Pete is the Dean of Education Services at BPP Education Group, where he has strategic oversight and leadership for a number of central specialist services that support and enhance the student experience.
He has a background in information systems and web development/programming, and his doctoral work presented an institutional ethnography aimed at uncovering influential factors in the design and implementation of electronic assessment within HE; an area which continues to be the focus of his scholarly work. He has held senior academic positions in learning and teaching and as a subject expert at BPP University, University of Liverpool and Edge Hill University over the course of an almost 20 year career in Higher Education.
Pete also served as a Director of Learning Solutions at Laureate Online Education, with responsibility for cultivating relationships with partner institutions, and providing strategic vision and oversight for the design and development of wholly online programs.

I have a PhD in Education and an MSc in Continuing Education and Training. My background is in Product Development, including being part of the team to introduce the first digital assessments to City & Guilds IT qualifications, e-Quals some 20 years ago(!) I continue to participate enthusiastically in work and discussion about this ‘new’ way of doing things...more recently I have worked in product and programme research and evaluation.

I have a particular interest in 14-19 education and training policy, vocational education and training, and assessment cultures. Since judging last year's awards, consultancy projects have taken me to Jordan, Turkey, and Kurdistan. In the latter I served as the inaugural Vice-Chancellor (Interim) for the newly established British International University, Erbil, which opened successfully in November 2023.

I am Chair of the Assessment Cultures' special interest group for AEA-Europe and a peer reviewer for UVAC's 'Higher Education, Skills and Work-based learning' journal.

Claudia Bickford-Smith brings extensive experience of developing learning and assessment solutions across a wide range of local and international contexts. She has co-ordinated teams of expert consultants to develop curricula, qualifications and assessments, as well as oversee textbook evaluation and development, School Improvement services, and Professional Development of teachers.

Claudia recently joined KSI Education Ltd as their new CEO to support the further development of best educational practice in its schools and college. KSI Education’s overarching mission has innovative Pedagogy, Sustainability Education, Wellbeing Assessments and SEND programmes at its heart. The organisation and has already gained considerable respect in the world of educational research and there are plans for further research and development of global programmes that aim to make a real difference to learning outcomes. 

Jeremy has 25 years of commercial experience in the technology industry. Driven by a passion for the role of technology in education, he has spent 22 years in learning and assessment.
Through his work with Questionmark, BTL Group Ltd, Cirrus Assessment and Advance EdTech Jeremy has collaborated with many awarding organisations in the UK, helping to deliver some of the largest e-assessment programmes in the country. As CEO of Sentira, he remains at the forefront of innovative approaches to assessment as he brings the benefits and possibilities of Virtual Reality to the market.
A regular contributor and speaker at industry conferences, he is also a past e-Assessment Award winner with Cirrus Assessment taking the inaugural "Best Use of Summative Assessment" award in 2017.

Geoff consults across the assessment sector with a quarter century of international expertise, sharpened by contemporary bids and implementations.

Geoff helps the investment community, service providers, and exam owners to navigate the assessment sector and digitisation challenges.

Geoff holds contemporary qualifications in assessment, education, IT service, project and bid management. A published author on e-Assessment, Geoff has also led, founded, and exited three ed-tech businesses.

Check out Geoff’s insights and approach at geoffchapman.com and on X (Twitter) @chappersman

Graeme has worked for many years in Further Education teaching Engineering, Mathematics and Computing and led the development and implementation of digital assessment and learning systems at local and national level through his work for SQA.
He is passionate about the continued and increased use of digital technology and the opportunities it can bring to deliver a positive impact on the achievement and success of all learners.

Helen Claydon is an experienced assessment developer and leader. She has led a range of projects developing summative and formative assessments for ages from 6 years-old to adult. Most notably she has led assessment development for national programmes, including the Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) and the KS1 and KS2 National Curriculum Tests in mathematics (SATs). She has also advised organisations on design of their qualifications and transition to e-assessment. Her experience covers all aspects of the assessment development process.
Helen currently works at GL Assessment as Deputy Head of Admissions Testing. Immediately prior to this she was an assessment consultant, undertaking work for organisations including APM, MH&A, BCS and Qualifications Wales. Previously, she has worked at ACER, STA, ACCA, Edexcel, QCA and NFER.
Helen holds a Master’s degree in Education. She is also a Steering Committee Member for AEA-Europe’s eAssessment Special Interest Group and is an accredited practitioner of the Association; she is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors.

