A New Departure
For Assessment’s Biggest Name - nferNelson Becomes GL Assessment
nferNelson, the UK’s biggest independent
provider of educational assessment, is announcing at BETT 2008 that
it has changed its name to GL Assessment.
GL Assessment, best known for the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT)
the leading measure of pupil ability, has published high quality
standardised assessments for schools for over 25 years.
Andrew Thraves, Head of Publishing at GL Assessment said: "With
greater school autonomy, huge improvements in online testing technology
and an increasing focus on personalised learning, we are entering
a golden age for assessment. Our job is to help teachers to understand
the potential of every learner with our rigorous, proven and innovative
assessment solutions." He adds, "We have an important
role to play in helping schools make the step change to online assessment.
Our new identity will help us to communicate what we do. We hope
that it will encourage schools to take a fresh look at what we have
to offer them."
In the last 25 years there have been huge changes in British education.
To name but a few, the introduction of SATs testing and the drive
to offer children more personalised learning, have changed the way
in which assessment is used in schools. The ICT revolution has changed
the media through which assessment can be delivered, and the government's
Building Schools for the Future initiative is changing the very
environment in which assessment is taking place.
GL Assessment has changed significantly too, in many ways. Over
the last decade it has led developments in numeracy, literacy and
ability testing for schools. It has pioneered, with Professor Brian
Butterworth, the world’s first test for Dyscalculia, and created
the UK’s first standardised assessments of emotional literacy.
GL Assessment has also developed, with the help of hundreds of teachers
and thousands of learners, the Testwise online testing service.
This has now delivered over 1,000,000 online tests since 2004 and
GL Assessment continues to provide outstanding support services
for schools moving from print to online assessment.
The scale of this innovation, and GL Assessment’s plans to
continue to develop online testing for schools, has brought about
the new identity.
This change is introduced as the formal relationship between nferNelson
and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) comes
to an end. However, the two organisations don’t intend to
stop working together, with the NFER continuing to support GL Assessment
in the delivery of its customised testing services.
GL Assessment also intends to extend its partnerships with other
academic, research and technology organisations across the world,
which are dedicated to improving education through assessment.
– Ends –
About GL Assessment (formerly nferNelson)
GL Assessment is the UK’s leading independent provider of
tests and assessment services for education. It publishes across
the 0-19 age range, with the majority of its assessments designed
for 5-14 year-olds.
GL Assessment has an extensive portfolio of print-based tests for
education which assess children’s progress in literacy, ability
and numeracy and identify a broad spectrum of special educational
needs. It offers tests and programmes that support learning to learn
activities such as emotional literacy and thinking skills. GL Assessment
also provides assessments for use in the Health and Psychology service
by clinical psychologists, speech and language therapists and paediatricians.
To increase the scope and flexibility of its educational list,
GL Assessment has developed Testwise, a powerful e-assessment portal.
Testwise is designed to take the work out of administering, scoring
and analysing tests. Learners complete assessments online, and instant
scoring gives teachers comprehensive results and analysis at the
touch of a button. Many of GL Assessment’s most popular tests
are now available online including the Cognitive Abilities Test,
Group Reading Test, Suffolk Reading Scale, Progress in Maths and
Progress in English.
Address: The Chiswick Centre, 414 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick,
London W4 5TF
Tel: 0845 602 1937
Fax: 020 8996 3660
Email: information@gl-assessment.co.uk
Web: www.gl-assessment.co.uk
For further information, please contact
Rebecca Bremner
Catherine Lane PR
25 Freman Drive, Buntingford
Herts, SG9 9TD.
Tel: 0709 2872720
Mobile: 0778 7155882
rebecca@catherinelane.com
