Principles for inclusive assessment
These principles will support you in designing your assessments more inclusively:
1. Provide a variety of assessment methods, choices and topics
Inclusive assessment across a programme provides a variety of methods, choices and topics that allow students to play to their strengths and minimises disadvantage:
Variety of methods
- Design a variety of methods across a programme: a range of assessment methods or modes will be important in ensuring all students can demonstrate their learning across a programme. For example, if required to demonstrate effective communication, students could be given a choice of format – e.g. poster, recorded presentation, blog – and allowed to select whichever medium they feel most confident communicating in.
During their degree, students should experience a diversity of assessment methods, with a balance of formats to ensure that assessments in earlier years prepare them for those towards the end of their programme.
This should also apply to any methods of assessing competence standards (see ERHC advice note), which should be inclusive and not discriminatory. We need to distinguish between the genuine competence standards which are required of students to complete some degrees, and the assessment methods we use to test these competence standards.
The assessment method we choose can usually be varied to reflect the different ways that a student may be best able to demonstrate the competence standard. For instance, the time allocated to an assessment type is only likely to be a competence standard if it is related, for example, to saving a life rather than competing a task for which time is not a critical factor in real situations.
We are developing further guidance to standard alternatives for the most common assessment types in a toolkit which all teaching staff can use. Consider as well:
- Where there is a good alternative to an existing assessment method, could it be offered to all students at the outset, or is there a good reason for only making it available to students with a Study Support Plan or who request an alternative – noting that not every student who might benefit will necessarily ask?
For example: if you would allow some students to take an open book exam, could this become the norm for all students? (a useful tool in considering alternatives is the Student Information and Equity Template Student Information Equity Template (found in O’Neill, 2011, p7)).
Choice of topic
In inclusive approaches to assessment, students’ backgrounds are also seen as a valuable resource, with students given opportunities to demonstrate their understanding by drawing on their own experience. Providing some choice of topic (e.g. in choice of project, essay question or exam question) allows students agency in focus, allowing them to work on areas of interest.
For more on designing inclusive assessment see the University’s assessment strategy and Tai et al (2022).
2. Ensure clear, fair and transparent marking criteria
Inclusive assessment approaches call for the use of clear, fair and transparent marking criteria, written in plain English, with opportunities for students to discuss them with staff and peers, for example:
- Students discussing criteria with each other and linking to the assessment brief
- Students reviewing their own work against criteria
- Students discussing and reviewing examples of work using criteria
- Peer review and feedback on each other’s formative assessment against criteria
- Students mapping their feedback to the criteria
See the University’s Marking Criteria which can guide you in developing assessment criteria.
Also ensure you remove further barriers to students completing their assessment such as complex instructions – consider using a glossary or signposting a resource to highlight common assessment words such as analyse, evaluate and criticise (see this Study Skills resource). Review any competence standards (as defined above) included in assessment to ensure they are clearly defined and explained.
Bristol’s guide on Supporting disabled students' learning and assessment can provide further support with this.
3. Prepare students for assessment
Preparing students for assessment is also integral to inclusive design. This can include practice tasks; the use of exemplars, both good and bad, and working with the marking criteria as described above.
This should also include regular formative feedback opportunities which highlight strengths and suggest ways to improve. Inclusive feedback may be offered in a variety of formats, including text, audio and screencast video, but it must be timely, constructive, and clearly communicated, with a focus on building students’ confidence and enabling them to succeed.
4. Consider student workload and avoid clashes
Your design of assessment should also consider the volume of assessment across a programme to ensure students learn in depth without feeling overwhelmed.
It is also important to ensure assessments across a programme allow students enough time to prepare for each assessment and that deadline clashes are avoided.
Assessment Strategy Self-Evaluation tool
Download and use our Assessment Strategy Self-Evaluation Tool to evaluate assessment and feedback practices on your programme against the three strategic priorities: Integrated Assessment Design, Designed for All and Authentic Assessment (UoB only).