Irene Custodio is Digital Lead within the Assessment Design team for Pearson UK leading a team of technical experts focusing on the design, development and evaluation of valid and fit for purpose digital assessments.
Irene has over 15 years’ experience in educational research, assessment design and the development of high-stakes digital assessments. Irene leads evidence-based activities that focus on the creation of assessment solutions that enable fair and equitable access for learners through a focus on user-centred design principles, accessibility and exploring issues pertaining to test-taker experience, construct validity and modal comparability.
Irene also has extensive experience in the delivery of digital PISA assessments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is currently part of an OECD working group which seeks to improve the accessibility and provision of suitable accommodations in PISA assessments.

Mike is a senior Skills Development consultant operating at a strategic level to design and build TVET and education-to-employment structures, and to grow international businesses in education and training.
Though his experience is rooted in the UK, having managed businesses with over 2 000 training centres, his more substantial engagements have been in adapting systems and processes across 80 countries including South Asia, East Asia, Southern Africa and the Middle East.
The most recent posts he has held are as a Senior Consultant on TVET projects funded by the UK’s FCDO, TVET advisor to the World Bank’s Private Sector Development practice, and Managing Director of City & Guilds International.
He is an honorary member of the City & Guilds of London Institute and holds a Masters’ Degree in resource management.

Tim is the founder of Adactia Consulting Ltd. and a board member of the eAA. Tim has worked in the EdTech and Assessment Industries for over 30 years.

I have been working in the field of assessment and e-assessment for many years, both internationally and in the UK, for UK awarding bodies and in higher education and am a past eAA International e-Assessment Award winner.
My current role at Heriot-Watt University allows me to explore innovative and creative ways to assess, in the ever-evolving e-assessment landscape. Post-pandemic working and AI have afforded us many opportunities to explore ways to assess and it's an exciting area to be involved in.
I have been a judge for the eAA International e-Assessment Awards for several years and I have really valued learning about the variety of approach and creative solutions that my colleagues have found to deliver e-assessment.

Dr. Isabelle Gonthier is PSI’s Chief Assessment Officer where she oversees the teams responsible for ensuring overall client and program success, including psychometrics, test development, test publishing, and data forensics across all global markets PSI is serving, as well as account management and business development within the certification market.
In an executive leadership role, she draws from her 20+ years of industry experience to help define PSI’s business strategies and develop service offerings and technology roadmaps. On a client level, Isabelle is known for her keen ability to blend best practice guidance with smart innovation to set credentialing programs up for success. Isabelle has been highly engaged in advancing the testing and credentialing field, including serving as NCCA chair and psychometric commissioner, and now serving as the Chair of the I.C.E. Accreditation Services Council and as an officer on the ATP Security Committee. She has recently been elected to serve on the CNAR Board of Director.
Isabelle holds the ICE-CCP (Certified Credentialing Professional) certification, demonstrating competence across all professional credentialing activities. 

As Vice President of International at GoReact, Jenny leads the company’s strategic and tactical efforts to expand into new markets, bringing skills-based learning through the adoption of video feedback and assessment to new users in education and employment all around the world.
Jenny has worked within all phases of education to successfully implement ed-tech solutions, intended to improve learning outcomes, for 20 years. Having onboarded more than 2,000 schools in London as part of the government's personalised learning agenda, Jenny went on to work with K12, FE and HE institutions throughout the UK, Scandinavia and Central Europe creating the largest community network on a single LMS.
Joining Pearson Education in 2009, Jenny was recognised as a Future Leader before heading up the digital platforms revenue and marketing teams. Jenny spent five years developing e-learning content and assessment solutions for learners in Africa, in hard-to-reach communities, while enabling governments and major donors to measure learning impact over time. Jenny was honoured by Impact Network for work done to improve learning opportunities in Zambia in 2019.
Jenny's passion for learning and the industry continues to be synonymous with her work.

Fiona Harvey serves as the Faculty Learning Technology Lead for Social and Historical Sciences at University College London (UCL). With a rich career spanning digital education leadership roles, Fiona has previously been the Director of Student Community at the University College of Estate Management, Reading, UK, and for more than a decade managed Digital Scholarship and Innovation at the University of Southampton.
Her journey in higher education and online learning is marked by over two decades of dedicated service and innovative contributions. As the 2017 President of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), Fiona's influence extends across the global online learning landscape. She is a fervent advocate for open badges, ePortfolios, and has worked on various national and international initiatives alongside esteemed organisations such as JISC, QAA, and the British Council.
Currently, as a Ph.D. candidate at Lancaster University, Fiona is exploring the intersection of digital technology and education in her thesis, "Digital Decisions: How digital experts perceive and organise educational technology with regard to non-traditional students." This work underscores her commitment to enhancing the online student experience and her status as a lifelong learner passionate about evolving digital educational landscapes.

