Tim Oates

Director of Assessment Research and Development Cambridge Assessment (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate)

Tim Oates is Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment, focusing on national and international research on assessment and measurement. In 2010 he published ‘Could do better’ which laid down the principles for the review of the National Curriculum in England. He was chair of the Expert Panel for Review of the National Curriculum in England. Emerging from this review, subsequent research on the quality and function of textbooks and other resources has been taken up around the world and discussed at two international summits on learning resources. He chairs various curriculum groups for the Department for Education in England, and has undertaken system evaluation and curriculum review in various nations around the world. He has published widely on assessment and curriculum issues, and routinely provides briefings and advice to UK and other governments. He has worked with OECD on curriculum policy and, with Nuno Crato, recently has published analysis of the 2018 PISA results for England. He is Fellow of Churchill College Cambridge and in 2015 received a CBE for services to education.