Your course coordinator and course description will outline the different types of assessment strategies that will take place and should discuss briefly the values of each. These could include:

(a) self-assessment – assessing your own work;

(b) peer assessment – assessed by your classmates or by students a year or two ahead in the same programme, or

(c) tutor-assessment - by your lecturer, tutor, placement preceptor or laboratory /postgraduate demonstrator. There is tremendous potential to learn from all types of assessment. Self-assessment is a very effective way of identifying what is required of you and encourages you to evaluate your ability against the stated requirements. Peer-assessment benefits the assessor aswell as nd the assessed. By internalising the assessment criteria the assessor can learn from assessing your work (as you can from assessing their work). It can provide motivation to do better and confidence in your own ability. Tutor-led assessment is the form of assessment you are probably most familiar with. It can provide a reality check and help calibrate self- and peer-assessment.

You may be

(a) assessed against your own personal best/highest standard – ipsative assessment;

(b) against your peers – normative assessment or

(c) against a set of predetermined criteria – criterion based assessment. While you might compare your marks to those of your peers, the assessment that is generally applied is criterion based, with criteria set by your course team, placement preceptors or registration bodies (e.g. PSI, MCI or NMBI)