Admissions Conference 2021

David MacKay is semi-retired and is currently working part-time for Pearson as an Educational Consultant. Prior to that, he was Head of Stakeholder Relationships (Higher Education) at Pearson for nine years. This role involved keeping universities updated on changes to the qualifications taken by students in schools and colleges, and providing them with qualification and subject guides on the revised qualifications, particularly the BTEC Nationals. He also obtained feedback from higher education institutions on Pearson BTEC/Edexcel qualifications to help inform their development. He regularly studied university entry requirements (for both A level and BTEC students) for degree programmes in all subjects, looking for any changes/trends.

Previously, David was a science teacher/head of department in a range of secondary schools for many years before moving to an FE college as Head of Faculty of Science & Technology. He joined the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in 2000 as a Principal Officer for Science. He later took on the role of Programme Leader for 14-19 Qualifications, managing the review of AS/A levels, which were introduced for first teaching in 2008, and the development of the extended project qualification.