The Assessment for the Future (AFF) project was established in 2021, recognising that assessment is integral to the student journey at the University of Manchester, however student feedback tells us there is still a way to go. Therefore, assessment and feedback are among our key operational and strategic priorities. This was a central message in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission, highlighting its importance in student experience.
AFF is co-chaired by Gabrielle Finn (Associate Vice President for Teaching, Learning, and Students) and Jen McBride (Academic Theme Lead for Teaching Excellence), reporting directly to the Teaching and Learning Strategy Group (TLSG).
The activity of AFF centres upon the principles from the Assessment Framework, approved at Senate in 2024. The principles below provide the foundation for assessment and feedback at the University:
- Relevant assessment: constructively aligning assessment within the context of the programme material and discipline, with a mix of formative and summative opportunities. Effective assessment should be authentic and have real-world application.
- Inclusive and accessible assessment: the importance of fair and transparent assessment processes that are accessible to all students. Clear communication and evaluation approaches, facilitating student understanding and eliminating potential disadvantages. A supportive and inclusive environment should be cultivated that considers wellbeing in the design and delivery of assessment.
- Trustworthy assessment: upholds academic integrity through compliance with University regulations, policies and procedures, as well as external regulation such as Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs). Enables students to demonstrate achievement of ILOs so that robust and timely decisions can be made on student attainment, progression, and outcomes.
AFF so far:
Cadmus
Lead: Gabrielle Finn
Cadmus, a secure online assessment platform integrated with our Central Learning Environment (currently Blackboard but transitioning to Canvas), is now available University-wide.
Since the successful roll-out, there has been an increase in the use of Cadmus. To date there have been 111 assessments released to students and overall 156 assessments which represents +39% growth compared to the same period last year.
During Semester 1 2024-25, there has been 21,234 submissions, a significant increase from 2023-24 which saw 7,741 submissions. Overall, for Semester 1, there was a 95.9% positive student experience rating.
Following the successful Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) pilot exam in May 2024 in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health with a 93% student experience score and positive feedback from unit academic staff, the central IT team is planning to trial the LockDown Browser exam functionality of Cadmus.
A student, Level 7 module in Engineering Project Management (Faculty of Science and Engineering) remarked, 'It was a positive experience that improved my confidence in the quality of my work by making the process more integrated and making the guidance more accessible.'
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For more information, please visit our Cadmus page or read the full ITL Case Study.
If you are interested in using Cadmus, please request to join our Teams space or email teaching.learning@manchester.ac.uk
Differential Attainment
Lead: Gabrielle Finn and Adam Danquah
Differential attainment is the variation in attainment between student groups who share protected characteristics and those who do not share the same characteristic. This research has been conducted to better understand how we can support the attainment, progression, and continuation of our students.
The research revealed a number of expected and unexpected areas where differential attainment has been identified. Key findings include:
- Financial Challenges
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Lack of Representation
- Disabilities and Learning Environment
- Cultural and Linguistic Barriers for International Students
- Basic Physical and Cultural Needs
What initiatives are we developing?
A new Student Voice Strategy, co-created with the Students' Union has been launched. The SVS centres on empowerment, accountability, and authentic engagement.
A representation toolkit will be developed, with a focus on race and disability. The resources will cover two types of representation: 1. Direct representation of minoritised groups within materials such as assessment questions and scenarios; 2. Representation through universal design principles in assessment methodologies. The toolkit will be embedded within our new assessment platform, Cadmus, and the University's Assessment Toolkit.
Many of the recommendations in the forthcoming report will feed into AFF activity, including Group Work Working Group, Optionality, and Rubrics Excellence Project.
Recommendations
- Financial support
- Mental health resources
- Diversity and representation initiatives
- Improved accessibility for students with disabilities
- Support for international students
- Culturally relevant services
Multimedia content
Multimedia content relating to this project can be accessed here. This includes video of student panels discussing differential attainment, and animations of student case studies. Voiced poems on the lived experiences of students with disabilities are also available on SoundCloud.
More information
- Check out the Instagram post
- Read the short summary report
- Read the full report
- Watch the Townhall with Duncan Ivison: What does student success look like?
- Watch the conversation on why student success isn't equal and what is being done about it
- Read the poetic inquiry paper on disabled students' experiences with Megan Brown
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EAR 1.0
Lead: Jen McBride
The Enhancing Assessment Review (EAR) project began as a small-scale proof-of-concept pilot (EAR 1.0) which ran in the School of Biological Sciences in Spring of 2024. This pilot project took a holistic view of assessment in Semester 1 of Year 2 across two undergraduate programmes – BSc Pharmacology and BSc Zoology – and made recommendations to improve assessments to the programme teams in time for the 2024-25 academic year.
This process resulted in:
- removal of 11 summative assessment points across 4 course units
- removal of 11 summative assessment points across 4 course units
- improved the balance of summative with formative assessment across these units
- reduced summative assessment bunching in Week 12 of the semester
- identified creative and authentic assessments for wider dissemination
- increased the weighting of these creative and authentic assessments to better reflect students’ effort and skills development.
