People | Departments | Press releases | Job vacancies | NFER ambition

Linda Sturman
BA (social psychology), PGCE (primary and early years), Postgraduate Certificate (teaching primary science), MA (primary education)
Senior Research Officer
l.sturman@nfer.ac.uk
+44 (0)1753 637144

Linda is a Senior Research Officer in the Department for Research in Assessment and Measurement. Her current work includes the assessment of achievement in science, mathematics and literacy, and surveys such as the 2005 survey of teachers for the General Teaching Council and schools’ use of data for the Department for Education and Skills.

Linda has developed science and mathematics tests for use in the UK and worked on international comparison studies of mathematics and science achievement (TIMSS and PISA). She has developed materials to assess speaking and listening skills and has undertaken other evaluations and surveys, on such themes as the quality of working life of teachers in England, the use of special arrangements in KS2 tests and the views of external markers of KS2, KS3 and Y7 Progress Tests. She also conducted the 2004 survey of teachers for the GTC, and has co-ordinated a number of evaluations related to the electronic marking of tests.

Prior to joining the NFER, Linda was a primary teacher and subsequently a Further Education lecturer.


Assessment , National Curriculum, Science education, Numeracy, Research methods and statistics.

Evaluation studies,teachers’ professional lives, mathematics education, test preparation, examinations.

Sturman, L. (2008). ‘Scotland.’ In: Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Olson, J.F., Berger, D.R., Milne, D. and Stanco, G.M. (Eds) TIMSS 2007 Encyclopedia: a Guide to Mathematics and Science Education Around the World. Volume 2. M-Z and Benchmarking Participants (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study). Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College, Lynch School of Education, TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center [online].

Kirkup, C., Sizmur, J., Sturman, L. and Lewis, K. (2005). Schools’ Use of Data in Teaching and Learning (DfES Research Report 671). London: DfES.

Sturman, L., Lewis, K., Morrison, J., Scott, E., Smith, P., Styles, B., Taggart, G. and Woodthorpe, A. (2005). General Teaching Council Survey of Teachers 2005. Final Report [online].

Brill, F., Hodgson, C. and Sturman, L. (2004). Interact: Assessing Speaking and Listening through Drama 10 and 11. London: nferNelson.

Ruddock, G., Sturman, L., Schagen, I., Styles, B., Gnaldi, M. and Vappula, H. (2004). Where England Stands in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003: National Report for England [online].

Sturman, L., Taggart, G. and Woodthorpe, A. (2004). General Teaching Council Survey of Teachers 2004: Final Report [online].

Sturman, L. (2003). ‘Ready for anything? Preparing for the tests’, Primary Science Review, 79, 26-9.

Sturman, L. (2003). ‘Teaching to the test: science or intuition?’ Educational Research, 45, 3, 261-73.

Sturman, L. (2002). Contented and Committed? A Survey of Quality of Working Life Amongst Teachers. Slough: NFER. [online].