Topic outline

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    Cambridge Personal Styles Questionnaire® (CPSQ) for students
    Using your report

    •  CPSQ reports provide statements and scores on a range of competencies: Thinking, Study, Coping, Communication and Collaboration. We are developing materials to support effective use of the reports. Some materials can be used across the competencies while others are specific to a competency. We have started with Coping.

    • The resources on this page are designed to be used alongside your CPSQ report.

      If you haven't yet taken the questionnaire, we highly recommend you do that. Read about it here and view a sample report. Ask your Cambridge coordinator or teacher for more information.

    • Personal Styles

    • CPSQ identifies behaviours that relate to your studies. To understand how your personal styles of behaving might influence your participation in a course, we interpret your responses against five competencies. These are:

      • ThinkingThinking
      • Study Study
      • Coping Coping
      • Communication Communication
      • Collaboration Collaboration

    • How to use the resources


      • Use them on your own, with your mentor or coach, or as part of a group activity in class.
      • There is no time limit to your access to the resources.
      • Access the resources online or offline. You'll often see a Word or PDF icon below an activity and this is a version of the resource you can download.
      • Add your responses and reflections by writing or typing and then storing them in hard copy or electronically. You do not log in and save responses on this site.




      • Thinking
        Thinking


      • Study
        Study


      • Coping with demands
        Coping


      • Communication
        Communication


      • Collaboration
        Collaboration




    • Resource: Spark Questions


      For this activity we would like you to really think about what your CPSQ report statements and scores mean. Note down your answers to the following questions:


      Spark questions

      • Which competency areas are the most important for your studies?

      • How accurate is your feedback for these competencies?

      • Where are your personal style strengths (Positive points)?

      • Where are your areas for improvement?

      • Where are you doing okay (Neutral points), but perhaps could do better?

      • Do you want to build on your report and set personal goals? 

      • How might you use this information to think about the development of your study skills?

      • Are there any barriers to getting this development?




    • Resource: Life Wheel


      The Life Wheel is a useful tool to help to think about how we feel about different aspects of our lives.  All the aspects listed are important for our happiness in life. 

      The activity is for your own personal use and reflection. It's a really good way of seeing how balanced things are for you right now. Sometimes seeing a visual representation of our lives can be helpful for spotting where there might be an issue, perhaps that you are not even aware of.

      • Complete your own version of the Life Wheel.
      • Shade in the sections of the circle towards the middle to indicate how content you are with that aspect of your life. For example, if you are happy with your career, shade the section towards the centre. If you are happy with your family relationships, and feel even more happy with them than your career, shade closer the the centre than for the career section. In the end you will have an snapshot of how you are feeling with all these aspects of your life.
      • Review and reflect on your shading. Think about the sections where you've said you're very content. Why is that? What about the areas that are you have shaded less? What is going on there?
      • Finally, think about your priorities. How can you shade more of the wheel? Which sections would you like to focus on? What actions could help you achieve that?

    • Life Wheel
      Life Wheel - click to view full screen



    • Resource: Vocabulary Wheel

      This activity can work well if you pair with a student who has also taken their CPSQ. Use the Vocabulary wheel to help each other reflect verbally on your CPSQ statements and scores.


    • vocabulary_wheel.jpg
      Vocabulary Wheel - click to view full screen

    • Join a webinar

      Need more support? If you are a teacher supporting students to use their CPSQ reports effectively, whether that is in a class or one-to-one setting, why not join one of our monthly hour-long webinars to hear from Lyn Dale, the Assessment Psychologist who developed CPSQ?

      Wednesday 17 November: 1400

      Thursday 16 December: 1300

      Tuesday 18 January 1400

      Friday 25 February 1300

      Wednesday 16 March 1400

      Simply email us stating when you would like to attend, including your school name and job title and we will book you onto a webinar.

      About Lyn Dale, Assessment Psychologist and Senior Assessment Manager - CPSQ 

      Lyn is an expert in the design, validation and use of psychometric tests. She has worked for The Psychometrics Centre in Cambridge and currently manages the Cambridge Personal Styles Questionnaire for Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Her expert knowledge is in the development and use of personality and behavioural assessment in education and the workplace. She has an MSc in Occupational Psychology and is an ILM trained coach.   

      Read Lyn's blog