No matter who is sitting an assessment – whether they are learners in a school or candidates for a professional assessment – it is crucial that inclusion and accessibility have been considered in the assessment development process. As assessment developers, we must ensure that the assessment is testing candidates’ ability in the assessment topic and

AlphaPlus has been working on behalf of the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) to improve the quality of mentoring in the FE and training sector through the designing and delivering of first-rate programmes of professional development. Mentoring is an essential part of professional development, particularly in sectors where change is frequent and challenging.  Research shows

Demand for remote invigilation (or remote proctoring – the two terms are used interchangeably) has grown significantly during the current pandemic, as awarding organisations (AOs) have been forced to find new solutions to allow candidates to take their exams safely and securely. AOs have had to get to grips with the practicalities of remote invigilation

Sarah Maughan has stepped down as Director of Assessment after almost seven years at AlphaPlus. Below, she shares some of her thoughts about her time here. At the end of April I came to the end of six and a half years working at AlphaPlus.  At this point everyone always asks what exciting thing I

Gerallt Hughes, Cydlynydd Treialon AlphaPlus sy’n rhannu mewnwelediad ynglyn â STEM ac addysg STEM yng Ngogledd Cymru. Drwy gael y cyfle i wneud cryn dipyn o waith ymchwil i bynciau STEM (hynny yw, gwyddoniaeth, technoleg, peirianneg a mathemateg, yn Gymraeg) yng Ngogledd Cymru, cefais yr amser i feddwl eto am y gwahanol agweddau ar fy

Gerallt Hughes, Trials Co-ordinator at AlphaPlus, shares some insight into STEM and STEM education in North Wales. Having recently done some extensive research into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) in North Wales, I had an opportunity to reflect on aspects of my background and experiences living and growing up in the region. Despite not being

It has been almost 8 months since schools first shut to limit the spread of coronavirus. As well as all of the obvious disruptions, Covid-19 has had a massive impact on our trialling work, delaying or otherwise changing many of the trialling projects we had in the pipeline. As part of our work developing assessments, we

Priya Dutta, Assessment Manager, introduces two common approaches to assessment. At AlphaPlus, we work closely with clients to build the most suitable assessment programmes for their needs. It is useful, therefore, for everyone to have a general understanding of two very common approaches. What is a criterion-referenced test? A criterion-referenced test aims to measure a

Dave Mellor, Deputy Director of Assessment at AlphaPlus, shares his thoughts on the summer 2021 GCSE and A-level exam session. Over the last few months Ofqual have published their decisions on changes to the 2021 GCSE and A-level exam series to try and deal with the impact of Covid-19 on students’ education.  The changes are

Dave Mellor, Deputy Director of Assessment at AlphaPlus, shares his thoughts on the proposed autumn exam series for GCSEs and A-levels. Covid-19 has meant that GCSE and A-level assessments have been cancelled this summer. Instead, teachers are estimating grades for their students and exam boards will moderate those grades to bring them into line with