Our people
Assessment and Operations Group
Assessment and Operations Group has about 150 permanent staff, and manages and produces all Cambridge ESOL examinations and assessments. It provides operations functions that relate to examination administration (pretesting, entry and results processing, general and examiner marking and security of the examinations) and post exam processing.
The group also develops new tests and provides institutional versions of existing test products.
The Assessment and Operations Group's objective, working with other groups in Cambridge ESOL, is to ensure we provide the highest quality exam products and support services, and that these are appropriate to the needs of learners, employers and education ministries around the world.
Roger Johnson - Director
Roger Johnson has a first degree in Law, and a Diploma and a Master’s degree in teaching ESOL/EFL. He previously worked in a large British Council and Cambridge exams centre in Italy as part of the teaching and management staff, and was also involved in exam administration, inspections and training oral examiners. This was followed by working on employment and personnel matters at the BC's headquarters in London, and a period as a partner in a business communications training organisation with clients across Europe and East Asia.
Roger has worked for Cambridge ESOL for over 15 years, and has wide experience of test development and operational delivery of the whole range of Cambridge products and projects. He is responsible for assessment, which designs and produces question papers and other test materials, and operations, which is charged with the processing of all the examinations and the accurate delivery of results. Roger is Cambridge ESOL's principal contact with the UK regulatory authority for exams and responsible for ensuring that Cambridge ESOL is fully compliant with regulatory requirements.
Nigel Pike - Head of Assessment
Nigel Pike is Head of Assessment in Assessment and Operations and is responsible for all aspects of assessment services and assessment development. He also directly manages some specific product and project areas, including new product development, computer-based testing, English for specific purposes exams (including business English exams) and UK initiatives including Skills for Life and ESOL for Work. He is responsible for resource allocation across both assessment and operations and for systems development for test item management and exam delivery. He has taught ESOL in many countries, including Greece, Spain and Italy. He has worked on various exams at Cambridge ESOL as a subject officer and subject manager. Nigel holds a PGCE in TESOL (University of London, Institute of Education) and an MBA (Open University School of Business).
Cris Betts - Assistant Director
Cris Betts is Assistant Director responsible for the management of general markers and writing examiners in the UK and for managing support for the worldwide Team Leader system for delivering Speaking tests.
Cris Betts joined Cambridge ESOL in 2001 and previously held the post of Senior Operations Manager. He joined us after a career in teaching, academic management and examining spent in Italy, Croatia and the UK. He holds a degree in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, and a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester, UK.
Nick Charge - Examination Manager: Teaching Awards, YLE
Nick Charge is Assistant Director with responsibility for the upper General English exams and Teaching Awards. Formerly an Examinations Manager, Nick has had responsibility for a number of different examinations, including IELTS, Teaching Awards and the Young Learner English tests as well as being responsible for initiatives in e-learning and training. Before joining Cambridge ESOL in 1994, Nick worked as an English language teacher and teacher trainer in Sweden, Indonesia, New Zealand and the UK. He holds the DELTA and a Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics. Nick also has extensive school management and marketing experience in the EFL sector.
Angela ffrench - Assistant Director
Angela ffrench is Assistant Director with responsibility for IELTS and Young Learners English. Having been involved in teaching and testing English for 30 years, both in the state and private sectors, Angela ffrench joined Cambridge ESOL in 1991 as a Subject Officer, later becoming Examination Manager for the General English exams. In this capacity she has been involved in all aspects of developing and administering tests and assessment criteria, in the training of item writers, in pretesting and analysing test material, and in the grading of the examinations. Angela holds an MA from the University of Cambridge and an MEd in Language testing from the University of Bristol (UK).
Sharon Jordan - Assistant Director
Sharon Jordan is Assistant Director with responsibility for the International Legal English Certificate, International Certificate in Financial English exams and other world of work assessments. Sharon has previously been an examination manager at Cambridge ESOL and has also worked on IELTS, CELS, and on the development of CB IELTS. Before coming to Cambridge ESOL, she taught EFL and prepared students for Cambridge ESOL examinations in the UK, Greece, France and Ireland. She holds a Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
Andrew Milbourn - Assistant Director
In his current role, Andrew Milbourn is in charge of more than 20 staff in Exam Processing and has a key role in IT related projects, such as ICR, ESOL for Work and new Exam Processing Systems.
