Continuous assessment

​Continuous assessment – also referred to as Assessment for Learning or Continuous evaluation – is an approach that builds formal and informal assessment practices into everyday classroom activities to directly encourage learning.

When we hear the word ‘assessment’, we usually think of tests or exams – but these are typically forms of Summative assessment. They are often used to measure attainment, looking back at the end of a term or school year to measure what a student has achieved. They are also used to rank or grade students, measuring success or failure after learning has taken place. This is assessment of learning.

Unlike Summative assessment, Continuous assessment occurs throughout the learning process. It looks forward, using assessment practices to influence the learning journey and help learners make sustained progress, instead of focusing on end results. This is assessment for learning.

Teachers can use a range of different tools and approaches as part of formative assessment. These can include tests and exams, if they are used to gather information that informs the learning process directly. They can also include informal, everyday practices, such as listening to classroom dialogue and asking questions in order to monitor learners’ progress. Teachers can then use the observations gained from these approaches to address problems, monitor the effectiveness of their own practice, target specific areas for improvement, and more.

This information is employed to provide effective feedback that propels learners forwards. Feedback that gives students an awareness of their learning processes can help them become more involved, independent, and effective learners, encouraging self and peer assessment. Research suggests that effective feedback can be one of the most powerful contributors to learning, helping learners reach for their goals, accelerate their progress, and go further.

Continuous assessment offers many benefits to teachers, learners and institutions. These include:

• Higher attainment: Research shows that Continuous assessment practices are among the top ten most impactful elements of classroom teaching, leading to better results and higher exam scores.
• Better insights and continuous progress: Regular informal assessment identifies opportunities for intervention, improvement, extension and reinforcement. With better insights, you can offer personalised support, helping learners improve where they need to and make continuous progress.
• Greater student autonomy: When students understand what success looks like and how to improve, they are able to evaluate their own work, encouraging self-evaluation and self-regulated, lifelong learning.
• A deeper understanding: Students thrive when they understand what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how it fits into their learning journey, fostering a deeper understanding of the knowledge and skills they learn in class.
• More creative and flexible approaches to teaching: With better insights, teachers are able to experiment with more creative and flexible teaching approaches, tailoring lessons to their students’ needs.
• Better mixed ability teaching: Continuous assessment has been shown to narrow the gap between higher and lower achieving students, by helping each learner reach for their goals and progress where they need to.

Continuous assessment is not a completely new approach to teaching – it is a set of practices that enhance learning. Many teachers already use some of these practices as a natural part of their day-to-day teaching. Continuous assessment is about using them regularly and systematically to monitor students, offer feedback and modify teaching decisions.

Continuous assessment is underpinned by the following practices:

• Diagnostics
• Learning Intentions
• Success criteria
• Effective feedback

Diagnostics: Diagnostics is the practice of collecting evidence about what learners know, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and where they can improve. Teachers can do this in a variety of ways: asking questions to measure understanding, monitoring classroom dialogue, investigating errors, and observing classwork to recognise where learners are struggling. Tests and exams can also be used to gather information that directly influences the learning process. The questions students ask can also give a clearer indication of what they understand, so teachers can also encourage them to ask more.

Learning intentions: By communicating a clear learning intention (sometimes known as a learning objective), teachers can help learners understand the value of what they are learning. They should also explain how the lesson supports this objective, and how it fits into the overall learning journey. Learning intentions can be set formally by giving students clear, written objectives, or informally by asking questions such as “Why do you think we are doing this?”

Success criteria: Teachers should also explain what success looks like to help learners understand what they are trying to achieve. They could do this by offering examples of good performance – such as a successful piece of work from an anonymous student – or by asking questions like “What do you think a good essay would include?”. By negotiating or providing clear success criteria, teachers can help students make use of feedback more effectively, assess the standard of their own work, and become more autonomous.

Effective feedback: Research suggests that effective feedback can be one of the most powerful contributors to learning. It can help learners reach for their goals and go further, allowing them to ‘close the gap’ between their current and desired performance. Feedback can be formal (notes on work, report cards, etc.) or informal (oral feedback, classroom dialogue, etc.). Key features of high-quality feedback include:

• It offers detailed advice on how to improve, instead of general comments such as “do better” or “practice your writing skills”.
• It is well timed and clear – it is given to the learner when they will find it most useful, in a format they can relate to.
• It focuses on the learning intention and the next steps the learner can take to meet the success criteria.
• It is achievable and suggests actions that will help the learner improve.

Together, these different elements of Continuous assessment will help learners think for themselves, assess their own progress, and take a more autonomous role in their learning journey.

For students:

• Individual target setting & end-of-unit self-evaluations

• ‘My effort’ activities

• iProgress Check in the Active Learning Kit

For teachers:

• Unit, end-of-term and end-of-year tests at Standard & Challenge levels

• Placement & Specific Competence tests

• Continuous assessment feature in Teacher’s Guide

Learn more by exploring our interactive brochure. 

For students:

• Self-reflection feature at end of review lessons and after tests

• ‘My Learning’ feature in Activity Book

• ‘Keep Learning’ wellbeing strand throughout Class Book & Activity Book

• Progress & self-assessment worksheets

• iProgress Check in the Active Learning Kit

For teachers:

• Unit, end-of-term and end-of-year tests at Standard & Challenge levels

• Placement & Specific Competence tests

• Continuous assessment feature in Teacher’s Guide

Learn more by exploring our interactive brochure. 

For students:

• Self-reflection feature at end of review lessons and after tests

• Self-assessment worksheets

• iProgress Check in the Active Learning Kit

For teachers:

• Unit, end-of-term and end-of-year tests at Standard & Challenge levels

• Placement & Specific Competence tests

• Continuous assessment feature in Teacher’s Guide

Learn more by exploring our interactive brochure.

For students:

• ‘Reflect’ task at end of every unit in Student’s Book

• Reflections Log in Workbook

• 'Take Away’ self-assessment aspect of Project Log

• Writing Workshop model texts and scaffolding

• Project Coach & Learning Record in the Active Learning Kit

For teachers: 

• Unit, end-of-term and end-of-year tests at Basic, Standard & Challenge levels

• Worksheets at Basic, Standard & Challenge levels

• Continuous assessment feature in Teacher’s Guide

• Evaluation rubrics for learning situations on Oxford Premium

For students:

• 'Reflect' feature at end of Learning Situation lessons in Student’s Book

• Self-reflection feature at end of every section in Workbook

• Self-evaluation feature at end of all tests

• iProgress check in the Active Learning Kit

For teachers:

• Unit, end-of-term and end-of-year tests at Basic, Standard & Challenge levels

• Placement & Specific Competence tests

• Continuous assessment feature in Teacher’s Guide

• Evaluation rubrics for learning situations on Oxford Premium

For students:

• Exam skills lessons every unit in Student’s Book & Workbook

• Exam-style exercise types throughout Student’s Book & Workbook and in photocopiable materials

• Self-reflection features at end of Workbook review pages and after tests

• iProgress Check & Exam Practice in the Active Learning Kit

For teachers:

• Unit, end-of-term and end-of-year tests at Basic, Standard & Challenge level

• Specific Competence tests

• Continuous assessment feature in Teacher’s Guide