Assessment Showcase (Student Comms)
The Assessment and Feedback Change Project is a multi-year project led by the Students' Union, aimed at transforming assessment and feedback practices across the University. The project started in October 2023 and is a collaborative effort between the University and the Students' Union elected Officers to address key student concerns and enhance the overall assessment experience.
The Assessment and Feedback Change Project was initiated based on consistent feedback from students that assessment and feedback were major areas requiring reform. The project outlines a series of recommendations to be implemented over the next few years.
Recommendations are informed by extensive data from sources like the National Student Survey (NSS), the 'BuildYourMCR' (BYMCR) survey, focus groups with School Representatives, and the new 'EducateMCR' survey.
This is a collaborative, student-focused initiative. The Students' Union is welcoming feedback and involvement from students, staff, and faculty throughout the process.
Their vision is to create a fair, timely, and effective assessment and feedback system that supports student success and enhances the overall educational experience at the University of Manchester.
Their 'What Matters: Assessment and Feedback' paper is now complete and available to read.
If you would like to contact the project team for further information, please email your query to the SU Officers:
- humsofficer.su@manchester.ac.uk
- fbmhofficer.su@manchester.ac.uk
- fseofficer.su@manchester.ac.uk
AI Working Groups
The AI Working Groups met in May, June, and July 2023. Recommendations from those working groups have been fed into the AFF steering group and will also feed into the Assessment Framework Review. AI Teaching Guidance was released in October 2023, and summaries of the AI Teaching Guidance for staff and students have been created.
The AFF steering group are also feeding into the new AI strategy group - Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning Strategy Subgroup (AITLSS).
Students may find the library resource on AI guidance useful.
What's now and next?
Group Work
Lead: Jen McBride
The Group Work Working Group was established in response to a report delivered by the Student's Union (What Matters: Assessment and Feedback Change Project), which identified group work as a source of anxiety and perceived inequity for students and proposed a discontinuation of group work assessments at the University.
Given the importance of group work for students’ development and employability, the GWWG was established to investigate:
- how group work can be enhanced and made to be more effective
- how colleagues can best support students with group work/assessment
- how colleagues can communicate the value of group work to students
Academic and PS colleagues from across all faculties are working to review literature and best practice within and beyond UoM, and develop evidence-informed materialsto support colleagues in the design, delivery and assessment of group work and assessments. The group is developing a searchable Articulate Rise resource and an infographic that can be shared internally and externally. These will also be housed in the Assessment Toolkit and is on schedule to be delivered at the start of the academic year 2025/26.
Working with Cadmus’ product development team, we are developing and piloting a number of solutions to our group work problem statements. Further details of the development plan can be viewed here.
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Enhancing Assessment Review 2.0
Lead: Jen McBride
Following the initial EAR pilot (EAR 1.0) and at the request of the School Director of Education, this pilot has been rolled out (EAR 2.0) across Years 2 and 3 of all undergraduate programmes in the School of Biological Sciences. This review ran between September 2024 to February 2025. With engagement from programme directors, unit coordinators, Professional Services colleagues, and input from student reps, the review team considered the assessments for lecture-based units in Years 2 and 3 across 15+ UG Biosciences programmes (65 course units) and made recommendations to enhance those assessments.
Recommendations and changes have been discussed and approved through the usual Quality Assurance processes in the School, and will be implemented and delivered to students from September 2025. We estimate that – overall – the changes made through the EAR process result in around 506 fewer marking hours (or around 68 fewer days of marking, based on a 7.5 hr working day), or around 2,018,320 fewer assessment-words. So far, the changes recommended by the team have been well-received by students, academic staff, and professional services staff.
To reach maximum gains from EAR, the process could be scaled up and rolled out further across the institution, following a framework similar to the EAR 1.0 and 2.0 processes with a small team carrying out the review and making recommendations. This could be embedded as an element of the continuous monitoring or periodic review of programmes processes, and ad-hoc reviews as needed. A small team could be established in each faculty or perhaps centrally to carry out reviews; the original EAR team could provide ongoing training.
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Rubrics Excellence Project (REP)
Lead: Gabrielle Finn
The Rubrics Excellence Project (REP) has been created to address the commonly encountered issues with the use of rubrics in assessment. Early conversations identified inconsistent use of rubrics and issues around a lack of student-friendly mark schemes and personalised feedback. Students report not understanding the language and descriptors used within many rubrics.
The Students' Union are preparing a briefing which will identify key values and priorities. The SU noted that students value consistency and a tailored approach to feedback. The REP group will produce a UoM specific definition of rubrics to demystify the role of rubrics in assessment. Resources for students and staff on the importance, use, and accessibility of rubrics including an overview of the relevant supporting literature will be co-created with students to capture student voice.
There will be work to capture the reality and the ideal: what do we want the rubric to do and what is it actually doing? How do colleagues want it to be used instead of how is it actually being used?
Suggested outputs include content for the Assessment Toolkit, a literature review, guidance documents, staff workshops, as well as a database with templates that can be adopted and adapted.
Contact
If you have any queries or would like further information about a specific project, please contact Monique Sung or Cara Banerji-Parker in the Teaching Excellence team.
email: teaching.learning@manchester.ac.uk / monique.sung@manchester.ac.uk / cara.banerji-parker@manchester.ac.uk