Summative assessment
Summative assessment focuses on learning completed. It gives learners the opportunity to demonstrate to themselves, to you, to each other or to others who are significant to them:
- how far they have moved towards the achievement of planned learning outcomes; and
- what other, unanticipated gains they have made.
Often, you will find yourselves assessing learning and reviewing progress in one seamless process.
Summative assessment can be carried out as particular stages of the course or learning programme are completed, or at the end, whichever seems appropriate. Where achievement is recorded on an on-going basis, summative assessment may mean bringing all the evidence together, rather than carrying out an additional set of assessment activities.
It can be an uplifting and affirmative experience for learners. It provides the springboard for learning at a more advanced level, learning of a different kind, or progression to other and different activities, such as work.
Click here for an example of summative assessment (11KB)
If you are a Subject Learning Coach, explore with your colleagues creative ways of assessing and celebrating achievement and ways of encouraging learners to consider further learning.