Dr Martin Walker is involved in teaching and research into the effective use of assessment to improve learning. He has worked with Principals Academy in Singapore, delivering courses on validity in assessment and applications of test theory to schools in the region. Martin has also worked with the official regulators for testing in England, Wales, Scotland and and Northern Ireland. He advises several companies in the City of London of aspects of professional examinations in finance, banking and the pharmaceutical industry.

Martin has taught English and physics in a range of secondary schools and colleges in England, and has written numerous books on the teaching of English and English literature. As a teacher he became involved in national examinations, eventually operating at the highest level of national test development in English. During this period he noted that, “I remember thinking that we seemed simply to be making up questions and thinking that if a question felt about right, it must be good”.

With these ideas in mind, Martin studied for an MSc in educational assessment at Durham University from 2009 to 2011, leading to a PhD study of the validity of national examinations for 16 year old pupils in the UK. He helped to set up the UK Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors, and developed many of the Institute’s teaching programmes. His current interest is in exploring national education systems to examine whether what is being taught makes sense in today’s world, and whether the assessment of what has been taught provides useful information about learning.