How Cambridge University Press & Assessment is digitally transforming its portfolio of assessments
Case Study
Cambridge University
Press & Assessment
Mission
In 2009, Cambridge University Press & Assessment (“Cambridge”), a world-leader in assessment, education, research and academic publishing, started working with RM to develop a solution that would enable the group to mark scripts onscreen efficiently.
Crucially, the system also had to ensure accuracy, consistency and meet key timeliness within the marking process. The world’s most widely used onscreen marking application, now called RM Assessor3, was born.
Ongoing partnership for success
Cambridge and RM have worked together for over 15 years, with Cambridge an early pioneer in onscreen marking. Over the last five years, Cambridge has marked over 27 million exam scripts using RM systems, driving improvements in the quality, speed and security of marking.
In November 2024, Cambridge and RM signed a new contract to extend their existing e-marking partnership for a further five years. This will see a number of digital mock exams to begin to be taken using RM’s Assessment Master technology and support Cambridge’s work in developing its digital assessments.
Cambridge is working with its international and UK-based schools to develop digital assessments, focusing on what students and teachers need and informed by rigorous testing and research.
Goals
- Leverage long standing Cambridge subject matter expertise and RM technology expertise to develop a roadmap for future digital transformation
- Enable more examinations to be taken digitally so that authoring, testing and marking can be done seamlessly
- Continue to deliver the quality and efficiency through onscreen marking with RM Assessor
Key challenges
- Support digital adoption for centres and schools to set them up for success
“Cambridge and RM have a long-standing partnership, so I am delighted to announce that this is set to continue and expand over the next five years. Our work since 2009 has demonstrated the significant benefits that on-screen marking brings to both awarding bodies and learners. We are excited to be working together in order to help them in navigating this path towards fully on-screen exams within the next ten years.”
Mark Cook, CEO, RM plc
The solution
Quality and efficiency through marking
RM Assessor3 is used by Cambridge for onscreen marking, but it’s not only efficiency that has been improved:
- Approved markers can get up and running more quickly, as they can be auto approved through Assessor, providing they mark sample response scripts within tolerance
- Seeded scripts test the quality of the marking throughout the session. This applies to all examiners and has emphatically enhanced the quality of marking
- RM Assessor eliminates incorrect summation of marks, incorrect awarding of marks and the return of partially marked scripts because the technology simply doesn’t allow these errors to happen
Accessibility and inclusivity
Using RM Assessment Master has the potential to improve students’ assessment experience by offering more varied question formats and by increasing accessibility and inclusivity.
Inclusivity and diversity are a vital part of assessment today. The adaptable nature of RM’s digital assessment technology is allowing Cambridge to create an equitable and engaging experience for all learners.
RM’s digital tools give organisations the ability to implement a much wider range of adjustments to test content more easily and quickly than would be possible with traditional paper assessments. Examples include adapting the appearance and layout of text to help candidates with dyslexia to make their reading more efficient or using text-to-speech software to assist students with visual impairment.
Modern, authentic assessments for learners
Cambridge wants to continue to ensure a modern, authentic assessment experience for young learners, especially for subjects like computer science, which is more suited to digital assessment, as it can be tested in the way it will be applied.
Driving environmental sustainability together
Cambridge has strong sustainability and environmental values to deliver positive outcomes aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. RM shares these values and has recently been rated in the top 35% of companies for sustainability by Eco Vadis, a globally trusted provider of business sustainability ratings with a network of more than 130,000 rated companies.
The rating focused on four pillars of sustainability:
- Environment
- Labour and Human Rights
- Ethics
- Sustainable Procurement
RM is well positioned to support Cambridge’s work, due to its long-standing expertise in digital assessment and e-marking, underpinned by its ability to fully integrate the two through its leading end-to-end technology. RM is committed to helping drive the digital transformation of assessment, leveraging our more than 50 years of education expertise as we develop a Global Accreditation Platform that supports a better experience for learners across the world.
“Our number one priority is ensuring that learners are getting the highest quality assessment experience possible. We are really pleased with how our work with RM over the past 15 years has contributed to this through e-marking, and we’re looking forward to the possibilities that digital assessments can bring for our exams and learners. Digital exams can be more suited to how students learn, and this work will ensure that our assessments continue to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to achieve their life goals.”
Mark Maddocks, Chief Information Officer, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Interested in finding out more?
Learn more about digital assessment at
Contact us for a conversation