I am affiliated with a national-level institution that design and deliver high stake and low stake learning and development solutions including licensing examinations and certification programmes.
I was also the lead in the design and development of an award winning competency management system for capital markets participants in Malaysia. I also possess experience in academic higher education where my last position was as an Associate Professor and Deputy Director of Nottingham University Business School.

Gareth has worked within the e-Assessment field since 2005, first as a system administrator building MCQ tests through to his current role as manager of the Solutions team at Surpass Assessment.
Along the way he’s worked on two iterations of onscreen Functional Skills, helped migrate numerous item banks between systems and worked to ensure that remote invigilation was available during lockdown.
He spent 6 years on the e-Assessment Association’s board, including stints hosting the eAA’s podcast and assisting with the organisation and running of the eAA Conferences. He’s also been a judge for the eAssessment Awards every year since they began.

Graham Hudson is a distinguished UK-based independent assessment consultant.

Graham has worked extensively for national examination boards and government agencies on managing and modernising examination systems. His career covers many milestones in educational and assessment reforms in the UK, including the introduction of GCSE examinations, national curriculum reforms and re-structuring A levels. He has delivered significant national marking programmes, undertaken nationally-funded research into the use of technology in assessment and introduced one of the first systems in the UK to scan examination scripts and mark from image. Latterly he has specialised in supporting business development for organisations and enabling the transition from paper-based assessment to digital delivery for many national and professional organisations.

He is currently Chair of the e-Assessment Association and a Member of the Institute of Directors Assessment Committee. In April 2021 he was appointed as a Board Member of Qualifications Wales, the regulator for all qualifications to university level in the nation.

Hong Jiao is a Professor in Measurement and Statistics at the University of Maryland and serves as the Director of the Maryland Assessment Research Center (MARC). Dr. Jiao previously worked as a psychometrician at Harcourt Assessment, focusing on state summative assessment programs. Her research centers on advancing educational and psychological measurement theory and practices. Dr. Jiao's expertise spans joint modelling of product and process data, testlet effect modelling, Bayesian model parameter estimation, computer-based testing, and the application of machine learning for psychometric analysis, including cheating detection and automated scoring. She has edited special issues on Process Data in Educational and Psychological Measurement as well as on Machine Learning and Deep Learning in Assessment. Dr. Jiao has organized MARC conferences on various cutting-edge assessment topics, including technology-enhanced innovative assessment, the role of artificial intelligence in assessment, and enhancing effective instruction and learning using assessment data.

Madeleine Keehner has worked in the assessment industry for over a decade. She has a PhD in Experimental Cognitive Psychology from the University of Bristol and held postdoctoral positions at the University of California from 2000 to 2005, studying cognitive aspects of surgical skills and medical education. From 2011 to 2023 she worked in the research arm of Educational Testing Service (ETS), where she was primary cognitive scientist for the US Department of Education's digitally based National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
At ETS, she was also Director of the Cognitive and Learning Sciences group and Executive Director of the NAEP Survey Assessments Innovation Lab. She has more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and multiple presentations at international assessment conferences. Since January 2023, she has worked as a research consultant.
She specializes in digital VR and AR simulations for medical education, helping companies in this space understand and apply the principles of assessment and turn captured behavioral data into meaningful insights about learners.

I am a Senior Research Fellow - Head of Research at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), where I lead our Research team, providing leadership on research design, methodology, implementation activities, coordinating data analysis, and robust reporting.

I have 20 years’ experience in the UK education sector, undertaking assessment and curriculum research. Previous experience include working for Ofqual, QCA and UCL.

With more than 15+ years of professional experience in promoting inclusivity and ensuring accessibility in digital assessments, I have made significant contributions as the Director of Accessibility for Digital Assessments at the College Board to developing and transforming the digital SAT and AP exams.

In my previous role at the American Institutes for Research, I spearheaded initiatives for the accessible design of technology-enhanced statewide accountability assessments. My expertise in policy and standards has been instrumental in ensuring compliance with accessibility standards/regulations in promoting universal design for learning (UDL) principles.

