Join educational assessment detectives Sam Denno and Emma McHale as they take a deep dive into the intricacies of classroom assessment. Each episode, they sift through reports, strategies, blogs, videos, guidance and ideas from experts, then condense their findings into 15 minutes of concentrated CPD.
After 10 months and 35 episodes, Obsessed with Assessment is drawing to a close. Sam Denno is moving to a new role at Twinkl Educational Publishing and his focus will no longer be purely on assessment, so he signs off, along with co-host Emma Rose-McHale, with a fittingly lively conversation about top learnings from past episodes. What were Emma and Sam's favourite episodes? And, what are the most important assessment takeaways that they picked up along their journey? All this and more, as we wish farewell to the greatest educational assessment podcast there will ever be.
28 Apr 2025
Assessment in the News: solving the maths resit problem (with special guests Sarah Gotting and Amy Jones from OCR)
Sam Denno, assessment lead at Twinkl Educational Publishing, is joined by OCR representatives, Sarah Gotting and Amy Jones, in discussing the negative spiral created by post-16 GCSE Maths resits. They talk through the problem, before Sarah and Amy present OCR's possible solution to the current pattern. OCR are proposing a new-look GCSE as part of the national conversation around curriculum and assessment. Not only does the concept tackle the issue of post-16 resits, it also addresses several other potential frustrations in the present system.
Want to join the OCR Maths Advisory Panel? Submit your interest here (https://ocrpanel.recollective.com/maths-advisory-group/join?key=Cxp7). You can find Sam Denno on LinkedIn and BlueSky.
21 Apr 2025
We should ALL become assessment literate (with special guest James Beadle)
James Beadle becomes only the second podcast guest to make a repeat visit, as he brings his wisdom to bear on the issue of assessment literacy. He argues that all stakeholders in the assessment process - including teachers, students and parents - should have some degree of understanding of the way that assessments work. Everyone could listen into this podcast as a trememdous starting point!
Sam Denno is the host of Obsessed with Assessment and is also the National Assessment Lead at Twinkl Educational Publishing.
James Beadle is a Senior Professional Development Manager at The Assessment Network, an arm of Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
Tell us what you think about the concepts that are discussed by emailing on assessment@twinkl.co.uk.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
2,713
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 45 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
49
Social presence
0
YouTube
68
Engagement
32
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