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]
Status | Department of the University of Cambridge |
---|---|
Founded | 1534Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment) | ; 2021 (merger of
Headquarters location | Cambridge, England |
Key people |
|
Revenue | ![]() |
No. of employees | 6,560 (2022)[1] |
Official website | cambridge.org |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Triangle_Tower.jpg/220px-Triangle_Tower.jpg)
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
editCambridge University Press & Assessment's operations include four main product groups in English, International Education, Academic and UK Education.
- Cambridge Assessment English
- Cambridge Assessment International Education
- Cambridge University Press
- OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts exam board)
Products and services
edit- research that underpins all Cambridge qualifications, learning materials and programmes
- OCR offers GCSEs, A levels, Cambridge Technicals, Cambridge Nationals and a wide range of other vocational qualifications within the United Kingdom.
- Cambridge Assessment International Education provides assessment services to many governments and supplies International GCSEs, A and AS levels and business qualifications, primarily outside the United Kingdom.
- Cambridge Assessment English offers a range of English language learning materials and qualifications.
- Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing provided admissions tests for universities including the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford up to 2024.
- Cambridge Assessment Network provides professional development to the assessment community
- Cambridge University Press publishes
- research books and journals in science, technology, medicine, humanities, and the social sciences. See List of Cambridge University Press book series and List of Cambridge University Press journals
- Bibles, and is one of only two publishers entitled to publish the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Version of the Bible in England.
- English language teaching courses and resources for learners of all ages around the world.
- educational products, services and software for primary, secondary and international schools.
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
editThe 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
editCambridge 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]
References
edit- ^ a b "Annual Report 2022-2023" (PDF). Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ "Cambridge University Press to join with Cambridge Assessment". University of Cambridge. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Shepard, Gabriel (5 August 2021). "Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment merge". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "What we do". Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Cambridge University Press & Assessment hits £1bn in revenue". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ Dr D.D.K.Chow, statement in a discussion on the report of the council, Cambridge University Reporter, 17 March 2021, 238-9
- ^ "University of Cambridge Statutes & Ordinances". University of Cambridge.
- ^ "Issue 6642: Wednesday 12 January 2022". Cambridge University Reporter.
- ^ "Statutes & ordinances: Statute J" (PDF). University of Cambridge.
- ^ Black, Michael (2000). A Short History of Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77572-4.
- ^ "Our Story - Timeline". Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Global education in "worst crisis in a century" following pandemic". thepienews.com. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.