The team

National Centre Manager for TIMSS 2027
Director, International Large-Scale Assessments

Role: Grace will lead the core team at Pearson. She will have overall responsibility for the delivery of TIMSS in Scotland, ensuring that all TIMSS tasks are carried out on schedule and in accordance with the specified international standards.

Background: In her role at Pearson, Grace leads on other assessment studies in her role as NRC (National Research Coordinator) for PIRLS26 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, TIMSS23 in England and is responsible for PISA25 in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. Previously, in her role as Director-General in the Ministry of Education and Employment in Malta, Grace was responsible for introducing and implementing all international assessment projects including PISA and for updating the national curriculum framework. Prior to that, in New Zealand, she worked on NEMP (National Educational Monitoring Project). Grace started her career as a teacher, teacher trainer and principal research officer at the exam board, University of Malta.

Adaptation Coordinator and Coding Manager
Delivery Lead, Pearson

Role: Sarah will coordinate adaptation of materials and manage scoring of responses.

Background: Sarah has over 15 years’ experience within Pearson in the end-to-end operational delivery of a range of high-stakes qualifications and assessment instruments. This included four years leading the GCSE Religious Studies team delivering the accurate marking of over 250,000 examination scripts and managing a team of 1000 markers each Summer examination series. Sarah managed coding for PIRLS21 and TIMSS23, and will manage it for PIRLS26 and TIMSS27.

Project Manager for TIMSS 2027
Project Manager, Pearson

Role: Project Manager, responsible for the management of the contract deliverables.

Background: PRINCE2 Practitioner qualified, Emmanuel has over 8 years experience delivering future technologies in construction, and educational institutions such as London Southbank University. Over the past three years he has managed International GCSE high-stake assessments, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Integration technology projects for Pearson. He now brings this knowledge and experience to the TIMSS 2027 study in Scotland and the PIRLS 2026 study in Wales.

National Data and Sampling Manager
Delivery Lead, Pearson

Role: Mish will oversee activities relating to sampling, data handling and assessment delivery systems.

Background: Mish has over fifteen years’ experience within Pearson, in Customer Service, Operations and IT development roles. He was Data Manager for PIRLS16, TIMSS19, delivering a successful sampling strategy, sampling frame and data submission. He is currently working on PISA25 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and PIRLS26 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Recruitment Manager and Deputy Data Manager
Delivery Lead, Pearson

Role: Alistair will coordinate activities relating to recruitment and retention of schools and will support with data management.

Background: Alistair has been working for Pearson for over 10 years. He was Data Manager for PIRLS21, and Recruitment Manager for TIMSS23 and PISA25, and is currently doing the same role for PIRLS26 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. He has worked in many different aspects of international studies including sampling, data management, translation/adaptations, school recruitment and retention, School Coordinator and Test Administrator recruitment as well as training, and coding.

Test Administrator Manager
Delivery Lead, Pearson

Role: Lucian will coordinate recruitment, training and management of Test Administrators.

Background: Lucian has over 18 years’ experience within Pearson, in the delivery and assessment of high-stakes qualifications, including as Head of Assessment for GCE and GCSE humanities subjects at Pearson for nine years. Lucian has experience of recruitment, training and management of Test Administrators for PISA22, PISA25, TIMSS2023 and PIRLS26 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Test Administrator and Coder Recruitment Supervisor for TIMSS 2027
Head of Associate Management, Pearson 

Role: Adrian will coordinate activities relating to TA and Coder recruitment.

Background: Adrian is an experienced professional who has responsibility for Test Administrator and Coder recruitment and related activities, as well as to ensure that Pearson has resources in place to deliver marking activities. He has also overseen previous recruitment for international studies including PIRLS21, PISA22, TIMSS23, PISA25 and PIRLS26 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Processing Director for TIMSS 2027
Qualifications Processing Director, Pearson

Role: Jon will be responsible for the safe delivery of the testing materials and all keying activities; supervising the processing roles.

Background: Qualifications Processing Director at the Hellaby site since 2015, Jon oversees operations and staff management. Hellaby Operations scans and processes more than 10 million results per annum for General Qualifications, Vocational Qualifications and International Qualifications to time quality and service. Hellaby Operations has securely processed and successfully delivered documentation relating to PIRLS16/21, TIMSS19/23, PISA22/25 and PIRLS26 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

IT Coordinator (ITC) for TIMSS 2027
Regional Manager Deskside Support, Pearson

Role: Simon will oversee the IT systems required for the delivery of TIMSS. Ensuring that the systems are suitable to deliver the assessments, working with the IC to implement an appropriate offline CBA solution, monitoring the implementation of TIMSS.

Background: Simon has over 14 years of experience working to deliver innovative, secure IT solutions and technical support within Pearson. He is the Regional Manager for deskside support in Pearson and manages multiple 3rd line support teams located across various parts of the UK. He has managed the development and implementation of IT systems for TIMSS23, PISA25 and PIRLS26 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.