council of the University of Cambridge. It covers the events of the period to 31 July 2008.
The last twelve months have again been very successful for the organization as we began our 150th anniversary celebrations in 2008. It has also been another dynamic and interesting year for the education sector as a whole.
We saw the launch of a new interim regulator of qualifications, exams, and tests in England (Ofqual), following the Government's decision to split the functions of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), separating the development of the curriculum from the regulation of standards. The introduction of the A* grade for A levels was confirmed, as were the QCA's criteria for the new GCSEs for first teaching in September 2009. Cambridge Pre-U received accreditation in the UK, opening up access to state schools. At the time of writing, delivery of the first of the new Diplomas was well underway.
Assessment should, at its best, support teaching, focus students' efforts, motivate them, and reward what they achieve. These ambitions have not changed in the 150 years of our history to date, but the way we apply them undoubtedly has. For example, in the future, supporting and delivering assessment by digital means will play an increasingly significant role in examining.
As the oldest UK surviving examination board - and the only one in the UK still owned by a university - we have been at the forefront of enhancing education through assessment for the last 150 years. We are marking our 150th anniversary with a series of special events at which we seek to share our extensive expertise in assessment. The official programme of activities started on 23 September 2007 with a presentation at the University of Cambridge alumni weekend. We received some excellent feedback and members of the audience were keen to share their memories of their own exams.
As a celebration of the India-Cambridge partnership in school education, we launched a book for teachers, by teachers, called Reflections on Teaching Today and Tomorrow. It is a collection of 11 essays by Indian teachers, with a diversity of approaches and viewpoints. The book provides an opportunity for teachers to share their practical ideas and experiences not only with their colleagues in India but with teachers worldwide.
We also launched a special commemorative book entitled Examining the World: A History of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate on 11 February - the 150th anniversary of the day the Syndicate was officially established. The book was compiled using archive materials and input from consultants, previous, and current employees, to commemorate and officially record the Group's heritage. The book provides a unique insight into the history of exams - from the introduction of the first Cambridge school examinations in the UK to their adoption around the world
This Report is structured to show how the work we have been doing from the period 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008 relates to our main strategic objectives. It includes a chronological list highlighting some of our achievements and activities for the year.
Cambridge Assessment is a Department of the University of Cambridge and therefore has charitable status. As a charity we are very aware of the benefits that education can provide in unlocking and realising potential. By developing a broad range of products and services we seek to make these benefits widely accessible and, in doing so, also support the mission and core values of the University. Indeed, we play an important part in supporting the University's educational outreach and enable it, through our work, to deliver practical benefits to millions of people who would otherwise never come into contact with it. In this way we provide recognition of individual learners' achievements, thereby assisting them to achieve their own educational and career objectives, giving them access to further progress in education (including entry to universities) and in the workplace. The Group's activities therefore contribute in a tangible way to the needs and development of countries across the world.
The Group values the involvement of the University in its work, through the participation of University staff as members of its committees or as examiners, and through participation in the outreach activities of Departments, of which the Millennium Mathematics project is a leading example.
The Cambridge Assessment Group is organized into three externally trading business streams - Oxford, Cambridge, and RSA Examinations (OCR), University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), and Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) - each of which has a distinct product range and group of customers. OCR is a company limited by guarantee with the University as its sole member. It is also an exempt charity, under Schedule 2(w) of the Charities Act 1993, on the grounds that it is administered on behalf of the University. OCR is responsible for examinations and other assessment activity for both general and vocational qualifications in the UK; CIE is responsible for international school examinations and international vocational awards; and Cambridge ESOL is responsible for examinations in English for speakers of other languages and qualifications for language teachers throughout the world.
The work of the three business streams is supported by the following corporate services: Finance, Human Resources, and Infrastructure Services (comprising Printing and Operations, Development, and Service Delivery). In addition, the Assessment, Research, and Development (ARD) Division brings together corporate research and innovation activities, as well as investigating and developing new business opportunities which may fall outside the remit of the business streams.
OCR's general qualifications are closely regulated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in England, the Department of Education, Lifelong Learning, and Skills in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum Examination and Assessment. This regulation covers the subjects and the number of syllabuses that can be offered, syllabus content, schemes of assessment, and many aspects of administration. Notwithstanding this regulatory framework, the maintenance of awarding standards remains the responsibility of OCR, through its Chief Executive and Director of Quality and Standards, the latter of whom is the Accountable Officer; this responsibility is subject to regular public scrutiny and audit. Regulation of OCR's vocational qualifications, although not yet so complete, is also exercised by QCA. As mentioned above, a new interim regulator of qualifications, Ofqual, has been created in England following the government's decision to separate the development of the curriculum from the regulation of standards.
CIE is responsible for the definition and maintenance of standards for all of the Group's international qualifications, although where general qualifications are administered in partnership with a ministry of education, that ministry is increasingly involved in standard setting and in the administrative aspects of regulation. ESOL is fully responsible for the regulation of its work and for the setting and maintenance of standards.
Both CIE and ESOL have sought QCA accreditation for various qualifications in the UK and this of course means that these are subject to regulation by the QCA.
