Dr Liyuan Liu is a Senior Assessment Researcher on the qualifications and assessment research team at Pearson UK. She is directing a diverse portfolio of high and low-stake assessment research projects. Since 2022, she has been leading and working with Kevin Mason on a mixed-method approach to understanding the utilisation of modified enlarged prints and interactive PDFs in UK secondary schools. The research aims to integrate findings into practical strategies for future paper design based on real user experiences of students and exam officers. She was a post-doc research fellow at Roehampton University who mainly supported the planning and development of assessment methodology and instruments for UNICEF and World Bank Life Skills and Citizenship Education Project between 2017 and 2021.

She co-authored a relevant international report, entitled ‘Measuring Life Skills in the Context of Life Skills and Citizenship Education in the Middle East and North Africa’ to deliver information about the current status of 12 life skills development within an international context. This report was translated to standard Arabic and French by UNICEF in 2021, which also obtained the highest download rates in MENA countries during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In early 2021, she worked as an individual consultant for UNICEF Headquarters to provide evidence-based advice on mapping holistic skills development for children and youth. She is particularly interested in creating learning opportunities and developing fair, inclusive, and accessible assessments to support youth, especially disadvantaged youth, to help them progress and succeed at different life stages.