I am a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competency (CPACC), an invited expert in the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group, and a Chromebook Accessibility Expert. I hold an MS/MBA in Project Management (University of Maryland Global Campus), an MA in Public Communications (American University), and a BA in Political Science (New York University).

Sue has spent the last 30+ years in a variety of senior management and consultancy positions in the international certification area, starting her career in the pre-Internet era as Regional Manager for Central & Eastern Europe for what is now Prometric. This was followed by global and EMEA management roles with Pearson and Promissor.
In 2006 Sue rounded off the profile by “crossing the great divide” from vendor to client to become Global Head of Certification at SAP and then went on to her current position as Global Head of Certification for TÜV Rheinland. She has always been passionate about helping the industry make certification count, particularly in diverse international environments and geographies with high labor mobility.
Sue has served on a variety of committees and in several industry roles over the years, for example as European Chair of the Association of Test Publishers, British Computer Society Learning & Development Committee member and Strategic Advisor to the EU Digital Skills Initiative.

Rory has 20 years of working in the assessment world, driving the growth of assessment programs across the world in the certification, licensure, education, and talent verticals. As the Vice President of Business Development for Strasz Assessment Solutions, Rory helps organizations with their item banking, scoring, software, and test delivery needs. During his career, Rory has proudly worked with hundreds of well-known universities, non-profits, and Fortune 500 technology providers. Previously, Rory served as the Senior Vice President of Business Development and Client Success for PSI Services. Dr. McCorkle also co-founded International Credentialing Associates (ICA), providing psychometric, market research, and program consulting. He also worked at IEEE, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and Prometric. Rory serves extensively in the community.

He is currently Chair for the ATP Board of Directors and a member of ANAB Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee. His past roles have included chairing the 2019 ATP Innovations in Testing Conference. He has previously served on several Boards of Directors around the industry, including as President of the Performance Testing Council, Security Director for the IT Certification Council, and Director at Large for the Credentialing Network Group.

Rory received a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership, MBA, and B.A. in Psychology.
Finally, he holds the Certified Association Executive (CAE), I.C.E. Certified Credentialing Professional (ICE-CCP), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications.

I am involved with assessments for over 2 decades now, having worked with multiple assessment companies and interacted with various.
I have worked right across the spectrum from sales to customer service to product and assessment development. I am particularly interested in using technology in assessments to improve accuracy of measurement at the same time reduce time taken to evaluate and with improved user experiences.

Louella Morton is co-founder and co-CEO of TestReach, a global provider of online assessment solutions covering the full exam management process.
She has over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of creating and growing enterprise software businesses, with specific focus on educational and assessment technology, and is very experienced in the commercialisation of cutting-edge solutions.
Louella is passionate about harnessing technology to realise business benefits in the assessment industry and has a wealth of experience through many years in enterprise software, in such companies as Adobe, Deloitte, WBT Systems and Qstream. She has been the recipient of many awards such as the UCD Innovation Awards, Irish Women’s Awards, WMB Women in Technology Award and Digital Disruptor Award.
Louella is also an Ambassador for Going for Growth, an initiative to help women achieve their entrepreneurial goals. TestReach was placed on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 in 2023 as one of the fastest growing technology companies.

Romana has worked in education for over 20 years and has extensive experience across several institutional establishments.
Romana is an extensively experienced leader within the field of education. Romana has enabled institutions to successfully achieve outcomes by enabling them to engage with and deliver their strategic aims and aspirations whilst optimizing operational performance and not compromise training and assessment delivery and validity.

Martyn was an independent education and assessment consultant. Having spent a number of years in further education, he then joined BTEC/Edexcel and was heavily involved in the early steps into e-assessment.
For the last 20 years, he has worked on planning and implementing a wide range of e-assessment projects in the UK and elsewhere. He was also jointly responsible for many successful conferences, seminars and events across the globe that focused on Skills Development and the use of IT in assessment, most recently supporting the Beyond Multiple Choice Conferences based in the US.
He is now happily retired but continues to take a keen interest in the world of e-assessment as it develops further with the advent of AI and other potentially challenging/game-changing technologies.

