The Independent Schools Examinations Board in the UK has agreed a long-term strategic partnership with educational technology specialist CENTURY Tech.
The companies will collaborate on initiatives aiming to “innovate the assessment sector”, beginning with improvements to the online admissions tests that pupils take as part of their application to UK independent senior schools.
Changes to the Common Pre-Tests and other ISEB tests will focus on enhancing the user experience, improving accessibility for different learning needs, and broadening the data and insights available to schools on pupils’ skills and abilities, the partners said.
“The current Common Pre-Tests are available to international students who would like to come to the UK to study, but the new administrative system has been designed to streamline this process for admissions departments and better support applications from international students,” Julia Martin, ISEB CEO, said.
“The partnership opens the possibility of exploring new markets together”
“The partnership with CENTURY will also enable ISEB to offer admissions tests to international schools and opens the possibility of exploring new markets together.”
Further developments in “innovative, holistic education and assessment products” the companies are working on will be announced in coming months.
“We are excited to bring our experience in building cutting-edge technology in the learning and assessment space to our partnership with ISEB,” Priya Lakhani, founder CEO of AI and digital learning technology specialist CENTURY Tech, said in a statement.
“The sector has been loud and clear about their expectations for the future of assessment technology, and we are proud to make this a reality with ISEB.”
By harnessing ISEB’s 120-year+ heritage and expertise in assessment design, along with CENTURY’s award-winning AI learning technologies, the partners are “uniquely placed to develop products that support the progression of pupils not only in the UK, but globally”, Martin added.
“Our partnership isn’t about creating just one new test, it’s about exploring the innovative use of cutting-edge education technologies to transform education and assessment for the future.”
The new ISEB Common Pre-Tests, supported by CENTURY’s technology, will be available from Autumn 2022.