We have made great strides in achieving this ambition over the last twelve months. We continue, as we have done for the last 150 years, to strive for the ongoing improvement of the assessment systems and methodologies used around the world to ensure learners access the benefits of their education.
We continue to bring together a wide range of professionals in education to look at 'big picture' topics and to enable policy makers to access the knowledge of leading experts with our series of expert seminars. These provide an opportunity for discussion of innovative thinking in assessment. Our seminars are presented by eminent figures in the world of education and their participative format encourages lively debate on key issues. We also engaged successfully with a range of political stakeholders, including at the Party Political Conferences.
Our House of Commons seminars continue to be popular. We held one on What makes a good teacher? An overview of teaching effectiveness research, and another on What makes government education initiatives succeed or fail. Both were attended by key senior education professionals and MPs, generating lively debates. They were chaired by Barry Sheerman, the Chair of the House of Commons Children, Schools, and Families Select Committee. Speakers renowned for their expertise gave their different perspectives on the subjects; how the best research coming out of institutions can be adopted; and why sometimes ideas that appear to be strong when seen from a research perspective are adopted or not by policy makers. This also saw the beginning of an enhanced web and brand projection drive which will be rolled out in the forthcoming year.
Our Cambridge Assessment Network's International Study Programme - a two-week residential course on the development and administration of public examinations for international participants - was again hugely popular and fully subscribed. Delegates from exam boards across the globe reviewed best practice, debated the principles of assessment design, and discussed how to carry these forward into their professional lives in their own countries.
We also held a special event for international education attachés as part of our anniversary celebrations. Education policy around the world: Innovations in 14-19 Reform addressed the challenges in reforming 14-19 education across the globe and was attended by more than 100 international educational professionals. Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, hosted the event which was chaired by former BBC education journalist Mike Baker.
The 150th anniversary programme was used to raise our profile in these matters by generating widespread media coverage of the first exams. We embarked on a series of regional events to show just how far the exam process has come. We organized a series of visits to some of the schools across the country that sat the first 'Cambridge' school exams in 1858. Pupils from Bristol Grammar School, Warwick School, and Friends' School, Saffron Walden, were given a special lesson - using the original 1858 UCLES exam papers - by an '1858 teacher'. Each visit generated excellent media coverage by local BBC and ITV news, regional radio stations, a variety of regional press, and news items on Teachers' TV.
The media coverage of the school visits sparked further coverage of a more in-depth nature; including a fifteen-minute interview on BBC Radio 4's Learning Curve, a five-minute feature on BBC2's Working Lunch, an interview on Woman's Hour, a six-page feature in the TES magazine, a full-page feature in The Times, a two-page feature in the Cambridge News, two interviews on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, and a page in The Daily Mail. Following discussions with History Today, an article on the organization appeared in the August issue.
In the political arena, written and oral evidence was provided to the House of Commons Select Committee for Children, Schools, and Families Inquiry into Testing and Assessment. When called before the committee, we highlighted some of the structural problems that we believe beset assessment; the constant revolution and multitude of purposes to which assessment is put and the erosion of public confidence. All the witnesses agreed that the changes qualifications had undergone over the previous ten years had been sufficiently substantial as to mean that comparisons outside that time frame were very difficult, a point which caused consequent media coverage.
We responded to the Government's consultation Confidence in Standards which seeks to create an independent regulator, separate from both the Department of Children, Schools, and Families, and the successor body to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. As an organization we call for a strong, focused, regulator that sets broad objectives and leaves it to awarding bodies to meet them.
We announced, at the 33rd International Association for Educational Assessment conference in Azerbaijan, that we would be hosting the 34th IAEA conference in Cambridge as part of our 150th anniversary celebrations. We looked forward to hosting the conference and to providing leading education experts and testers from across the world with a forum to exchange the latest research, ideas, and experiences of different countries' education systems.
In April, we were privileged to host the third international conference of the Association of Language Testers in Europe. A total of 570 delegates from 65 countries, representing more than 300 organizations, attended the conference here in Cambridge, making it the largest and most comprehensive event of its kind to date. The six plenary presentations headed a conference programme of close to 200 papers on key aspects of all language assessment.
Researchers from across the Group presented papers at 28 international conferences. We have also had ninteen articles submitted to refereed journals, such as the British Educational Research Journal.
We continue to work with overseas governments to reform education systems and help to localize examinations by training officials, teachers, markers, and examiners in curriculum development and assessment. We bid for and won a record number of contracts including: the CIE-Bahrain National Test Project; Cambridge ESOL's contract with the French Ministry of Education to provide English Language Certification in state secondary schools; and our Assessment Research and Development contract with the UK's regulator for the Diploma Development Toolkit.
Cambridge ESOL negotiated a consortium and won a European Commission contract to carry out a Europe-wide survey of languages. The survey will compare second language learning for pupils in the final year of lower secondary education, or the second year of upper secondary education, using the scales of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. It is intended that the survey will be a key tool for European governments to use in developing language learning policies and is part of the European Commission's aim to 'improve the mastery of basic language skills in Europe'.
