History of The Psychometrics Centre

The Centre traces its origin to 1989, when John Rust,  Director of the MSc in Psychological Assessment in Organisations at the University of London, gained the contract from the Psychological Corporation to carry out a standardisation of the world famous Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) in the UK. John, an established developer of psychometric tests across a broad spectrum of applications, saw the need to integrate the testing community that had at that time become disparate.

The Centre moved to City University, London, in 2003 and John became the UK's only Professor of Psychometrics. At the time psychometric testing was:

• becoming increasingly important in education, industry and the health sector throughout the world;
• experiencing significant new challenges as an academic and applied discipline.

The Centre's relocation to Cambridge in November 2005 offered huge opportunities to develop our work through the international links, expertise and research capabilities of the University of Cambridge. Although 800 years old in 2009, Cambridge remains one of the leading universities in the world. It has an international reputation keeping it at the forefront of scientific development.

Between 2008 and 2013 The Psychometrics Centre was based in the Mond Building, part of the Old Cavendish Laboratory, itself the site of theWorld's first Psychometric Laboratory in 1886-89. In 2010 it became a Strategic Research Network within the University of Cambridge and in March 2016 relocated to the Cambridge Judge Business School in Trumpington Street, Cambridge.