For most of his career he has worked in IT and carried out roles such as statistical analyst, developer, business analyst, project manager and systems administrator. His previous job was as head of MIS at Bedfordshire University. Andrew’s research interests include the application of systems theory to the use of IT in organisations. He has also carried out management consultancy in Bulgaria for an EU project. Andrew holds an MBA and a degree in Environmental Sciences.
David Baker - Assessment and Operations - Senior Operations Manager
David holds an MBA from Anglia Ruskin University and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management. He has more than 20 years experience in managing various operations within the Cambridge Assessment Group (previously UCLES). He has worked for Cambridge ESOL since 1998 and amongst other things has been responsible for the operational delivery of the suite of Teaching Award products, the Young Learners English Test and IELTS. Since May 2007 he has led a large programme of work aimed at modernising the administrative systems that support IELTS.
Steve Cornell – Senior Operations Manager
Steve Cornell has more than 15 years of experience working within the operations area of Cambridge ESOL, including management of Entries and Document Production for almost ten years. He has been involved in many of the high-profile administration programmes, such as the introduction of Skills for Life, and new web-based systems such as On Line Entries and introduction of Computer-Based tests. His current responsibilities cover the areas of IELTS, Entries and QPCP Units.
Steve is currently completing an MBA through the Open University.
Andrew Balch – Examinations Manager
Andrew Balch is the Examinations Manager for the BEC and ESOL for Work examinations, overseeing their production, marking, analysis and grading.
Andrew taught general, business and exam preparation courses in France and Japan, and EAP and study skills courses in the United Kingdom, before joining Cambridge ESOL in 2003. Since then, he has been responsible for a wide range of established test papers and test development projects. He holds a Masters' degree in Applied linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester.
Ron Zeronis – Examinations Manager
Ron Zeronis is Subject Manager with responsibility for the upper General English (FCE, CAE, CPE) exams.
Ron joined Cambridge ESOL in 2004 and has previously worked as a Subject Officer working on test development projects, business English exams and teaching awards. Before joining us he worked as an English language teacher in central and eastern Europe and later as Director of Studies for a number of language schools, including Bell in the UK and International House in Budapest.
Ron has a degree in Politics and History from the University of Wisconsin, a Masters' degree in applied linguistics from the University of Leicester and holds the DTEFLA.
Hugh Bateman - Examination Manager: English for the Workplace
Hugh holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and an MA in Applied Linguistics, and he has taught English for general and specific purposes in a number of countries. Hugh’s role at Cambridge ESOL involves managing the production and processing of Skills for Life, ILEC and ICFE, and co-ordinating the work of item writers.
Dr Rod Boroughs - Subject Manager: IELTS
Dr Rod Boroughs has co-ordinated the production of IELTS question papers since 2003. He has worked extensively on upper Main Suite papers (FCE, CAE and CPE) and took a lead role in the revision of the CPE Listening test. Before joining Cambridge ESOL as assistant subject officer in 1997, Rod taught English in the private sector for 12 years. Rod holds a Master’s in English Teaching from the Institute of Education, University of London and a PhD in Classics from the University of Cambridge
Ed Hackett - Examination Manager: General English (KET and PET)
Ed Hackett is manager of the KET and PET examinations, overseeing the commissioning, editing, pretesting and test construction for paper-based and computer-based versions of the exam. He is also responsible for ensuring that tests are marked, analysed and graded on schedule. Ed has extensive experience as a teacher and teacher trainer both in the UK and overseas. He has worked for Cambridge ESOL since 1999, in the Research and Validation Group as a test development officer, and in Assessment and Operations Group as a subject officer and examinations manager. Ed holds an MSc in Educational Management in TESOL from Aston University.
Martin Robinson - Examination Manager: Test Development
Martin Robinson is Examinations Manager with responsibility for the development of new assessment products. This includes developing new assessment products such as ILEC and ICFE and also client-specific products, e.g., for the Ministries of Education in Chile and France. Martin has previously worked in both the validation and assessment areas within Cambridge ESOL. Prior to this he gained extensive experience in teaching English as a foreign language, preparing students for the Cambridge ESOL examinations and managing language schools. He is also qualified in PRINCE2 project management to the level of practitioner. Martin holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics (specialising in language testing) from the University of Reading (UK).
