Professor Kay Sambell, BA (Hons), MA, D.Phil, PFHEA, NTF
Email: kay.sambell@cumbria.ac.uk
Twitter @kay_sambell
Professor Kay Sambell is widely known internationally for her contributions to the Assessment for Learning (AfL) movement in Higher Education, which seeks to emphasize the ways in which assessment processes can be designed to support and developing
students’ learning, as well as measure it. She has directed a number of large-scale research and development projects investigating and enhancing students’ experiences of learning, and was a co-director of Northumbria University’s Centre for Excellence (CETL) in Assessment for Learning, a university-wide initiative where she led on Assessment for Learning Enhancement and student engagement.
Having worked as a Professor of Learning and Teaching at Northumbria University and Edinburgh Napier University, Kay is currently an independent consultant and Visiting Professor of Assessment for Learning at the University of Sunderland and the University of Cumbria.
Kay combines her longstanding interest in AfL with over twenty-five years’ experience as a practising lecturer and course leader in the interdisciplinary area of Childhood and Youth Studies, where she specialises in Children’s Literature. She continues to teach undergraduates and enjoys the opportunity to work collaboratively with students on pedagogic action research projects.
Kay also helped to establish and support a series of international conferences aimed at
rethinking assessment practice. She is currently President of the vibrant Assessment in Higher Education (AHE) conference series, (https://ahenetwork.org/) which leads the development of assessment for learning. Her interests range broadly, however, and, she
has focused on academic literacy, the first year experience, widening participation and student engagement.
She is was awarded a UK National Teaching Fellow in 2002 for her contributions to innovative assessment and she is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Prof Kay Sambell 