• Digital Assessment Research: Mode Comparability

    Student performance across onscreen and paper-based exams

    We believe that exams should be a fair and accurate reflection of students’ performance – regardless of whether an exam is taken onscreen or on paper.

    That’s why our research focuses on many aspects of comparability – including student performance across paper and digital exams.

  • Digital Assessment Research: Text Styling and Formatting

    We believe that all students should be able to best show what they know and can do in exams – regardless of whether the exam is taken onscreen or on paper.   

    That’s why we’re continuously researching and gathering feedback to better understand and inform how we can enhance accessibility and inclusion in exams – including through text styling and formatting.

  • Digital Assessment Research: Marking Consistency

    We believe that exams should be a fair and accurate reflection of students’ performance – regardless of whether an exam is taken onscreen or on paper.

    That’s why our research programme not only focuses on comparability of student performance, but also explores if and how marking may compare between paper and digital exams formats.

  • Digital Assessment Research: Evolving Accessibility and Inclusion

    Understanding digital assessment experiences for students with SEND

    We believe that all students should be able to best show what they know and can do in exams – regardless of whether those exams are taken onscreen or on paper, and irrespective of each student’s unique background, ability or needs.    

    That’s why we’ve been using a range of methods to research how different learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) experience digital assessments. The findings can help us better understand if, where, and how technology can enhance accessibility and inclusion in exams.

  • Grime Opera: A Musical Synthesis

    A False Binary 

    Grime is a style of British rap music that emerged from the UK Garage scene during the early 2000s. The genre is defined by complex syncopated raps over fast beats, initially made famous by a generation of East London artists such as Wiley and Dizzie Rascal, and more recently, revived by the likes of Stormzy, who became the first British black solo artist to headline Glastonbury in 2019. On paper, Grime is perhaps not the natural bedfellow of Classical music. Grime Opera strives to challenge this assumption, uniting young people from a diverse range of backgrounds in pursuit of an authentic musical experience.  

  • Black Singers and Folk Ballads – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Folk Music

    At Pearson we are committed to equity and opportunity for all learners. We strive to create educational content and learning environments that reflect the diversity of the modern world, are accessible and help all learners achieve without limits. As part of our work in Music qualifications, we are talking to musicians and industry partners to understand the implications of diversity, equity, and inclusion across different genres and practices within this creative subject to inform future development across these qualifications. To learn more about the importance of DE&I in Folk Music, Pearson interviewed professional folk musician and author of the teaching resource Black Singers and Folk Ballads, Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and the Education Director at the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Rachel Elliott.

  • No time to say “we don’t have time” when it comes to diversity in literature

    Knee-jerk: “a quick reaction that does not allow you time to consider something carefully”

    When a topic or issue becomes very present in the public eye (often despite having always been of paramount importance, as is the case with genuine diversity and inclusion in education) or it begins to feel more urgent, there can be pressure to actively resist or even just to react.