Being Inclusive in…

Designing Assessments

About this guide

 This guide is aligned to Baseline Standard 3 and the UK Professional

Standards Framework A3: Assess Inclusively.
 The guide is compatible with the Microsoft Immersive Reader and can
be downloaded from OneDrive in PDF or Word format.
 More guides and resources are available
at inclusiveteaching.leeds.ac.uk. 

Consider barriers in assessment design

 Try to ensure that the method of assessment does not put any of your
students at a disadvantage. If you find this to be the case, consider
alternative ways (where practical), for your students to demonstrate
achievement of the learning outcomes.
 The way an assessment is designed may create barriers for some of
your students. Additionally, the skills required to carry out certain types
of assessment may not be related to the learning outcomes. For
example, if the assessment requires group presentations, this may be
a barrier for some of your students who struggle with anxiety or public
speaking.

Offer assessment options within a module

 Provide your students with a choice of assessment methods from the

outset. For example, instead of requiring all of your students to
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 participate in a group presentation, offer them the option of completing
the presentation alone in a one-to-one. Alternatively, you could also
allow them to record their presentation in private or submit a written
format instead.
 This will enable your students to choose assessment formats that
better fit their personal circumstances, learning styles and needs1,2, and
will ensure they can more effectively demonstrate their learning.

Include a variety across a programme

 Use a few different assessment methods throughout a programme.

 Your students may be unfamiliar with some assessment formats so
always provide them with examples of completed assessments so they
have a better understanding of what they are required to do.
 Including variety in your assessments also ensures that the widest
possible group are catered for. Different types of assessment will be
more suited to some of your students than others. For example,
students who are less confident at traditional essay style assessments
may excel in video based assessments.

Avoid ambiguity in assignment briefs and exam questions

 Use the simplest and clearest possible way of asking the question,
separating out multiple questions and clearly indicating the marks
allocated to each part.
 You may have students with autistic spectrum conditions, specific
learning difficulties (SpLDs), cognitive impairments as well as students
who speak English as an additional language. They may find it time
consuming to decode the meaning of the question, leading to
misinterpretation and wasting time3.

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Use e-assessment

 Design computer based assessments where your students can get

instant feedback to check their knowledge and understanding.
Traditional assessments disadvantage an increasing number of
students.3 Electronic methods of assessment allow disabled students
to use their own assistive technology, at their own pace. As the
feedback is automated and factual there is no human interaction
involved which will suit students with autistic spectrum conditions and
some students with mental health conditions.

Assessment tools in Minerva Portal & Virtual Learning Environment

(VLE)

 In Minerva, the Assignment tool is useful for facilitating the submission

of a range of file formats.
 Grade Centre can be used to record and feedback to your students.
 Turnitin is used for submitting and checking the originality of your
students’ text-based assignments and the Turnitin Feedback Studio
enables you to provide your students with both text and audio feedback
(up to 3 minutes).
 Other Minerva tools such as blogs, journals and discussion forums can
also be integrated into both formative and summative assessment
activities and linked with the Grade Centre.
 To learn more, please refer to the Minerva Support website.

Tools to support assessment in Office 365

 The IT Service continue to roll-out Office 365 applications which can be

used to support learning, teaching and assessment.

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 Your students could create digitally accessible assignments using
Microsoft Sway (online presentation software) or a OneNote Notebook.
 Microsoft Forms can be used to create mobile-responsive formative
assessments and through the use of branching, feedback and
signposting to further resources can be incorporated. To learn more
about using Forms for assessment, please refer to Microsoft Forms for
Education (support.office.com).
 The Immersive Reader (also known as Learning Tools) is an assistive
technology available for you and your students to use. It is particularly
useful for your students with SpLDs such as dyslexia and your students
who speak English as an additional language. The tool includes a
range of features for example, the option to read text aloud, change
background colour and font styles, highlight syllables, line focus,
translate into different languages and more. The Immersive Reader is
available in a range of Microsoft apps including Word, OneNote and
Forms. Creating assignment guidelines using Word or OneNote will
therefore make the content more accessible and inclusive.
 To learn more about Office 365 , please refer to Office 365 guides (IT
Knowledgebase).

Include extra time for in-class tests

 Incorporate the needs of your students who have 25% extra time
allocated; this is a standard recommendation for most students with
dyslexia. Do this by shortening the test e.g. from 1hr to 40 minutes so
that those with extra time can still finish within the allotted hour.
 By assuming you will likely have students with dyslexia in your group,
you can reduce the need to make ad hoc arrangements, which may be
time consuming.

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Be explicit about requirements for written English

 In line with the University’s Inclusive Marking Policy, you should let
your students know in advance whether their technical accuracy in
written expression is a specific learning outcome and will therefore be
assessed. Students with SpLDs and students who speak English as an
additional language, will be at a disadvantage where this is the case.
Therefore, those students may need to access additional support in
order to achieve the learning outcomes. The Equality Act 2010
specifies that where disabled students are likely to be put at a
disadvantage due to assessment criteria, the criteria must be genuinely
linked to the subject or discipline being studied. To learn more, please
refer to the Student recruitment, retention and attainment resources
(Advance HE website).
 The guide on “Being inclusive in...marking and giving feedback”
provides further advice on implementing inclusive marking from the
point of assessment design.

Provide detailed assessment criteria

 Be explicit about the requirements and the level of detail, knowledge

and skill that are expected for a high mark. Discuss assessment criteria
with your students at the beginning of the module and explain the
meaning of the criteria.
 Your students will find it difficult to use feedback on their work
constructively if they can’t understand why some areas of their work
are weaker than others. The terms used in assessment criteria are not
always self-explanatory to students.

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Acknowledgements

 Guide written by Dr Say Burgin and Jenny Brady | Updated November

2019 by Kirsten Thompson
 Template designed by Jane Hetherington
 With thanks to Priska Scheonborn and Wendy Miller for allowing us to
adapt their series of guides: Inclusive teaching, learning and
assessment (University of Plymouth website)
 © University of Leeds 2019 | Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0
International (CC BY-NC 4.0)  

References

1. Waterfield, J. and West, B. (2006) Inclusive assessment in higher

education: A resource for change, Plymouth: University of Plymouth.
Available at:
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/3/3026/
Space_toolkit.pdf (Accessed 1 July 2016)
2. Williams, P., Wray, J. Farrall, H. and Aspland, J. 2014. ‘Fit for purpose:
traditional assessment is failing undergraduates with learning
difficulties. Might eAssessment help?’ International Journal of Inclusive
Education, 18 (6), 614-625.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13603116.2013.802029
3. Cannon, H (2016) Examining the needs for, and establishing the
efficacy of, the language modification of exam papers for university
students on the autism spectrum. The Journal of Inclusive Practice in
further and higher education Issue 7. Available at: https://nadp-
uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/JIPFHE.ISSUE-7.pdf [Accessed 30
November 2016]