Michael Ward is a senior policy analyst at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 2009. During his work at the OECD, he developed and managed the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) for Development project which aimed to make the assessment more accessible to and relevant for a wider range of countries. He subsequently led the OECD’s efforts to mainstream the project’s instruments and approaches in PISA 2018, PISA 2022, PISA 2025 and PISA 2029. Since 2013, he has been the OECD’s focal point for the Education Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4). Currently, he is co-leading the work on PISA-Vocational Education and Training (VET). Inspired by PISA, the OECD is developing a new international assessment to measure the skills of learners completing initial VET programmes in selected occupations. Michael is leading the work designed to measure the learners’ ability to use their professional knowledge and skills to meet challenges faced in the workplace. Prior to joining OECD, Michael gained 25 years of education field experience in Asia and Africa with development agencies (AusAID, British Council, DFID and NZAID), working with multilaterals (World Bank, EU, RDBs and UNICEF) bilateral government-to-government co-operation and NGOs. His publications include a book on Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) in education in Uganda (2004); several papers on aid effectiveness in education in various international journals and chapters in three books on educational development and most recently, a chapter in a book on education policy brokers.

Michael has a PhD in Education from the University of East Anglia, UK. He has an MSc in Economic and Social Development from the University of London, UK. Michael is British.