http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/education/8460189.stm

In this article, private schools are described as wanting to move away  from modular A-Levels towards “traditional” assessment by exam at the  end of two years. In HE there has been an emphasis on coursework that  parallels the intake experience; in the case of degrees that I teach  on, very few exams at all. I suspect that other awards in NBS might be  towards the other extreme.

At our recent revalidation event for the games degree, the status of  formative assessment and diversity of assessment styles was raised.  This, and keeping a close eye on developments in Secondary Education  (being a former school teacher you can never give it up completely),  has made me wonder whether a similar swing towards examinations might  be possible/desirable/predictable at Newport.

Personally, I believe the form of assessment should fit the form of  the learning, or for more vocational awards the form in which  application of the knowledge will take place. I’d be interested in  just how often colleagues review assesment strategies at award and module level. I suspect it is and should be far more frequently than  quinquennial revalidations.