Professor Patricia Broadfoot CBE is professor emerita at the University of Bristol. Trained as a sociologist, she is the author of many books and articles on assessment including the role of assessment in society; the impact of assessment on student learning and most recently, the potential of technology-enhanced assessment to address some of the negative features of more traditional modes of assessment. Patricia Broadfoot has been involved in policy-making over several decades, notably as a member of the Assessment Reform Group for 21 years. She has also been involved internationally in efforts to reform assessment.

Professor Broadfoot continues to consult and write in the field of assessment and comparative education and to contribute both nationally and internationally to education policy. She is also a director and board chair of Vital Partnerships Ltd. Bristol which markets the online assessment tool, ELLI. She is currently involved with a number of organisations which share her commitment to the pursuit of global sustainability.

Professor Broadfoot is an academician of the Academy of Social Sciences. A former president of the BERA, in 2015 she was awarded the John Nisbet lifetime award for her contribution to educational research. She was awarded the CBE for services to social science in 2006, and an honorary D.Litt. from the University of Bristol in 2010.