Assessment is, as we all know, a constantly changing landscape and in many ways our engagement within this sector whether we are researchers, developers, teachers, learners or anyone else with a stake in assessment, has real-world impact. At a time when more and more people are on the move, we need to be ready to support education systems and provide resources that are portable, robust and inclusive. This is no mean feat. We are also operating in spaces where difficult and challenging social contexts can make it hard for us to be able to do all we would like.

Across Europe, the quality of research, innovation and development remains of utmost importance globally and frameworks such as CEFR provide examples of excellence in terms of attempting to sustain standards between very different nations with vastly different educational aims, cultures and systems. However, from my position as an internationalist, it is such variance in thinking, policy and enactment that enriches how we evolve and sustain educational aims. 

In this keynote, I will consider what the dramatic shifts in global societies generally are meaning for education and how this could impact European perspectives for learners and learning. In terms of assessment, the presentation will include (of course) some consideration of the role of AI and how this is characterised in the current testing times. We don't, as many media headlines claim, stand on the cusp of change in assessment. It is already happening and it is our role in the assessment 'industry' to be responsive, to engage and perhaps most importantly to be ready to share good ideas and good practice for the benefit of all. The very aims of education are being challenged well beyond Europe, so we should be ready to meet any that arrive at our borders.