The Granada Learning Group announced today that it has acquired W3 Insights, the market leader in psychometric attitude measurements for schools. The acquisition will enhance the company’s existing assessment and school self-evaluation offerings and give teachers additional tools to unlock their pupils’ learning potential.

W3 Insights has received critical acclaim from government, academia and educational professions working at all levels as its measurements provide vital information that can help reduce the negative impact of disaffection and low self-esteem on a child’s attainment.

Results from the surveys help inform strategic whole-school planning and aid the early identification of ‘at-risk’ pupils so that effective programmes can be put in place to boost the achievement of children and young people.

Adrian Eaglestone, managing director at the Granada Learning Group, said: “We are very excited about our acquisition of W3 Insights and the benefits it will bring to schools. The additional measurements will help teachers gain a deeper insight into their pupils’ attitudes to learning and identify issues that might hinder a child’s progress in school. Attitudinal measurement will be a natural complement to our popular Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT), which is used to assess children’s reasoning capabilities, and so will help broaden teachers’ understanding of their pupils. 

“W3 Insights has an excellent reputation in the education sector and deservedly so. Not only are their measurements trusted, due to robust and rigorous testing, but the calibre of their staff is second to none.” 

W3 Insights’ award-winning assessment, Pupil Attitude to Self and School (PASS), supplies fully standardised attitude reporting, based on an underlying national sample of more than 250,000 pupils. It has been developed over the last eight years in collaboration with three UK universities to measure specific aspects of children’s attitudes towards themselves as learners and their school. 

PASS allows schools to benchmark pupils against nine core areas, including self-regard, attitude to attendance and perceived learning capability. There is an additional Early Years version of the measure, which looks at issues such as a child’s feelings about school, relationships with teachers and desire to learn and achieve. 

Dr Glen Williams, W3 Insights’ Chief Executive Officer, comments: “We are delighted to be part of the Granada Learning Group and we look forward to working closely together to support schools in the drive to raise achievement. Our attitude measures have been extensively used to improve attainment and enable schools to address many of their key priorities whilst reducing the bureaucracy of additional data gathering; saving both money and time."

All W3 Insights’ staff will continue working from the company’s Wolverhampton office, and both Dr Glen Williams, CEO, and Bob Whittome, Chief Operations Officer, will remain in post to drive the business forward.

ENDS

Issue date: 22 June 2010
Ref GL123 

For further information, please contact:
Rebecca Bremner, Catherine Lane PR, 25 Freman Drive, Buntingford, Herts, SG9 9TD Tel: 07092 872 720. Mobile: 07775 155 882 Email:rebecca@catherinelane.com. 

About Granada Learning Group
Granada Learning Group is the UK's leading provider of assessment solutions for children’s education, mental health and wellbeing. Our online and print-based tests assess children’s progress in literacy, numeracy and reasoning, and identify a broad spectrum of special educational needs. We also provide parent, pupil and staff stakeholder surveys for schools, training for teachers, and have published an online self-evaluation and school development planning tool that helps schools work efficiently and effectively to meet their pupils’ needs. 

The Group consists of four divisions – GL Assessment, Granada Learning Professional Development, Kirkland Rowell and The Skills Factory. 

www.granada-learning.com