To make degree programmes more manageable for students and to reduce study pressure, we’re taking a critical look at our assessment policy — or the lack thereof… After all, assessments shouldn’t just measure knowledge; they should also stimulate learning. But how do you find the right balance?
Formative assessment focuses on the learning process. Students receive feedback, gain insight into their progress, and can make timely adjustments. According to the literature, this leads to deeper and more sustainable learning. It also allows students to make mistakes. However, formative assessment requires a significant time investment from both teachers and students. In addition, some students lack motivation or a sense of urgency when there’s no (high) grade at stake.
Summative assessment takes place at the end of a learning period and focuses on evaluation. It’s clear, efficient, and beneficial for quality assurance. But it’s still a snapshot in time - one test determines everything. This often leads to peak pressure and “learning for the grade” instead of learning for understanding. Students experience high study pressure and, as a result, stress - especially when multiple exams pile up in the same period.
The structure of the assessment programme also plays a major role. Final exams test everything at once - efficient, but risky: students tend to start studying late and face high pressure at the end. Partial assessments distribute that pressure more evenly, encourage continuous learning, and provide insight into progress. At the same time, students may feel they are never truly “free from assessments”.
A hybrid approach - a mix of formative and summative assessments spread over a period - seems to offer the best of both worlds. But it requires close collaboration among teachers to keep the total number of assessments balanced and to prevent peak pressure. A helpful tool in this process is the curriculum information system, which provides an overview of all assessment moments and formats within a programme. This enables teachers and programmes to align the overall assessment design with study feasibility, learning goals, and final outcomes.
In the end, assessment policy is more than just a collection of test formats. It should reflect the educational vision and influences motivation, study habits, and workload. A well-designed assessment programme doesn’t just measure what students know — it helps them learn better. And how students learn best can vary widely between individuals. Perhaps it’s time to give students more choice in how they learn and how they are assessed – personalised learning and assessment. Although, in that case, my next blog might need to be about teachers’ workload...
