Taking English and maths GCSE (or functional skills) resits after a less than successful experience in school is hard – both for the learner and the teacher trying to motivate and support them. Learners currently face an initial hard-coded assessment which emphasises what they can't do and reinforces feelings of failure. CENTURY aim to change that by developing a personalised pre-learning intervention that will use AI and machine learning to personalise the assessment questions. The platform will understand the learner’s working level and then link through to recommended courses and learning resources specific to the learner’s needs, thereby creating a much more positive and kinder user experience.
This project will take CENTURY's prototype for personalised adaptive assessment through the next stages of design, development and deployment, leading to a fully adaptive version of initial assessment. Current assessments are based on documenting students' failures with the result that students often end the test demotivated and embarrassed about their ability and even less motivated to study.
The vocational learning sector recognises that innovation is clearly needed across the whole area of assessment, and this project has the potential to demonstrate how smarter digital technology can improve the accuracy and experience of the process, with improved outcomes for learners.