In Asia, we won an international tender to help the Gujarat State Government in India to improve the level of English language proficiency among students and the work-force. The Society for the Creation of Opportunities through Proficiency in English (SCOPE) is a specially formed body working with Cambridge ESOL on the government's initiative to improve English language skills. We developed a new test for SCOPE, called the Gujarat English Language Test, to assess ability related to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
We continue to be involved in a major project exploring how the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages relates to specific features of English. Now in its second year, the English Profile project has completed much of the necessary basic research on the Cambridge English Corpus and is now moving into a phase of consultation which will enable a framework for the rest of the project to be further developed.
Our archives provide a rich and growing legacy for researchers now and in the future. As part of our 150th anniversary, an exhibition showcasing a selection of historic material from the Group's archives, has been touring selected venues during the year. The exhibition features more than 40 reproduced documents and photographs from the archives. It includes 150-year-old examiner reports, eye-witness accounts of hardship during the First and Second World Wars, and past exam questions. We also made the exhibition available to view online from our website.
Technology continues to be one of the areas of greatest change. Modernization programmes such as on-screen marking and the use of computer-based tests are crucial in keeping us at the forefront of technological developments and have become an integral part of the way we provide our services worldwide.
During the last year, we marked more than three million scripts on screen - enabling us to spare many examiners the inconvenience of managing the large volumes of paper involved in the traditional process and giving them access to the many advantages of a digitized environment.
On-screen marking extends our quality assurance procedures which are underpinned by our research programme. Our research into marker expertise enables us to make the very best use of our markers' skills, knowledge, and experience. This means we can match the demands of the marking to the expertise of the marker. New digital processes also allow us to gather more detailed marks and information about examiners' marking, improving our quality assurance processes. This level of detail enables us to monitor question quality and marker performance. It also helps inform the awarding of grades.
Our technological developments continue to push at the boundaries of e-assessment. We saw the first use of version 5.0 of Connect, our bespoke e-assessment platform. Connect is designed to allow high-stakes tests to be run by remote centres around the world whilst maintaining the security of the examination. The new version of the software includes the ability for 'walk-in' candidates to sit tests, giving centres the flexibility to accept new candidates on the day of the test. It also allows access to backed-up copies of candidates' responses in case the centre is unable to return them automatically. Further developments are planned for later this year.
We are glad to report the use of Connect by our customers has increased substantially in the last year, with computer-based versions of Cambridge ESOL's PET, KET, and BEC being taken in the thousands. Asset Languages recently hosted Connect tests for 838 candidates at Altrincham Grammar, the highest number of computer-based entries in the UK so far, and CIE has more than 500 entries for its computer-based IGCSE Geography component this June, the sixth time the test has been run. It features rich simulations of a variety of environments from rain forests to shopping centres.
Our pilot of computer-based testing for Cambridge IGCSE Geography in Kuwait was very successful. For the first time, students in Kuwait were able to engage in a 'practical study' of rivers which, without the technological developments, was not possible.
The Business Language Testing Service - a language assessment service we designed specifically for the use of companies and organizations as a reliable way of assessing the language ability of groups of employees or trainees - is now available online allowing more flexibility and instant results.
We have also been working with UNICEF and the Maldives Ministry of Education to support teachers who are rebuilding the educational infrastructure after the 2005 Tsunami. Our online courses, discussion groups, and web-based Virtual Learning Environment have proved popular as the geography of the country makes face-to-face support slow and expensive to deliver.
In the UK, we were one of the first to trial sending exam results to students by text message. Working alongside schools and colleges to identify appropriate candidates, we successfully issued 100 students from seven schools with their A level modules results from the 2008 January exam session. We then ran an extended trial for this summer's A level exam results.
Following the development of pioneering new software, we successfully ran our first fully electronically assessed unit at A level. The A level Maths unit was taken by more than 60 students from five of the centres currently running the qualification as part of a pilot. Students completed the exam on screen and then the response data was automatically transferred to education software firm RM, who input all the response files into its e-marking system Scoris® so that marking could also be carried out on screen.
A new exam results analysis service was developed for teachers in the UK with RM and data experts Forvus. Active Results, which is in the final stages of development for a pilot using this summer's exam results, is a free service allowing teachers to review the performance of individual candidates or whole schools. The initial pilot is limited to up to 250 centres studying OCR's 21st Century and Gateway GCSE Science specifications.
Over 75 per cent of our customers in the UK are now making full use of Interchange, a free, secure website for centres which offers a variety of services for exams officers and teachers. New developments mean that centres will be able to view statements of entry online and make their estimated entries electronically rather than ticking boxes on never-ending sheets of paper. In addition to reducing the amount of paper, this new functionality will improve the accuracy of estimated entries and give centres the option of customizing their own reports at the touch of a button.
Video conferencing facilities have improved with the introduction of the latest equipment and technology in both Cambridge and Coventry offices. Improvements include crisper, clearer screen resolution and faster connection times. With this technology we were able to provide immediate feedback and support to teachers in schools in Argentina and Bangladesh who took part in CIE's Curriculum and Teacher Support Groups.
