With students hailing from 170 countries, Cambridge University Press & Assessment has surpassed its projected timeline.

Reaching 'Aspirations and Potential' Cambridge University Press & Assessment in England has announced that its service is now accessed by a total of 100 million users or more across at least 170 countries. This milestone was reached quicker than anticipated by the program's administrators.

Cambridge University Press and Assessment is the result of a merger that occurred just two years ago in August 2021. At that time, the goal was set to reach 100 million "learners" by 2026.

Exceeding its user target by three years, the program, which functions as the publishing and assessment arm of the University of Cambridge, offers examinations such as the GCSE and the IGCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education and International General Certificate of Secondary Education). The company also administers A-level examinations, Cambridge Nationals, English-language tests including IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and Linguaskill.

Phillips: 'A Moment of Celebration' In an official statement regarding this achievement, Peter Phillips, the CEO of the company, expressed his thoughts. He said, "This is a moment to celebrate. I'm thrilled that we have surpassed our goal of reaching over 100 million learners, a milestone that has been achieved solely due to our unwavering commitment to students and educators, and to the quality of our assessments and learning resources that aid them.

Additionally, over the past year, researchers digitally accessed 114 million academic books, research journals, and scholarly materials, in addition to the physical copies they engaged with. Cambridge University Press & Assessment "Each of these learners possesses their own unique stories, ambitions, and potential. Our dedication to each one of them has remained constant and will continue to do so, regardless of how many more individuals we reach."

The company also emphasized that 100 million users is an underestimate. As per their media communication, "In addition to engaging with learners and educators, the academic team facilitates access to exceptional academic books, research journals, and other scholarly content.

"Within the past year, researchers digitally downloaded 114 million such materials, alongside their consumption of physical copies."

Certainly, no communication from this sector would be complete without mention of open access. Cambridge University Press notes that its endeavors in this domain "enable more people than ever to access high-quality research. In the past year, over 50 percent of the journal articles published by Cambridge University Press were available through open access."

Anticipating that the "vast majority" of its research papers will be accessible through open access by 2025—an internal goal the company set for itself—this year, the firm eliminated open-access publication fees for scholars hailing from over 100 low- and middle-income countries, as part of its effort to promote more equitable access to premium content. Photo by Cmdcam01, Wikimedia commons.