Assessment policy and practice in higher education: purpose, standards and equity

Abstract

This paper places a discussion of assessment in higher education (HE) in the UK within the wider policy context. It argues for a critical sociological analysis to consider some of the issues, themes and debates in relation to assessment in HE at this time. Recent trends in assessment policy and practice are discussed, alongside a consideration of the purposes of assessment. It examines the moral panic around standards, especially in the context of widening participation, and moves on to discuss concerns of equity in relation to assessment. Issues of identity and power relations are central to these debates, and the paper concludes with a plea for social justice, rather than selectivity and inequality, to be prioritized.

Notes

* Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan University, 166–220 Holloway Road, London N7 8DB, UK. Email: [email protected]

London Metropolitan University, 2003.

National Vocational Qualifications and General National Vocational Qualifications.

The 11‐plus was an assessment used with 11‐year‐old pupils to assess their ‘ability’ levels for entry to selective secondary schools.