Assessment Service Change Project

How are we collaborating to improve our assessment services?

 

 

Changes are being shaped in open collaboration with colleagues from academic departments, PS divisions and the student body

 

In response to sustained student feedback and staff views, LSE is developing improvements to its assessments process.

The project team is collaborating with staff and students to design enhanced assessment processes and systems which incorporate best practice and expert knowledge from across the School community and wider Higher Education sector.

The project will deliver an in-year resit period by 2019 for first-year undergraduate students and 2020 for all others; along with:

  • Supporting and enabling the rationalisation of the regulatory environment
  • Reducing manual and transactional work undertaken by LSE staff
  • Benefitting students’ experiences with improved, simplified and timelier access to assessments

Transforming assessment: collaborating to enhance the student experience

In everything we do, LSE puts students first, challenges existing ways of thinking and strives to help people achieve their full potential. In that spirit, the changes to assessment services are being shaped in open collaboration with colleagues from academic departments, PS divisions and the student body.

Watch our video to learn about why this project is so important to LSE and how colleagues are sharing expertise from across the School.

Transforming assessment Transforming assessment
How are we improving our assessments infrastructure?

 Download the transcript

 

Find out more

Get in touch with the Business Improvement Unit to find out more and learn how you can get involved.

Look out for progress updates and workshop insights in Staff News.

Academics and professional services staff are consulted on key principles
Academics and professional services staff are consulted on processes and principles.

 

Explore the project timeline

May 2017

LSE Academic Board and LSESU vote ‘yes’ to an in-session resit period and assessment diversification.

December 2017 

LSE commits to improving student experience of examinations, undertake a Programme Review of all undergraduate programmes, develop the LSE Academic Code and run a School Putting Students First communications campaign.

January 2018

The Assessments Service Change project team is formed.

The project will deliver an in-year resit period by 2019 for first year undergraduate students and 2020 for all others; along with regulatory rationalisation, reducing transactional work for LSE staff and benefitting student’s experience with improved access to assessments.

Project methodology emphasises collaboration with staff and students, to design enhanced assessment processes and systems that incorporate best practice and expert knowledge, from across the School community and wider Higher Education sector.

February 2018

The Assessments Service Change project team holds their kick-off workshop. Staff from across the School community get to grips with designing a streamlined process and brainstorm a guiding vision for what assessment services could look like for staff and students in the future.

March 2018

Assessment process experts from across the School collaborate to design an ideal future model for how we deliver assessments and resits at LSE (process mapping workshops).

April 2018

The academic community are invited to consult on the suggested core principles that will underpin assessment services change and resits:

• Number of resit attempts

• Results capping

• Timings of resits

• Assessment methods

• Eligibility 

• Student feedback/support

These are referred to as co-creation workshops.

May 2018

Changes that come out of the workshops in March and April are presented to the wider School community for feedback. These validation workshops are an opportunity to share your views and experiences to help shape and validate changes to our assessment cycle, and ensure your department/team is represented. It’s also an opportunity to understand proposed changes to ways of working and benefits to you and your colleagues. E-mail business.improvement.unit@lse.ac.uk to get involved.

On 30 May, Academic Board agree the Seven Principles of Assessment for Resits which were arrived at following consultation with academic and PS staff at the co-creation workshops.

Summer 2018

Solutions to the proposed changes will be designed, costed and planned, with a business case to fund the development and implementation over the next 2 years. Details will be presented across the School in September.

Michaelmas term 2018

Development work gets underway, with opportunities to see first-hand how the solutions will work and support to deliver the changes in practice.

January 2019

Early implementation of new capabilities in the January exam period with improved operational outcomes.

May 2019

Fine-tuning process takes place in time for the summer exam period, as well as communications/support to academic departments and PSS to deliver the changes that benefit the whole LSE community.

September 2019

In-year resits delivered for all first year undergraduate students.

2020

Further enhancements to the assessments service, with in-year resits delivered for all students.

What's next?

The Assessment Service Change project looks at the entire assessment cycle, capturing knowledge and best practice from academics and PSS across the School, to deliver an in-year resits period and additional assessment enhancements. This is the time to get involved, explore the consequences of suggested principles on your department, share your experience and help shape the outcomes.

Look out for upcoming presentations and feedback opportunities, and email the Business Improvement Unit to get involved.

 

The student journey

The Assessments Service Change project aims to deliver a smoother, timelier student journey through the assessments cycle. The project has mapped out this journey and related procedures in a process map

Principles of assessment for resits

In May 2018, Academic Board approved Seven Principles of Assessment for Resits. The principles are motivated by consistency of practice and cover capping; attempts and repeat teaching; timing; method; eligibility; feedback; support and exam boards. Download the PDF to read about the principles in more detail.

Download 

Validation workshop resources

Academics and PS staff fed back on future assessment scenarios and ideas for how to deliver suggested changes in a series of validation workshops (May-June 2018). Download the PDF workshop presentation to view storyboards for assessment scenarios and the discussion points document to explore the questions considered during workshop conversations.

The validation report sets out the key operational changes for this project and was approved by the Project Board in June 2018. 

Download the workshop presentation

Download the discussion points

Download the full validation report

What do our colleagues think?

"I felt it was important for our department to be represented at the workshop (and those in the near future) to provide the academic staff perspective on key aspects of this process. In particular, there are very important considerations around the timing of the resits and the workload implications."

"The workshop highlighted that this is a big project, but also showed how this is an opportunity to review many different aspects of exams and assessment at LSE and that's exciting."

"Workshops like this allow you to learn more about School-level developments and to be actively involved in the process. It's useful to have dedicated time to think through an issue and to raise queries."

"I was sceptical initially, but it was really worth attending the workshop. As part of improving our teaching and curricula, we need to enable students who cannot take an exam for one reason or another, or who fail one part of assessment, the chance to resit within the same academic year."

"This is going to be an academic and administrative challenge for LSE. But, the workshop really helped me understand how this can be delivered effectively, and how implementing resits will make us think more creatively about all of our assessment and feedback processes."

"It's good to know that the Assessment Service project is in the hands of a dedicated and highly professional team, with the involvement of professional services and academic staff from across the School."

Quotes gathered during co-creation workshops and academic consultation.

Myth-buster

Did you know that this is more than the 'resits project'? Get the facts about the ASCP.

Download myth-buster