Implementing authentic and inclusive digital assessment in higher education

Why digital assessment? The Leeds approach

The University of Leeds, a research-intensive institution with approximately 40,000 students, has embarked on a bold mission to make assessments “digital by default.” The goal is not simply to move assessments online but to use digital tools to enhance accessibility, reduce stress, and improve both student and staff experience. According to Pam: 

“As a research-intensive university, we have very, very good students who come to us, but an increasingly diverse set of students,  and we need to be able to cater to all of the students that come to us and support them. So, our assessments really have to be inclusive. We want them to be fair.”

The decision to make digital assessment the norm at Leeds was driven by several factors:

1. Creating an inclusive learning environment: With an increasingly diverse student population, it’s crucial to design assessments that cater to all students, regardless of background or abilities. Digital tools help make content more accessible and provide flexible ways for students to engage with their assessments.

2. Promoting efficiency and fairness: By using digital platforms, both students and staff can track progress more easily. It reduces administrative overhead and provides more transparency into the assessment process. For instance, digital marking allows for real-time tracking of grading progress, giving academic leads a clearer picture of student performance across modules.

3. Maintaining authenticity: Authentic assessment—where students apply knowledge in real-world or creative contexts—has become a central pillar of the Leeds strategy. However, as Samantha, the Digital Assessment Lead, pointed out, authenticity can mean different things depending on the discipline. While some view it as preparation for the workplace, others see it as a means of fostering social justice or applying knowledge creatively.

"We want to use digital technologies to help us to enhance assessment, because we are in a world where we have got more and more students, and we're all having to do more and more things, and digital can make that better for everybody. We really want to use digital technology to help us support and deliver our strategy.” – Pam Birtill, Associate Professor, University of Leeds

Principles of a good assessment system

Before integrating digital technology into the assessment process, it is important to define what constitutes “a good assessment system”. The team at Leeds introduced 6 key principles, namely: 

1. Assess students on program-level skills as well as subject-level knowledge
2. Differentiates student ability satisfactorily in outcomes
3. Rewards synoptic understanding of the subject, stops topics from being discarded
4. Reduces single point-of-failure assessments for students
5. Reduces high-stress situations during assessment for students
6. Keeps staff workload under control, and in particular reduces ‘out of semester’ workload.

Breaking down barriers: Authentic and inclusive design

One of the primary challenges in implementing a digital-first assessment strategy is ensuring that it meets the needs of diverse student groups while maintaining disciplinary integrity. At the University of Leeds, this meant taking a flexible approach to defining what “authentic” assessment looks like in different subjects. Authenticity isn’t limited to simulating workplace tasks; it can also be about encouraging students to use their knowledge in novel, creative ways. The end goal, according to Pam, is that:

"We want to be able to say what the graduates of our university should be able to do. But we also want our assessment to successfully discriminate between students. We want employers and other higher education institutes, where students may go on to do further qualifications, to be able to know who the good students are.”

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So how did the teaching team at Leeds implement a digital-first assessment strategy?

First of all, the team assigned an academic assessment lead within each school with sufficient leadership skills, knowledge, credibility, and reputation to monitor the assessment “within the disciplinary context", as well as to help “drive the centralized change” that they want to achieve across the entire institution. 

Pedagogical conversations are also organized to build a strong community of practices where faculty members can share and exchange insights on digital-enhanced feedback and assessment.

The team also introduces radical changes to assessment, by adopting new approaches namely: Synoptic (programmatic) assessment; Pass-fail assessment; Competence-based approaches; Sprints, Prototypes, Pilots; Co-creating with students

Central to the implementation is the initiative taken to embed digital technologies in certain steps throughout the feedback and assessment processes, which can be grading, giving feedback, reflection, and more. As Samantha remarked, going digital doesn’t mean turning fully remote. Instead, it involves careful consideration of which assessment aspects can be digital.

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Sharing about digital assessment implementation, Professor Samantha Pugh commented: 

“We've been doing some piloting with scanning exam papers and marking them online, and then the return of the marks will be digital, the reflection process might be digital, and then in things like coursework where the student feedback, that could be digital, and that could be video, could be audio, could be written. It is really about encouraging people to think of the whole cycle and where it can be digital.”

Moving beyond grades: Reducing stress and single-point failures

A key aim of the digital assessment strategy at Leeds is to reduce the stress that high-stakes assessments often cause for both students and staff. As remarked by Pam, approximately 30% of students at Leeds experience mental health challenges, many of which are exacerbated by assessments. The university is taking steps to move away from traditional grading systems in favor of more developmental, competency-based assessments.

For instance, in the physics department, the curriculum is being redesigned with a focus on two key components: “threshold testing” and “synoptic assessment”.

‍Threshold testing, or VITAL (Verifiable Indicator of Threshold Abilities and Learning) focuses on testing students’ competence in specific learning outcomes through low-stakes, pass-fail assessments. Students are allowed multiple attempts to pass these tests, reducing the pressure of a single high-stakes exam. Once students have demonstrated competence across all learning outcomes, they move on to the synoptic assessment, which tests their ability to integrate and apply knowledge across the curriculum.