Over the last twelve months, alternatives to established qualifications such as Diplomas, OCR Nationals, and Cambridge Pre-U have attracted much interest. So has the introduction of the A* grade for A levels, QCA's confirmed criteria for GCSEs, and the announcement of the three new Diplomas. The last ever GNVQ assessments took place and the very first day of national celebration for vocational qualifications was celebrated.
At a time of such intense reform in qualifications in the UK, we made unprecedented efforts to deliver attractive and innovative assessment solutions to our customers worldwide.
In the UK our new generation of A level specifications, for first teaching from September 2008, achieved QCA accreditation. Although there have been many changes to the qualification, we managed to create and deliver 44 exciting and wholly revised new specifications. This includes our pioneering new style History A level course which encourages students to debate issues that have generated historical controversies, such as British Imperialism and the Holocaust.
Our Cambridge Pre-U Diploma - the alternative post 16 qualification - also received accreditation in the UK for first teaching in September 2008. Nearly 50 schools will offer one or more Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects from September 2008 and more than 100 are already planning to do so within the next two to three years. The Learning and Skills Council has advised that funding for Cambridge Pre-U Principal Subjects will be on a par with A levels and fifteen maintained schools will start Cambridge Pre-U from this September.
To recognize the highest levels of achievement, an A* grade has been incorporated into the revised A levels at the same time as new 'stretch and challenge' questions have been incorporated into the assessment. The A* will be awarded in the UK from 2010 and will also be introduced into the Cambridge International A level.
We have been at the forefront of trialling the new A* grade in the UK. The trial, in partnership with students from Farnborough Sixth Form College, was conducted to ascertain how well students would deal with the more challenging A level questions. It gave our examiners an early opportunity to test some of their ideas in setting stretching and challenging questions to identify those students who deserve the A* grade. We have also been heavily involved with the QCA in conducting an even bigger 'stretch and challenge' trial on a national scale.
Progress does not stop there. Most GCSEs are being revised for first teaching in September 2009. Changes include: flexible assessment across all qualifications, controlled assessment in place of coursework to address plagiarism concerns, the addition of new subjects - Law, Citizenship, and Ancient History - and the availability of a greater number of short courses. In the UK we launched a micro-site to provide teachers with the latest GCSE information and to showcase our innovative and fresh new approaches.
In redeveloping GCSEs, we worked with teachers, students, subject associations, and employers to introduce a selection of new qualifications that meet their requirements. All 43 draft GCSE specifications were put online for teachers to peruse in advance of accreditation.
The overhaul of our GCSE Sciences in 2006 resulted in a considerable increase in the numbers of schools and colleges choosing our specifications over the last year. One of the key contributors to this success has been the range of approaches offered; we worked closely with the Nuffield Curriculum Group and the University of York Science Education Group to develop the Twenty-First Century Science Suite. OCR's Twenty-First Century Science Suite has introduced debate into the classroom to promote a balanced, evaluative, approach in contrast to previous specifications while OCR's Gateway Science Suite takes a more familiar approach. Both options allow teachers to deliver the course in a style that suits them and their students. In addition, the GCSE Applied Science (Double Award) and GCSE Environmental and Land-Based Science are also both increasing in popularity, reflecting a trend of our Science success across the board.
At the same time the new IGCSE subjects were developed for piloting or first teaching overseas in 2008. We created the new Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives qualification in response to young people facing a wealth of both global opportunities and challenges. Other international qualifications developed over the last twelve months are Cambridge International Mathematics and Cambridge Twenty-First Century Science. Cambridge IGCSE India Studies is also in development and will be available for first teaching in 2010.
We reached an impressive landmark with the 150,000th candidate in the UK to undertake our Nationals qualification in ICT. OCR Nationals have become a real success in a short period of time - more than 120,000 students have registered for them during the last year - and the ICT qualification, in particular, has grown phenomenally fast since its launch three years ago. This suite of qualifications also received UK accreditation and we were pleased to announce the launch of a Level 3 qualification in March.
Although the QCA informed us that it does not intend to proceed with the pilots to embed the Functional Skills assessment within GCSEs, we will still be offering the standalone Functional Skills pilot. This standalone qualification will be compulsory for all learners taking the Diploma from 2008 and taking part in this pilot will also help to inform the development of English and ICT GCSEs for 2010.
We have continued to work on the development of admissions tests. Students applying to the University of Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics, and Economics will be taking a pre-interview admissions test for the first time this year. We have been emphasizing that these tests belong to a single family with a common core - thinking skills - which can minimize the burdens on students while supplying universities with useful extra information to inform their important decisions.
In April we entered into a consortium with CAMFED and Judge Business School to develop a business and enterprise summer school, providing training materials and qualifications for young women in Zambia. This work will be funded by Goldman Sachs.
Asset Languages, the language assessment scheme originally developed for the DCSF using the joint expertise of Cambridge ESOL and OCR, was brought under the sole management of OCR in November. This was a reflection of the progress made with the contract and a change in emphasis from development to delivery of a maturing product. During the year, the number of languages which could be assessed using Asset rose from 21 to 25 with the addition of Cantonese, Cornish, Irish, and Welsh to the portfolio.
