Rethinking assessment: what's possible with Cadmus

26 Aug 2026

New Cadmus features are opening up fresh approaches to assessment and feedback. Find out what's possible and book onto a September session to see it in practice.

Assessment is one of the most powerful tools we have for supporting student learning. It's how students show what they know, build their skills, get meaningful feedback and prepare for what comes after University.

It's also changing. Across the sector, and here at Manchester, colleagues are rethinking how assessment can better reflect the range of skills students actually develop, and how to make it more authentic and more inclusive while they're at it. Some of that work is practical, and it comes down to having tools that make a new approach easier to design and run.

Where Cadmus comes in

Cadmus is one of the tools available to colleagues looking to develop and deliver assessment in new ways. Recent updates have widened what it can do. It now supports group work assessment, oral assessments and draft submission marking, and has added features that take some of the manual effort out of the assessment process.

The useful thing about a tool like this is what it lets you do. You can build an assessment around the learning outcomes you're actually aiming for, try something you couldn't easily do before, and adjust how you give feedback as your teaching changes. Whether you already use Cadmus or have never opened it, it's a practical way to see how assessment and feedback can develop.

Learn from colleagues across the University

Recent showcase sessions have shown how many different ways colleagues are already using Cadmus in their teaching, and what support is there when it comes to designing and delivering assessments. They're a good way to see what works in practice and hear it first-hand from people who've done it.

There are more sessions through the year too, including workshops, information sessions and faculty showcases, all of them a chance to see examples from across the University and work out where Cadmus might fit what you teach.

Upcoming September sessions

A series of introductory sessions runs through September, tailored to colleagues in each faculty:

• Cadmus Information Session (Humanities) — Tuesday 22 September, 11am to 11.45am, online
• Cadmus Information Session (Biology, Medicine and Health) — Wednesday 23 September, 11am to 11.45am, online
• Cadmus Information Session (Science and Engineering) — Thursday 24 September, 11am to 11.45am, online
• Cadmus Assessment Workshop — Monday 28 September, 11am to 11.45am, online
• Cadmus Workshop: Multi-Format Assessments and Exams — Wednesday 30 September, 11am to 11.45am, online

These are just the start. There'll be more assessment workshops, multi-format sessions and faculty showcases through Semester One and into the new year.

Find out more

If you want to see how a different approach to assessment could work for your teaching, these sessions are a chance to look at real examples, ask questions and find out what support is there.

Visit the Institute of Teaching and Learning's upcoming events page to see the full programme and book your place.