This two-stage approach ensures that students can progress at their own pace while still being challenged to demonstrate deeper understanding and critical thinking in the synoptic assessments. It also helps eliminate single-point failures—those moments when a student’s entire progress hinges on one exam or project—which can disproportionately affect students dealing with personal or academic difficulties.

‍A synoptic assessment is an evaluation method that spans across a broader syllabus or program, rather than being directly tied to individual teaching units. This approach allows students to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the full curriculum. Unlike traditional assessments, synoptic assessments are fully graded and include a mix of terminal assessments—typically 2-3 papers featuring longer, integrative questions—and substantive coursework such as lab reports and presentations.

Students who have successfully passed the VITALs, having demonstrated a threshold attainment of all learning outcomes, are guaranteed a minimum score of 40%. This assures that they have met the basic standards of competence. However, synoptic assessments play a crucial role in determining degree classifications beyond a basic pass, allowing students to showcase their higher-level knowledge and skills across the entire program.

Digital assessment in practice: Authentic assessment in Psychology course

Using this approach, Samantha transformed her Biological Psychology module to focus on authenticity and inclusivity. 

“Biological psychology is normally really quite scientific, really quite dry, and often considered in isolation from the real world. We wanted to kind of take this and turn it upside down.”

Here is how the module was transformed: 

The flipped classroom approach was used to initiate active engagement and preparation among students, helping them to acquire certain understanding of the topic before working on the assignments. 

Rather than relying on traditional exams, students were tasked with group projects with authentic elements, such as discussing a topic using any means they like (podcast, presentation, poster, etc.), or developing a hypothetical guide for NASA on assessing alien intelligence. This approach allowed students to apply their knowledge creatively and collaboratively, fostering both deeper engagement with the material and a stronger sense of belonging within the group.

‍Group work played a key role in making these assessments more inclusive. Students were assigned to groups to avoid the cliques or social isolation that can sometimes arise, especially among international students or minorities. Additionally, group check-ins were built into the process to foster open communication and create a safe learning environment for the students. A learning contract was also applied at the beginning of the module to allow students to negotiate and find common ground among themselves. 

According to Samantha, the fact that students could choose the topic of focus and the mode of assessment that they preferred was also key to ensuring the inclusivity element. 

“Why was this inclusive? So, it was inclusive because students had a choice. They had choices about their topics. They had choices about what it was they were going to be submitting, and how they would submit it.”

This new assessment design brought several benefits to the teachers, from maintaining academic integrity amid the rise of AI, closing the awarding gap between non-white and white students, reducing the grading workload, and promoting social cohesion among the cohort. 

The changes were positively welcomed by the students, as they found the interactive workshops, authentic assignments, and group work beneficial to their skills development and knowledge acquisition. 

“I am in full support of reducing the emphasis on knowledge as something you need to pass exams, and instead prompting students to flexibly apply our knowledge in different more 'life-like' contexts.”  – Student response

Co-creation and collaboration: Involving students in the process

A standout feature of the Leeds approach to digital assessment is its emphasis on co-creation. The university actively involves students in the design and testing of new assessment models through pilots, prototypes, and feedback sessions. Samantha explained how Leeds uses human-centered design approaches, including design sprints, where students provide input on how assessment communication and processes could be improved.

This collaborative process helps ensure that assessments are not just something done for students but something done with them. It also breaks down traditional silos between academics, professional services, and students, creating a more integrated and supportive learning environment.

Embracing digital tools for the future

While digital assessments offer many benefits, implementing them comes with challenges. Staff training, changing old habits, and ensuring that digital tools meet the needs of various departments are ongoing issues that require careful management. However, the advantages of digital assessments—greater accessibility, more efficient workflow, and enhanced student engagement—make the investment worthwhile.

Leeds has already begun piloting new technologies, such as scanning exam papers for digital marking, incorporating video and audio feedback, and creating digital assessment maps to help students track their progress. By embedding digital processes across the entire assessment lifecycle, the university is not only improving the quality of its assessments but also preparing students for the increasingly digital world they will enter after graduation.

Towards a more inclusive and effective future

The digital assessment strategy at the University of Leeds exemplifies how universities can adapt to meet the changing needs of students and society. By focusing on inclusivity, authenticity, and the thoughtful integration of digital tools, Leeds is creating a more equitable and effective assessment environment. The journey is not without its challenges, but by involving students in the process and fostering collaboration across departments, the university is setting a model for others to follow.

For educators looking to implement similar strategies, the key takeaway from the webinar is that successful digital assessment requires flexibility, creativity, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Whether it’s developing group assessments that foster creativity and collaboration or reducing stress through competency-based models, the future of assessment is one where students are empowered to demonstrate their knowledge in ways that are both meaningful and manageable.