Cambridge University Press & Assessment

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Cambridge University Press & Assessment
StatusDepartment of the University of Cambridge
Founded1534;490 years ago (1534); 2021 (merger of Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment)
Headquarters location Cambridge, England
Key people
RevenueIncrease2.svg £1 billion (2022) [1]
No. of employees6,560 (2022) [1]
Official website cambridge.org
The Tower at the Triangle Building, part of the main headquarters of Cambridge University Press & Assessment Triangle Tower.jpg
The Tower at the Triangle Building, part of the main headquarters of Cambridge University Press & Assessment

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge. It was formed in August 2021, when the University of Cambridge merged Cambridge University Press, the world's oldest academic publisher, and Cambridge Assessment. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

The organisation operates in more than 170 countries around the world and has offices in 50 locations, [5] with its headquarters in Cambridge, England.

Its products include the Cambridge Dictionary, Cambridge Core, IGCSEs, Cambridge Technicals, Linguaskill and hundreds of academic journals and books.

Two years on from the merger between Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment, the combined group now calculates that it reaches 100 million learners worldwide, with 85% of its revenues coming from overseas. It reported a turnover of £1 billion in 2023, up from £868 million the previous year. [6]

Being part of the University of Cambridge gives Cambridge University Press & Assessment a non-profit status. It is led by Chief Executive Peter Phillips who reports to the Vice-Chancellor of the university.

Organisation structure

Cambridge University Press & Assessment's operations include four main product groups in English, International Education, Academic and UK Education.

Products and services

Cambridge University Press & Assessment also works in partnership with Cambridge University on mathematics curriculum (Cambridge Maths) and on supporting education at a national level (Cambridge Partnership for Education).

Governance

The organisation is governed by a 'Syndicate' (Press & Assessment Syndicate) of 18 senior members of the University of Cambridge. The Press & Assessment Syndicate governs the group's activity and exercises oversight through the Press & Assessment Board and its committees. Day-to-day management of the business is delegated by the Syndicate to the Cambridge University Press & Assessment's Chief Executive Peter Phillips, working with its executive board. Updates from the syndicate are published by the official newspaper of the University of Cambridge, The Reporter.

In a 2021 discussion reported in the Cambridge University Reporter, Dr D.D.K.Chow of Trinity College, expressed concerns about the lack of academic leadership of the new body:

"For 323 years, the Press has been tightly controlled under the University's academic leadership through the Press Syndicate (formerly Curators)...However, the Council's report proposes a Press and Assessment Syndicate, without such academic leadership....The proposed change in composition of the Syndicate...is in stark contrast to the arguments used by the Press to obtain its current tax exemption. In a landmark letter to the Inland Revenue in 1975, Sir Geoffrey Cass, then Chief Executive of the Press, wrote: "The Press of Cambridge University is actually no more than a department of the University, with no independent status of its own, governed by academic senior members of the University" and that it was not "an almost semi-independent 'international publisher'....Without adequate academic leadership, it would be all too easy for commercial concerns to override academic values, removing public benefit....If the Regent House does zippo to provide leadership on the Press and Assessment Syndicate, treating Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment as cash cows, there is little reason for the University to continue owning them." [7]

History

Cambridge University Press & Assessment was formed on 1 August 2021. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II approved amendments to University of Cambridge Statutes, [8] which formally recognised the operational merger of Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press, presented at a Privy Council meeting on 15 December 2021. [9] The main changes to Statute J were to replace references to the University Press with references to the merged entity under the title of the Press and Assessment Department, and to update the name of the Press Syndicate to the Press & Assessment Syndicate. [10]

The two founding organisations have an entwined history, since December 1858 when Cambridge University Press first printed exam papers for UCLES. [11] [12]

At the 2022 Education World Forum, Cambridge University Press & Assessment Chief Executive Peter Andrew Jestyn Phillips warned of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' mental health, urging the gathering of education ministers and leaders to "put wellbeing at the heart of everything we do." [13]

Related Research Articles

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The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. However, private schools in Scotland often choose to follow the English GCSE system.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment</span> Educational body in Northern Ireland

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Cambridge Assessment International Education is a provider of international qualifications, offering examinations and qualifications to 10,000 schools in more than 160 countries. It is a non-profit and non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International General Certificate of Secondary Education</span> English language based academic qualification

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainment. It was developed by Cambridge Assessment International Education. The examination boards Edexcel, Learning Resource Network (LRN), and Oxford AQA also offer their own versions of International GCSEs. Students normally begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 10 and take the test at the end of Year 11. However, in some international schools, students can begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 9 and take the test at the end of Year 10.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCE Ordinary Level</span> British educational certification

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Cambridge Nationals are a vocational qualification in the United Kingdom introduced by the OCR Examinations Board to replace the OCR Nationals. These are Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications for students aged 14 to 16 and are usually awarded after a two-year course. Students can progress to A Levels, apprenticeships or other Level 3 vocational qualifications within the national qualifications frameworks in the United Kingdom.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Annual Report 2022-2023" (PDF). Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Cambridge University Press to join with Cambridge Assessment". University of Cambridge. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  3. ↑ "Cambridge University Press to merge with Cambridge Assessment | Business Weekly | Technology News | Business news | Cambridge and the East of England". www.businessweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  4. ↑ Shepard, Gabriel (5 August 2021). "Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment merge". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "What we do". Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Cambridge University Press & Assessment hits £1bn in revenue". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Dr D.D.K.Chow, statement in a discussion on the report of the council, Cambridge University Reporter, 17 March 2021, 238-9
  8. ↑ "University of Cambridge Statutes & Ordinances". University of Cambridge.
  9. ↑ "Issue 6642: Wednesday 12 January 2022". Cambridge University Reporter.
  10. ↑ "Statutes & ordinances: Statute J" (PDF). University of Cambridge.
  11. ↑ Black, Michael (2000). A Short History of Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-77572-4.
  12. ↑ "Our Story - Timeline". Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "Global education in "worst crisis in a century" following pandemic". thepienews.com. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
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