The Cambridge International Primary Programme for our overseas market continues to go from strength to strength. Since its launch in 2005, schools around the world have been able to offer a Cambridge-based curriculum across their primary as well as secondary age ranges. The 100th school to offer the programme was Taktse International School in India.
The Florida Department of Education in the US now includes Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education as a High School Diploma graduation option following the approval of dual enrolment courses to satisfy credit in a high school major area of interest.
Entries for IELTS have almost doubled in the last three years driven by university entrance requirements, new immigration policies, and professional recognition throughout the English-speaking world. The feedback we get from universities and government agencies around the world is that IELTS is a particularly good test of how well a person knows English, because it gives a thorough picture of their skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing, in a way that is relevant to how the language is actually used for work and study.
Quality assurance is invaluable for those who have public accountability for the delivery of high stakes examinations. We have a strong reputation for quality of service and delivery that has been earned over decades of commitment to test takers and test users. We are active in helping teachers and partners replicate those high standards.
Raising the skills of teachers and other education stakeholders is critical to the development of assessment systems. Our experience in the field of teacher training is extensive. Cambridge Assessment has worked with governments to reform education systems and helped to localize examinations by training officials, teachers, markers, and examiners in curriculum development and assessment. We provide assessment and professional support during the transition every step of the way, as well as training for assessment staff, item writers, and teachers.
Following extensive research and consultation with teachers in the UK, we produced our most comprehensive and detailed schemes of work and accompanying lesson plans for new A levels and GCSEs. Our improved range of support materials are designed for adaptation by teachers to suit their own individual needs, to support delivery, and to save teachers time when preparing to teach the new specifications.
This is the first time an awarding body has actively involved current teachers in developing schemes of work and lesson plans, designed to be 'by teachers, for teachers'.
We also launched an extensive GCSE training programme and intend to host 400 events covering 31 subject areas during the changes to demonstrate our commitment in keeping teachers informed of how we have responded to the opportunity to develop new GCSEs.
It has been nearly two years since the first people moved into our new warehouse - DC10. The move has been very successful and there has been no disruption to business. We are now introducing various aspects of warehouse automation.
Our UK Customer Contact Centre (CCC) had a new telephone system installed. This means that anyone calling into the CCC will experience a new call routing system that will help to direct customer calls to the most experienced advisor available.
We also made our exams directory available online which means UK centres will have the flexibility to search by examination date range or assessment, and can display or print the information in a user-friendly format.
Interchange - our secure online resource designed to help UK centres carry out administrative tasks quickly and easily - has seen users switch on in record numbers. As many paper processes gradually disappear, Interchange is rapidly becoming indispensable for examination officers, assessors, and teachers.
We have been given the seal of approval following an International Standards Organisation (ISO) audit from the British Standards Institution. The audit made particular mention of CIE's commitment to its candidates, teachers, and the other organizations it serves. The approval, known technically as an ISO:9001, is an internationally recognized standard for business management, which ensures that businesses are operating to the same quality standards when meeting customers' requirements.
In response to candidate demand and the increased collaboration with governments around the world, Cambridge ESOL now has offices in Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Internationally we held 897 training workshops and seminars, and 171 other events including conferences, award ceremonies, and exhibitions.
Our programme of change to improve the effectiveness of how the Group uses technology goes from strength to strength. 'Advantage' began with the 'Framework' programme, now completed, which built a strong foundation to enable the diverse parts of the organization to communicate their needs to our Information Services team and for them to work effectively together.
Advantage is developing and implementing new standards for how the Group carries out new technology initiatives. These cover a range of disciplines including business planning, budgeting, information architecture, and project management. The programme needs these standards as a springboard for moving forward but it is the values that staff follow when working with them that will determine whether they succeed or fail.
The Advantage programme is delivering a range of benefits to the Group: the corporate IS team focuses on the implementation and management of technology solutions while the operating units focus on developing the strategic programmes that will move them forward.
The Corporate Board discussed Advantage Phase 3 and at year end were finalizing the Programme of Work which builds upon what we have achieved so far.
Following the Group's decision to consolidate our printing and distribution operations on a single site, we have now been through a robust tendering process to select a new service provider to manage a new print facility at DC10. As a result, we have selected Océ (UK) Limited as our new service partner. This move will be phased over time and arrangements are in place to make sure that quality and continuity of service are maintained. We hope to start building works at DC10 in August this year to accommodate the new print facility.
Following more resources being allocated to computer-based testing, our in-house online test delivery engine, Connect, now supports a wide range of the Group's qualifications. Our international business English certificates are being taken online in the thousands, we have run two very successful sessions for the first fully e-assessed GCSE, we had the highest number of computer-based entries for our bite-sized languages learning courses, and our computer-based IGCSE Geography has been incredibly popular overseas.
Cambridge Assessment takes seriously its role as a major contributor to society through the responsible development, management, and delivery of assessments and qualifications around the world. Our mission is to provide high quality assessment services worldwide. To achieve this, we need our staff to perform at a high level.
