Thank you for the introduction, conference convenor Simon Peek.

Welcome to Auckland City - the City of Sails.

I want to particularly acknowledge our English guests from the Cambridge International Examination Centre in Cambridge . as well as the Asia Pacific Director.

It is our pleasure to be the host city of this association's inaugural conference.

I am not a supporter of NCEA - I probably should be because it would have been kinder to me than spending the best five years of my life in the 5th form!

There are some great schools where Cambridge exams are now available - Auckland Grammar and King's College are just two examples of top flight traditional schools which have put their hands up and have said 'we simply want the best for our best students.'

I salute you all for your involvement in bucking the phenomenon of 'dumbing down'. and instead you are focused on lifting standards to global status.  That is commendable.

I am pleased that as well as the increase in participation rates, Cambridge exams have spread outside the Auckland area to Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

There are two types of New Zealanders - those that live in Auckland and those that want to live in Auckland.

It's a great time to be living, working and visiting Auckland .  Auckland is on a roll.

Over the past three years there has been more investment, more growth, more jobs, more construction and more confidence than ever before.

You cannot have an internationally competitive economy without a global city.

Only Auckland can be New Zealand 's global city.

This region grows by the size of Dunedin every three years. and we have a lot on.

Enjoy your time here in the engine-room of the country.

I hope you can enjoy some of the many attractions in our beautiful city.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.  My name is Ken Murray and I enjoy the privilege of being the Chief Executive of Cambridge International Examinations.

I thought I would kick off, as it were, by reflecting on the sporting interactions between our two countries in recent months.  We back home in England had the unique experience of enjoying a game of cricket or two after which it went rapidly downhill, for us, when the rugby scores took on the dimensions of a cricket match.

Anyway to business, I would like to begin by thanking ACSNZ.  High quality education depends upon effective partnerships and CIE is privileged to work in partnership with the ACSNZ.

Its core to the CIE mission - working in partnership with high quality educational providers.

I would like to explore some ways in which this has translated into action over what is nearly one hundred and fifty years of establishment.

• A sharer
• One who plays on the same side with another in a game
• An associate in symbiosis.

This ethos of common purpose, shared goals and collaborative enterprise is quite simply lades and gentlemen what CIE is about.

From its early days, the administration of examinations, in far-flung places of Victoria 's empire was constructed with immense care and consideration.

Later in the 20th century we continued to develop a range of different qualifications to meet local and international expectation.

For example, developing syllabuses in local languages and in the key vocational areas for the economy.

We are committed to high quality educational standards and would regard it as a betrayal of those standards not to work with countries where the economy has most need of a highly trained workforce.

But I do want to talk a little about our work in developed countries.

In the UK we have 75 centres taking mainly IGCSE and whose names do include the Who's Who of top public schools.

The number of schools we have in the USA are growing rapidly.

Five years ago Brentsfield District High School, located about 30 miles from Washington DC, was in the 34th percentile of schools in the state of Virginia.  In September 2000 the school took the decision to offer the Cambridge IGCSE assessment scheme.

Today Brentsfield is one of the top two schools in Virginia.  Its students achieved the highest aptitude test scores in the country last year and on 17 September the school was national recognized as a "no child left behind" Blue Ribbon school.

This is why the Cambridge schemes are gaining such popularity in the US .

CIE's largest A Level centre in the world is in Malaysia and we continue to work with the Ministry of Education in this country.  We have nearly 300 centres across Europe, which again includes some of the very best international schools.

. and in China the interest in our A Level examinations is so strong we are having to be selective about those schools that we take on.

It is also worth reinforcing the point that Cambridge Advanced Level has currency in most leading universities around the world.  Our university recognition guide is therefore long read.

A decade later in 1998 we took the same decision in regard to the design of our A and AS Level syllabuses.

We did so because we took the time and trouble to consult with our global partners and in doing so attempted to reflect their needs in the new examination.  This has proved to be a great success.

I should therefore reiterate that in collaboration with our global partners we make it our business to maintain international standards whilst meeting local needs.

But I need to assure you we are not resting on our laurels.

We are proud of course that we remain very much part of our University, the only UK examination body to do so.

To this end we will soon be:-

• Piloting computer based testing.
• Introducing virtual alternatives in our IGCSE and A/AS Level examinations in Geography and Sciences.
• Piloting the marking of scripts on line and the electronic return of marks.

We already have:

• Delivered results on line to our centres around the world.
• Provided on line training to teachers.
• Made available a whole raft of support materials to our teachers that can be accessed via our website or delivered on CD ROM.

We in Cambridge embrace the ideals of global learning.  We are fortunate in having created partnerships across the globe that enable us to explore new ideas and new thinking.

Each year we issue around one million certificates to successful candidates many of whom will go on to further success in higher education.

I hope ACSNZ feel that we have been a good and responsive partner.

You have our assurance that we will strive continually to develop our partnership which, we hope will in its turn, serve the best interests of your students here in New Zealand.