David Hargreaves, professor of education at Cambridge University and a former chief inspector of the Inner London Education Authority, is to take over as chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in September.
He hopes to help shape a “revolution” in national assessment once the literacy ad numeracy targets for 2002 are out of the way by placing more emphasis on formative assessment, which helps teachers plan pupils’ learning.
Professor Hargreaves is joint vice-chair of David Blunkett’s Standards Task Force and a member of the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.