Kathy Seddon is an accomplished professional with over 25 years of experience in education. As the eAssessment Manager at COSAC, she leads the development of COSAC's cutting-edge eAssessment solution, ensuring its continual evolution to meet the dynamic needs of customers.
Kathy's journey began as a Business and ICT teacher for two decades, providing her with a unique insight into the evolving landscape of technology in education. Her role as the manager of student experience and pastoral provision in a large FE college for 5 years further enriched her understanding of holistic educational approaches.
With an MSc in Multimedia and eLearning, Kathy combines academic rigor with practical experience. Her visionary approach to leveraging technology enhances learning experiences, making her a driving force in crafting and refining innovative educational solutions. Kathy Seddon's diverse expertise positions her as a leader in the intersection of education, technology, and student well-being.

Nikhil has been in educational testing and assessment all his career. In his current role, he takes care of business development for TCS iON in UK and Europe. This includes developing and winning new business across the UK and Europe, creating partnerships, and developing propositions for existing customers based on their strategic direction.
Nikhil has been very keen to promote innovations in the space of assessment and inspire organisations on the same. Additionally, he looks at innovations across the globe and inspires UK organisations to implement the good practices.

Stuart is Honorary Professor of University College London in the Institute of Education - Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment.

Stuart has worked for international awarding organisations for over 20 years and is particularly interested in demonstrating how educational, psychological, and vocational tests seek to meet the demands of validity, reliability, and fairness.

Stuart has a wide range of publications in English second language assessment and educational/psychological research journals and books(around 150 publications).

Stuart has recently been appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA). He is also a Fellow of the CIEA. Stuart is a Fellow of the Association for Educational Assessment in Europe (AEA-Europe), an elected member of the Council of AEA-Europe, and is Chair of its Scientific Programme Committee. He is also an elected member of the Board of Trustees of the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) and Chair of the IAEA Communications Committee.

Angela Verschoor is Senior Researcher at CITO, the Netherlands. With a background in discrete optimization, her interest is the development and application of automated test assembly (ATA), optimal design and computerized adaptive testing (CAT).
Angela has been the driving force behind well over 30 operational CATs in Europe, as well as major improvements in large-scale projects such as the Dutch Final Primary Education Test, the examinations for Dutch as a Second Language, and the Welsh National Literacy and Numeracy Tests.
Other recent projects included the introduction of ATA in, amongst others, the National Assessments in Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Singapore.
In 2010 Angela was accredited as a Fellow of the AEA-Europe and in 2018 she won the Lifetime Contribution Award of the e-Assessment Association.

David has a wealth of experience in the education sector as a former Primary Headteacher, leader of the BETT award winning Wolverhampton City Learning Technologies Team and is now CEO of his own successful Ed Tech consultancy company.
David works with a number of UK and Global clients, including schools, educational establishments and multi-national tech companies. Having worked across the whole of the school sector he is able to bring his understanding of the key factors of successful Ed Tech implementation to bridge between the needs of schools and the latest developments in technology from the industry.
His client base ranges from advising a UK Ed Tech demonstrator school to product development utilising A.I. to improve reading outcomes. David’s work is internationally highly respected and has been presented at international Keynotes and featured in many publications.
Regarded as one of most significant innovators in his field, his individual contribution has been recognised with an Honorary Doctorate of Technology and numerous Edtech awards.

I obtained a Master's degrees in Teaching Computer Science and IT (Software Systems) and I bring over a decade of experience in educational leadership, educational assessment, and project management.
As an Assessment Expert at the Center for Pedagogical Measurements, I set the performance standards, came up with fresh ideas, and played a major role in coordinating a World Bank-funded project for two years. In the role of a Project Manager for the Consortium Cambridge Assessment and AEO "Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools," I led a well-equipped and multidisciplinary team, oversaw the development of a testing platform, and collaborated with international partners.
Throughout my career, I have acquired and shown noticeable skills in analyzing data, optimizing assessment procedures, and finding alternative technological solutions. I held leadership positions like Deputy Director and Senior Manager, proving my passion for educational excellence.
With a track record of successful curriculum development and proficiency in interdisciplinary education, I am passionate about contributing to the growth and success of academic programs.

Rebecca serves as a content manager for large-scale summative assessments in ELA and Civics at Cognia. She also serves as an external advisor for the IB MYP e-Assessment and as an associate editor for the Climate Literacy in Education journal.
Rebecca previously served as the chief examiner and as an author for the IB MYP e-Assessment in Language and Literature. Rebecca's research focus considers the transformative impact of innovative assessments that promote student agency toward real world action. An advocate for universal climate education,
Rebecca's publications include educator resources for teaching the science of climate change through the lens of literature.