Thank you to all our customers this year
- 1,700 active users of GradeMaker Pro
- Over 30,000 items and 1,500 papers authored using GradeMaker Pro this year
- Two customers renewed for another four years with GradeMaker
- 16 releases of improvements and upgrades
Supporting our customers
User training
- We received some great feedback from one of our international customers after we delivered a week of in-person user training. There were over 20 participants, along with two interpreters who were present throughout the sessions – a first for us!
- We have more customer visits planned for 2025.
- We also delivered remote training sessions for those customers who need more flexibility in training their associates to get the best out of GradeMaker, including the National Testing Centre, Kazakhstan.
Help Centre
To continue to support our users with on-demand help and guidance, we provided several new user guides and videos in the Help Centre, including materials on PrintPrep, Version Compare and mark descriptors.
We also updated a number of our existing user guides over the past year, so they better reflect our current functionality, following releases.
Collaboration Forums
- In 2023 we launched our Collaboration Forums to give our customers an opportunity to share experience and best practice.
- Representatives from a number of our awarding organisation customers use these informal online sessions to share ideas and insights, problem solve and discuss topics relevant to enhancing their processes. As well as discussing GradeMaker, they’ve used the Collaboration Forums to talk about challenges, trends and opportunities in the wider educational assessment sector.
- In 2024 we hosted three Collaboration Forums and covered topics including AI in assessment, common questions, the scrutiny process, project management and analytics.
Support desk
- This year we received over 260 support desk tickets from customers.
- We continued to uphold our high standards, and our priority is to carry on offering a high level of support to our customers in 2025.
Improvements and upgrades
We delivered 16 releases of improvements and upgrades – with a further release planned for just before Christmas. Here’s a snapshot of some of the main features we have released this year.
Computer-based testing: GradeMaker is now integrated with Inspera Assessment, offering a complete end-to-end solution for the development and delivery of both paper and on-screen exams. This is our second integration with a QTI-standard platform, following a successful project to connect GradeMaker with Trifork’s test player in 2022.
Syllabus mapping: We delivered significant improvements to how syllabus (specification) mapping works in GradeMaker, including a new and improved mapping mechanism to allow our customers to capture syllabus data for all types of items, and the ability to map independently down to the item subpart level.
Senior Approver functionality: We launched the optional ‘My Teams’ Authoring’ feature, which enables Senior Approvers to view their teams’ items and papers when they are at a draft state and to easily reassign drafts to a different author – providing greater visibility and control when needed.
We also:
- Improved our existing Version Compare optional feature – allowing easy access to item-level comparisons directly from the paper level.
- Expanded the configuration options for our fill-in-the-blank item type.
- Improved GradeMaker’s preview screen so it more closely matches the content editing view.
- Made other improvements to GradeMaker’s usability, such as the ability to keep your Project Management column configuration.
AQA Global Assessment Services
Following our acquisition by AQA in 2023, GradeMaker is now part of AQA Global Assessment Services, combining the experience of the UK’s leading exam board, with skills and technology from across the wider AQA group.
AQA Global Assessment Services improves the quality, efficiency and security of education and assessment around the world. We provide research, assessment and curriculum capability, backed by leading digital delivery, across academic, vocational and professional skills.
Our team
In 2024 we welcomed Adam Morris and Mia Wang, along with four new colleagues in our Development team.
Adam Morris, Senior Client Success Consultant
Mia Wang, Service Delivery Coordinator
Our customer priorities for 2025
- We want all our customers to feel informed and supported going into 2025, and we’ll strengthen our existing good relationships.
- We’re exploring ways to more effectively gather feedback and understand the needs of our user community, as well as keep everyone informed of new developments.
- We’ll introduce a 12-month schedule of advance dates for business review meetings for each customer, to ensure time for regular discussion and longer term planning.
Want to know more?
If you want to find out more about GradeMaker Pro or GradeMaker Analytics, just get in touch.
- If you’re using GradeMaker and want to find out more about our new features, contact your GradeMaker consultant or email info@grademaker.com
- If you’d like to find out about GradeMaker for your organisation, we can arrange an online demo.