Over the year, staff completed 3,718 training days in total, through attendance at 1,010 training events. Through these events our staff were able to experience a range of opportunities: from formal induction through focused IT and desktop training to a range of core and bespoke management and personal skills developments. Particular focus was given to raising awareness of diversity, improving personal effectiveness and, on the technology side, providing IP Telephony training to support the rollout of this technology across the business.
Towards the end of the year we launched an online training portal to support our training and development initiatives through easy user access to event calendars and reference and support materials which complement our core programmes. We have also started to introduce e-learning to improve accessibility to training opportunities. This provision will grow during 2009 as we increase our blended learning and interactive provision.
In addition to the extension to the training portal we will be continuing to evolve our core programmes to help our staff further develop their personal skills. Of particular importance will be the introduction of development which focuses on team effectiveness, both in terms of the team manager and team members, and our extension of training to enhance the ability of our people to make best use of our bespoke technology.
Finally, there will be an increasing emphasis on the practical application of learning, from the event back into daily working lives. We will therefore be focusing on feedback and evaluation to inform us of priorities in this area.
We also have a commitment to sharing knowledge and this is done mainly via the Cambridge Assessment Network. The Network helps to create links between assessment professionals and it provides a programme of professional development in assessment and related issues through a comprehensive programme of conferences, seminars, and courses.
The Cambridge Assessment Network continues to offer formal and informal professional development activities to people working in assessment, both within the Cambridge Assessment Group and externally. Overall attendance at Network events and courses increased by 43 per cent over last year. This is made up of a 33 per cent increase in staff attendees and a 54 per cent increase in external attendees.
In particular, our 2007-08 course - Certificate in the Principles and Practice of Assessment - was offered in a new format for the first time. Most of the work is completed online with three Saturday day-schools per module. This has opened up attendance to people from around the education world and the varying experiences and knowledge brought to the course by participants from outside Cambridge Assessment have been of benefit to all course members. This year also saw the first set of students, including seven members of staff, being awarded their certificates.
We have also been encouraging, supporting, and developing staff in the use of Personal Development Planning (PDP). A seminar was held entitled Assessing Personal Development Planning - ideas and issues, presented by Dr Barbara Newland, Senior Lecturer in Educational Development at Bournemouth University.
The whole of the IS Business Analysis team passed the ISEB (Information Systems Examination Board) Consultancy Certificate - which is an excellent achievement.
The Group is heavily reliant on the knowledge and experience of its staff and external examiners and great attention is paid to their further training and development. The Group also depends upon the services of a number of contractors and consultants. Syndics wish to record their appreciation of the work of all those who have contributed to the Group's activities over the past year.
The consolidated financial statements show that the Cambridge Assessment Group reported a surplus of £24.5m for the financial year ended 31 July 2008. Each of the three business streams recorded an operating surplus. The results for the previous year were for a ten-month period as a result of the change of year end date from 30 September to 31 July.
Income from examination fees and other educational and assessment services increased from £188.3m to £221.4m due to increased demand across all three business streams.
The overall costs for the period were higher at £196.9m than for the preceding period (£166.7m), which only covered a ten-month period. Expenditure is incurred in maintaining and developing qualifications, registration and certification of candidates, together with the quality control of examined and assessed schemes. In this period, significant expenditure has been incurred on development activities related to UK A Levels and Diplomas as well as CIE's Pre-U qualification. Expenditure has also been incurred on changes to systems including electronic script management. Expenditure for the period includes a transfer of £12.4m to the University compared with £9.3m for the previous year, due to the higher level of operating surplus generated.
We continue to forecast an increase in the number of examination entries. The Group continues to provide services to customers in around 160 countries. This brings with it challenges related to exchange rate exposures and economic difficulties which are reviewed and managed by the Corporate Board.
Syndics believe that the Group's reserves are at a level which is suitable to ensure financial stability, to provide protection against unforeseen contingencies and the risks to which the Group is exposed. Reserves are also maintained to ensure that the Group is able to fund investment in the development of the Group's infrastructure and business, including research, and to ensure that no financial liability will ever fall on general University funds. Syndics consider that it would be imprudent for the Group to rely on loans to fund any of these requirements and that the University is unlikely to wish to divert general resources to support the Group's work. The Group must therefore maintain sufficient reserves to meet all its funding requirements, in bad as well as good times. Syndics have reviewed the level of reserves with the University and believe that the levels held are reasonable given the issues faced by the Group. It has been the Group's policy to invest the available reserves in the University's Endowment Fund (Amalgamated Fund). This policy has served the Group (and the University) well over the years, enabling substantial support to be given to a range of general University purposes and to scholarship schemes for students from the Commonwealth and other countries. However, the policy introduces its own risk when, from time to time, stock markets fall.
During the year, £12.4m was transferred to the University. In addition, the Group has given financial assistance on a small scale to a number of University activities that relate closely to the Group's mission such as the Millennium Mathematics Project, an outreach activity to schools run jointly by the Departments of Education and of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics; the admissions interview programme in China; and continuing support for the Cambridge Overseas Trust, in recognition of the importance of international work to the Group.
