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.