Lesley used her first degree in Zoology from the University of Glasgow to embark upon a career in educational publishing. For 20 years she worked as editor, project manager and commissioning editor for publishing houses in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, developing high-quality educational publications for primary and secondary schools across the UK and overseas. During that time she was also dissertation supervisor and assessor for postgraduate students of publishing at the University of Stirling.

Lesley then returned to the University of Glasgow with a proposal for research that she has pursued for more than two decades, at post-graduate and post-doctoral level and beyond. During that time she has developed and tested novel instruments to measure the quality of life of companion and farmed animals, using generic and specialised measurement principles and methodologies to develop paper-based and digital instruments and to demonstrate their validity and reliability. In 2013 Lesley co-founded a company (NewMetrica) to generate funding to continue that research and to make the resulting digital instruments as widely available as possible. 

In 2011 Lesley joined SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority), working initially on vocational qualifications and then as the assessment specialist for the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) project team. In the latter role she worked closely with subject specialists and colleagues across the organisation to ensure that SQA policy and comprehensive guidance were applied consistently to develop valid and reliable assessments for the new National Qualifications (NQs) in all subjects and at all levels.  

Lesley was also part of a small SQA team that carried out fieldwork in the two academic years following the launch of the NQ assessments for CfE, visiting schools across Scotland to discover how the qualifications and their assessments were being experienced by pupils and staff. As part of that research, Lesley was responsible for designing and conducting an online survey of teachers and for the analysis and reporting of their individual views on the new assessments. 

In more recent recent years Lesley has contributed to the development and delivery of a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and programmes in the School of Education, including its MSc in Educational Assessment. She is a member of the University of Glasgow Educational Assessment Network (UGEAN) and the International Educational Assessment Network (IEAN), contributing her varied experience and expertise to their research and other activities.

Now a Research Fellow in the School of Education, Lesley was recently part of a team of researchers from the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford working on SQA-commissioned research into understanding public perceptions of standards in Scottish qualifications. She was also part of a research team from the University of Glasgow and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David who were tasked by the Welsh Goverment with developing an assessment toolkit for the Curriculum for Wales. She is currently part of the research team for the Camau i’r Dyfodol project.  

Lesley is also currently an external reviewer for the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership (SCQFP), and she had created and delivers face-to-face and online Learning Outcomes and Assessment workshops for that organisation. 

Since 2010 Lesley has been an Honorary Research Fellow in the University’s School of Mathematics and Statistics and she continues to pursue her interest in the measurement of animal quality of life, working collaboratively with colleagues within and outwith the University on projects related to animal quality of life, its measurement, and ethical decision-making. 

An AEA-E (Association for Educational Assessment - Europe) Accredited Assessment Practitioner since 2016, Lesley was elected to the AEA-E Council in 2022 on which she has particular responsibiity for the Association's Special Interest Groups that she has been instrumental in establishing. 

Lesley's wide-ranging expertise and experience gained over many years has proven valuable in every part of her career to date, allowing her to bring fresh perspectives, knowledge and skills to her work in diverse fields.   

Lesley is a Research Fellow in the School of Education. She was recently part of a team of researchers from the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford working on SQA-commissioned research into understanding public perceptions of standards in Scottish qualifications; and a team from the University of Glasgow and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David who were tasked by the Welsh Goverment with developing an assessment toolkit for the Curriculum for Wales. She is currently part of the research team for the Camau i’r Dyfodol project.  

Lesley's research interests and expertise relate to measurement and assessment: the development of high-quality instruments that are fit for purpose, and what facilitates or creates barriers to the effective use of assessment in practice. Since 2010 Lesley has been an Honorary Research Fellow in the University’s School of Mathematics and Statistics through which she continues to pursue her interest in the measurement of animal quality of life, working collaboratively with colleagues within and outwith the University on projects related to animal quality of life, its measurement, and ethical decision-making. 

Whether developing novel instruments to measure abstract constructs such as animal quality of life, or developing instruments to measure progression in learning, the underpinning principles and key aspects of methodology are the same. Lesley has created or helped to create valid and reliable instruments to measure abstract constructs though a painstaking process of instrument development and testing, using best practices established in a range of disciplines. 

In addition to validity and reliability a key quality of any assesssment instrument is its utility. Such utility should be designed-in during the development process but also tested in the field, both of which are particular research interests of Lesley's.   

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Lesley has been dissertation supervisor and marker for postgraduate students of publishing in the University of Stirling and for postgraduate students of education in the University of Glasgow. She was also for several years a facilitator on the University of Glasgow's undergraduate medical course.

In more recent years she contributed to developing the UGEAN-designed MSc Assessment in Education. As part of that programme Lesley led the development of the course 'Theoretical Underpinning and Practical Issues in Tests and Examinations', and also contributed to the development of two others: 'Principles and Theories of Assessment for Social Justice' and 'Assessment for Improvement, Accountability and Social Justice'. 

In addition, Lesley has contributed to the delivery of other University of Glasgow undergraduate and post-graduate courses in the College of Social Sciences, including 'Educational Enquiry' and 'Introduction to Educational and Social Research', and the online Masters courses 'Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy: Understanding Learners' and Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy: International Perspectives'.

She is a guest lecturer on the University's Animal Welfare Assessment course in the College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, and she developed and delivers face-to-face and online 'Learning Outcomes and Assessment' workshops for college staff as an associate of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership.   

Professional & learned societies

• 2023: Council Member, Association for Educational Assessment - Europe

Selected international presentations

• 2014: University of California, San Diego Veterinary Pain Short Course (San Diego, USA)