Since 1981 the Group has transferred £168m from its reserves and investment income - £146m to general University funds; £19m to the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts; and £3m to establish the Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics.
The major risks to which the Cambridge Assessment Group is exposed, as identified by the Syndics, have been reviewed and systems have been established to manage those risks.
(a) Policies and procedures
Policies underpin the internal control process. These policies are set by the Corporate Board and written procedures support the policies where appropriate. There is an annual review as to whether changes or improvements to processes and procedures are necessary.
(b) Risk Register
A Risk Register is maintained at a corporate level and helps to identify, assess, and monitor significant risks. Senior management review the risks for which they are responsible. Emerging risks are added as required, and improvement actions are monitored regularly.
Cambridge Assessment's 150th anniversary year has been very busy and successful and we have had an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the past as well as thinking more about our strategies for the future. We continue to play a very important role in supporting the University's outreach mission and, in doing so, provide opportunities for more and more people to access the benefits of education. We look forward to the challenges that next year will bring and will continue to reinforce our position as a leading world authority on assessment.
20 November 2008
| Professor A. J. BADGER (Chairman) | Ms D. HALL | Mr B. PICKING |
| Mr P. DERHAM | Dr J. LEAKE | Dr K. PRETTY |
| Dr D. GOOD | Mr R. MARTINEAU | Mr A. REID |
| Professor J. GRAY | Mr R. PARTINGTON | Professor R. TAYLOR |
| Dr J. GUY |
Auditors
KPMG LLP
37 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1XL
Bankers
Barclays Bank plc
15 Bene't Street, Cambridge, CB3 3PZ
| Professor Tony Badger (Chairman) | Master of Clare College |
| Mr Patrick Derham | Headmaster, Rugby School (From 04.01.08) |
| Dr David Good | Education Director of the Cambridge MIT Institute and Fellow of King's College (From 17.01.08) |
| Professor John Gray | Professor of Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge |
| Dr John Guy | Principal of Farnborough Sixth Form College |
| Ms Denise Hall | Director of Marketing and Sales, Special Steps |
| Professor John Hawkins | Director, Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge (Ended 31.12.07) |
| Miss Patricia Kelleher | Headmistress, the Perse School for Girls, Cambridge (Ended 31.12.07) |
| Dr John Leake | Fellow of St John's College |
| Mr Richard Martineau | Former Chairman of RSA |
| Mr Richard Partington | Senior Tutor, Churchill College |
| Mr Bruce Picking | Chairman of Governors of Havering College of Further and Higher Education |
| Dr Kate Pretty | Principal of Homerton College and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge |
| Mr Andrew Reid | Director of Finance, University of Cambridge |
| Professor Richard Taylor | Director of Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge |
| Mr Simon Lebus (Chairman) | Cambridge Assessment Group Chief Executive |
| Professor Tony Badger | Master of Clare College |
| Mr Patrick Derham | Headmaster, Rugby School (From 04.01.08) |
| Dr David Good | Education Director of the Cambridge MIT Institute and Fellow of King's College (From 17.01.08) |
| Professor John Gray | Professor of Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge |
| Dr John Guy | Principal of Farnborough Sixth Form College |
| Ms Denise Hall | Director of Marketing and Sales, SpecialSteps |
| Professor John Hawkins | Director, Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge (Ended 31.12.07) |
| Miss Patricia Kelleher | Headmistress, the Perse School for Girls, Cambridge (Ended 31.12.07) |
| Dr John Leake | Fellow of St John's College |
| Mr Richard Martineau | Former Chairman of RSA |
| Mr Richard Partington | Senior Tutor, Churchill College |
| Mr Bruce Picking | Chairman of Governors of Havering College of Further and Higher Education |
| Dr Kate Pretty | Principal of Homerton College and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge |
| Mr Andrew Reid | Director of Finance, University of Cambridge |
| Professor Richard Taylor | Director of Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge |
| Mr Simon Lebus | Group Chief Executive |
| Mrs Sue Durham | Group HR Director |
| Mr Mark Lovell | Group Infrastructure Services Director |
| Dr Mike Milanovic | Chief Executive, ESOL |
| Mr Tim Oates | Group Director, Assessment Research and Development |
| Mrs Ann Puntis | Chief Executive, CIE |
| Mrs Jackie Rippeth | Group Finance Director |
| Mr Gregor Watson | Chief Executive, OCR |
| ALTE | Association of Language Testers in Europe |
| ARD | Assessment, Research, and Development |
| BCS | British Computer Society |
| BEC | Business English Certificate |
| CCC | Customer Contact Centre |
| CIE | Cambridge International Examinations |
| DCSF | Department for Children, Schools, and Families |
| ESM | Electronic Script Management |
| ESOL | English for Speakers of Other Languages |
| GCSE | General Certificate of Secondary Education |
| GNVQ | General National Vocational Qualification |
| IAEA | International Association for Educational Assessment |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technology |
| IELTS | International English Language testing System |
| IGCSE | International General Certificate of Secondary Education |
| IIBA | International Institute of Business Analysis |
| IM | Information Management |
| ISEB | Information Systems Examination Board |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation |
| KET | Key English Test |
| OCR | Oxford, Cambridge, and RSA Examinations |
| PDP | Personal Development Planning |
| PET | Preliminary English Test |
| QCA | Qualifications and Curriculum Authority |
| RSA | Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce |
| SCOPE | Society for the Creation of Opportunities through Proficiency in English |
| UNICEF | United Nations Children's Fund |
| UCLES | University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate |
The following Statement is provided by the Syndicate to enable readers of the financial statements to obtain a better understanding of Cambridge Assessment's governance and legal structure.
