17 Apr 2026
Schools will soon be able to understand a learner’s potential and predict final exam outcomes right at the start of their secondary education thanks to a new digital assessment tool available from Cambridge from September.
Cambridge Secondary Insight (Baseline) brings enhancements to our current secondary baseline assessments MidYIS (for ages 11-14), Yellis (14-16) and Alis (16-19), which 81% of schools find to be effective in improving student performance.
What is a baseline assessment?
Baseline assessment helps teachers get to know their students quickly. It focuses on their starting point in three areas that contribute to academic success (vocabulary, mathematics and non-verbal skills). A good baseline test enables schools to measure each student's aptitude for learning and their potential for exam success.
Cambridge Secondary Insight delivers a comprehensive suite of cognitive and noncognitive assessments that go beyond curriculum recall to measure true learner potential. This provides schools with a robust foundation for identifying individual learning needs, improving outcomes, and driving continuous school improvement, as Kate Bailey, Director of Digital Testing, Data and Reporting, explains:
“Our complete assessment cycle is designed to support successful outcomes for learners, and continuous school improvement. With our heritage, the improvements we've made and the strength of the predictive evidence I really believe that Cambridge Secondary Insight is the strongest place to start an assessment journey with Cambridge. It gives schools the earliest, most reliable signals of where learners are heading and it makes every subsequent assessment more powerful when you start linking all of those different elements of assessment together.”
What does Cambridge Secondary Insight offer to schools?
The new platform offers:
- Stronger alignment with the Cambridge Pathway
While the assessment remains curriculum agnostic so that any international school can use it, the mathematics components now map to the Cambridge Mathematics Framework, helping leaders ensure consistency across curriculum, assessment and learner development.
- Improved accessibility for SEND learners
The updated design expands equitable access, ensuring more students can demonstrate what they truly know and can do.
- Optimisation for international and bilingual schools
We use clear and simple language in our instructions to keep a low language load (A2 CEFR), making sure the assessment is suitable for international students with a variety of language levels
- New intuitive dashboards and interactive reporting
Schools can interpret data confidently thanks to the introduction of interactive reporting with built in scores interpretation and explanations of key statistical terms
Cambridge Secondary Insight is designed to be introduced at the beginning of a school’s annual assessment strategy and works as a key component of Cambridge Insight’s Assess for Success framework, an evidence-based approach developed to make a measurable difference to learner outcomes, starting with a baseline.
Why sign up now?
The first 50 schools registering to use Cambridge Secondary Insight for the first time in September 2026 will have exclusive access to a free smart start consultation with an Insight expert who will review your school data and provide recommendations, answer your questions and give you actionable insights for whole school improvement. Terms and conditions apply*.
As Dr Rolph Balgobin from Oxbridge International School puts it: “I couldn’t imagine deploying Cambridge education without Cambridge Insight assessments – it is that important.”
What’s next?
Cambridge Secondary Insight is the first of a number of upcoming improvements, which will include a range of powerful new reports for school groups, teaching and learning guidance, and tools to connect and analyse data from multiple assessment sources.
Next steps for school leaders and teachers
- Join our free webinar series for practical guidance and demonstrations.
- Submit an enquiry form to connect directly with a Cambridge Insight expert. Please tick the box requesting a sales contact.
Calculate potential costs for your school with our pricing calculator.
*This offer is subject to a minimum order value of £2,500. Applies to schools that do not currently use Cambridge Insight baseline assessments, based outside of the United Kingdom.