University assessment and quality assurance

Strategies to improve university assessment for students and educators. Here, academics offer guidance on assessment design, covering formative, summative and diagnostic approaches, authentic assessment and how to give useful feedback. You will also find advice on exam preparation, ungrading, managing GenAI, preventing cheating and upholding academic integrity.

By Eliza.Compton , 1 May, 2026

When the business plan becomes a performance

Hand stopping a line of dominoes falling

Under conventional assessment models in entrepreneurship, continuation of a venture is rewarded and optimism reads as competence, write Ian Solway and Jolyon Nott. But students should be required to demonstrate judgement, not projected success

By kiera.obrien , 30 April, 2026

GenAI has not broken assessment. It has exposed it

A pair of scales showing a balance between a pile of books and an AI bot

An assessment system that rewards polished work above judgement can’t function in an GenAI-enabled world. Here’s how to build one that can

Reading time

4minutes

By Eliza.Compton , 29 April, 2026

GenAI has turned teachers into auditors

Man's hands over laptop keyboard with figures and speech bubbles

When educators have to police how students use AI, and gatekeeping adds to the workload and emotional toll, teaching loses its joy, write Meena Jha and Amara Atif. Here are ways to reclaim the role of educator

Reading time

4minutes

By Eliza.Compton , 28 April, 2026

How to redesign law exams for students with ADHD

Red-headed female student looking unhappy in an exam

Long closed-book examinations are at odds with how the brains of students with ADHD work, writes Malak Benslama-Dabdoub. Here, she explains how to create assessment that tests the target skills

By Laura.Duckett , 28 April, 2026

From theory to judgement: using role play to assess students’ decision-making skills

Students can explain theories. But can they challenge them? A structured role-play approach helps assess critical thinking, professional judgement and decision-making – skills that traditional assessments often miss

Reading time

4minutes

By Laura.Duckett , 23 April, 2026

Students are asking for AI guidance, not just policy

A female student on her laptop smiling to camera

The defining educational challenge of this decade is to equip students to use AI ethically, critically and efficiently, write Mahmoud Elkhodr and Ergun Gide. Here, they offer a way forward

Reading time

4minutes

By Eliza.Compton , 22 April, 2026

How to support students to learn from, with, about and beyond AI

Blocks showing man making path between bombs to idea

Educators should not be competing with chatbots and large language models. Instead, a continuum can help them guide students from passive learning from AI to synthesising information alongside it

Reading time

4minutes

By kiera.obrien , 16 April, 2026

Assessment isn’t a finish line, it’s a learning process

Many assessments only measure what students already know. Here’s how to structure feedback-rich, iterative tasks to help students develop the skills to improve

Reading time

5minutes

By kiera.obrien , 13 April, 2026

An assessment tool to move HR students from theory to practice

HR students need the skills to deal with people. A simulated assessment tool could be the way forward – here’s how

By kiera.obrien , 7 April, 2026

Rethinking laboratory design for accessibility

Students in a lab listen to the instructor

Are lab assessments truly evaluating students’ scientific abilities – or simply their physical agility in an inflexible environment? Find out how to design more accessible biomedical laboratory practices

Reading time

5minutes

University assessment and quality assurance