Cambridge Assessment (which is the brand name of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) is a constituent part of the University of Cambridge established under the Statutes and Ordinances of the University.
The governing body of Cambridge Assessment is the Syndicate (the Syndics), which comprises six members of the Regent House and six external members, along with a Chairman appointed by the Vice-Chancellor and a University Officer appointed by the Council. Members from the Regent House are appointed by the Council, while external members are appointed by the Council on the nomination of Cambridge Assessment.
The Syndics are responsible for the oversight of the work of Cambridge Assessment and its subsidiary undertakings (the Group), for its system of internal control, and for reviewing its effectiveness. Such a system is designed to manage, rather than eliminate, the risk of failure to achieve Cambridge Assessment's objectives, and can only provide reasonable, and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. The Syndics are of the view that there is an ongoing process for identifying, evaluating, and managing the significant risks to which Cambridge Assessment is exposed.
The Syndics meet about six times during the year, and are advised in carrying out their duties by a number of committees, including a Corporate Board, an Audit Committee, and a Remuneration Committee.
The Audit Committee is chaired by an external member of the Syndicate. It meets at least four times during the year with the Syndicate's senior officers and the external and internal auditors in attendance as required. Its principal role is to review the adequacy and effectiveness of the Group's systems of internal financial control, financial reporting, and risk management in consultation with internal and external auditors. Its review of the system of internal control is informed by the work of the internal auditors, who also make a report to the University Audit Committee. The Audit Committee advises the Syndicate on the appointment of internal and external auditors. The Syndicate receives minutes of all meetings of the Audit Committee.
The Group Remuneration Committee meets at least once during the year to review the remuneration of the Group's senior executives and to consider matters of general remuneration policy. The salary of the Group Chief Executive is determined by the full Syndicate.
The Syndicate has in place an agreed statement of the powers delegated to the Group Chief Executive. The day-to-day management of the Group is the responsibility of the Group Chief Executive and the Corporate Board, whose other members comprise the Chief Executives of the three business streams, the Group Director of Assessment, Research, and Development, and the Group Directors of Finance, Infrastructure Services, and Human Resources.
Cambridge Assessment maintains a formal register of trustees' interests. It is available for viewing on application to the Secretary to the Syndicate.
The Syndics certify that so far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit information of Cambridge Assessment of which the auditors are unaware; and have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that Cambridge Assessment's auditors are aware of that information.
Statute F, 11, 4 of the University of Cambridge provides that the accounts of the Local Examinations Syndicate shall be audited annually by one or more qualified accountants appointed by the Council.
The Local Examinations Syndicate uses the brand name of Cambridge Assessment.
The Syndics are responsible for the administration and management of the affairs of the Group and Cambridge Assessment and are required to present audited financial statements for each financial year.
They are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Group and Cambridge Assessment and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting in Higher Education Institutions and relevant accounting standards. They are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and Cambridge Assessment and of the surplus or deficit and cash flows for that year.
In the course of preparing the financial statements, the Syndics have ensured that:
The Syndics have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Group and Cambridge Assessment and prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
We have audited the Group and Cambridge Assessment financial statements (the 'financial statements') for the year ended 31 July 2008 which comprise the Consolidated Income and Expenditure Account, the Group Statement of Total Recognized Gains and Losses, the Group Statement of Historical Cost Surpluses and Deficits, the Group and Cambridge Assessment Balance Sheets, the Group Cash Flow Statement, and the related notes. These financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein.
This report is made solely to the Local Examinations Syndicate, as a body of Syndics, in accordance with the Statutes of the University of Cambridge. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Local Examinations Syndicate those matters we are required to state to it in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Local Examinations Syndicate and the Syndics as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
The Syndics' responsibilities for preparing the financial statements in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for Further and Higher Education, applicable law and UK Accounting Standards (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) are set out in the Statement of Responsibilities on page 43.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated 9 October 2007 and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland).
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for Further and Higher Education and applicable UK Accounting Standards.
In addition we also report to you if, in our opinion, we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
We read the Annual Report and the Corporate Governance Statement and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements within them.
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board and the Audit Code of Practice issued by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the Syndics in the preparation of the financial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group and Cambridge Assessment's circumstances, consistently applied, and adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements.
In our opinion:
KPMG LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditor
37 Hills Road, Cambridge
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2008
This information is available to download as a PDF file:
