Assessment and Feedback Principles at LSE

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Is flexibility designed in at a programme level to allow students to demonstrate learning in ways that align with their personal and professional journey? 

• Across a programme, are there a variety of assessment methods (such as individual and group projects, presentations and portfolios) that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and competencies in different ways and prepares them for various professional future scenarios? 

• Are there regular opportunities for programme teams to participate in assessment review sessions? 

• Do you use assessment visualisations to reflect upon possible congestion or points of stress? 

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• Programme-focused assessment environment

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Are assessments designed to test whether students are working towards / have met course learning outcomes?

• Are course level assessments reviewed / mapped against programme-level learning outcomes to ensure alignment? 

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• Programme-focused assessment environment

• Formative and summative assessment at course level

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Are assessment tasks designed to mirror real-world professional challenges? 

• Do assessment tasks draw on colleagues’ research interests, activities and networks? 

• Are there opportunities for students to engage with global perspectives and case studies through their assessment tasks?

• Are disciplinary developments mirrored in meaningful assessment tasks? 

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• Making choices about assessment design

• Assessment methods

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Are assessments designed to ensure fairness, transparency, and academic honesty? 

• Do course design, classroom teaching and formative activities all support a culture of ethical responsibility and academic integrity in assessment? 

• Are some assessment methods more vulnerable to misconduct? 

 If you would like to take forward this Principle, please see the following pages: 

• Assessment methods
  

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Has prior consideration been given to any barriers students might face when undertaking assessments? 

• Are assessment tasks, criteria and rubrics clear, accessible and available well in advance so that students understand the format of the assessment and how they will be assessed? 

• Are any potential barriers, particularly around high-stress assessment points, that might impact student mental health, clearly identified? 

• Across a programme, are there a range of assessment methods – well scaffolded with formative opportunities to practise – which recognise and support all students’ needs? 

• Is there optionality in assessment type to allow students to play to their strengths and enable reasonable adjustments to be easily supported? 

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• Inclusive assessment

• Assessment methods

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Do formative tasks enable students to develop their understanding of summative requirements? 

• Do formative tasks provide students with the opportunity to learn, experiment and grow? 

• Are rubrics used consistently across formative and summative assessments? 

• Does feedback on formative tasks connect current performance to summative expectations? 

• Are there opportunities for peer feedback and self-assessment to help students understand assessment standards and develop evaluative judgment? 

If you would like to take forward this Principle, please see the following page: 

• Formative and summative assessment at course level

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Are assessments planned in meaningful ways to support learning, including a consideration of preparation time, feedback points, and opportunities for students to apply learning between assignments? 

• Are assessments timed both to support student success and manage staff workload? 

• Are assessment visualisations used to help coordinate across a programme, avoiding assessment bunching? 

• Are structured opportunities for students to reflect on and apply feedback designed into courses to ensure feedback is used effectively? 

 If you would like to take forward this Principle, please see the following page: 

• Effective feedback

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Are digital tools integrated throughout the assessment environment, based upon the affordances of each tool and platform? 

• Are digital tools and platforms used, where appropriate, to create innovative and interactive assessments that develop students’ digital literacies and are reflective of workplace practices? 

• Are digital literacies and ethical considerations embedded into assessment tasks, with clear guidelines for data privacy and attribution? 

• Are a range of feedback modes used as appropriate, including for example automated marking and standardized comment banks? 

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• Assessment, feedback and technology 

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Are assessment guidelines and criteria clear, detailed and consistently communicated across all platforms? 

• Are guidelines and criteria sufficiently accessible and clear to ensure students feel well prepared and supported? 

• Are course / programme / Departmental positions on generative AI clearly articulated and regularly updated to reflect the latest developments and ethical considerations? 

• Are there regular updates and transparent communications with students to foster an environment of high academic standards, promoting the the values of LSE’s scholarly community, and an ethical culture of personal responsibility? 

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• Marking and moderation

Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on: 

• Are assessments reviewed frequently and systematically evaluated using a variety of data sources, including student performance and progression data, and feedback from students? 

• Is benchmarking against other institutions periodically undertaken to ensure that assessments are innovative and reflect current educational trends? 

• Do staff engage with professional development on new assessment approaches and technologies? 

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• What’s next?