Research for the Real World: S16E04
Professor Mary Richardson
Professor of Educational Assessment
Educational assessment is important, but high-stakes tests and exams can at once feel like both the be-all and end-all of formal education, and a reductive exercise. Dr Mary Richardson joins Dr Laura Outhwaite to talk about where the confidence crisis is coming from and how public discourse is drawing teachers into a difficult position.
With results days coming up next month for students who sat the first in-person A level and GCSE exams since before the pandemic, and proposals by the government to put GCSE exams online from 2025, we discuss what changes might be possible to make sure the nation’s assessments continually evolve to reflect high standards of learning.
We reflect on how the assessment landscape has and hasn’t changed over the decades. Mary’s latest book, Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment (UCL Press), is particularly pertinent. Mary also shares her decidedly un-academic start to her career and how she fell in love with the field of educational assessment, leading to working for the exam board AQA, and ultimately spending over 25 years working in higher education, the public sector and with non-governmental organisations and charities.
Listen to the podcast
How poor housing shapes school outcomes and why place matters
We explore how data linkages can show where children face barriers to learning.
09 Mar 2026
Which Green Day song helps you get to the train station on time?
Scott and Mia discuss the negative impact dyscalculia has had on their wellbeing.
06 Mar 2026
A ten-point plan to deliver climate education
A new report sets out ten priority areas for improving climate education following the government's Curriculum and Assessment Review.
05 Mar 2026