Across higher education, it is time for a significant reappraisal of assessment strategy, policy and practice through evidence-informed change. This publication has been developed by a group of experts in the field of higher education, working with the Higher EducationAcademy (HEA) to provide a strong rationale for transforming assessment in higher education, underpinned by an established evidence base. Importantly,this publication also provides an assessment review tool, which offers a practical method to take stock of current practice and look to a targeted approach to strategic change.
The publication builds on two decades of extensive support for teaching, learning and assessment in UK higher education, which has been provided by a range of organisations and initiatives. In relation to assessment,the HEA, its former subject centres and the Centres for Excellence inTeaching and Learning have taken a key role in developing and promoting this expertise in assessment.Accordingly,the developed rationale and review tool are based on:
• Assessment standards: a Manifesto for Change1 created by an international forum of experts on assessment in higher education brought together by theAssessment Standards Knowledge exchange (ASKe) Centre for Excellence inTeaching and Learning at Oxford Brookes University;
• work from the Centres for Excellence inTeaching and Learning at Oxford Brookes University (ASKe) and the University of Northumbria (Assessment for Learning);
• previous work of the HEA, its subject centres,the Learning andTeaching Support Network (LTSN) and the Institute for Learning andTeaching in Higher Education (ILTHE).
The Manifesto has been the primary organising framework for the development of the review tool, with six tenets or evidence-based principles for assessment policy and practice.
The arguments and conclusions presented in this publication are based on the best research evidence available in the field of educational assessment. References in Section 4 provide key sources for the evidence, along with resources for staff in higher education.