Dr Edd Pitt and Professor Kathleen M. Quinlan, academics in the University of Kent’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education, authored the latest in a series of high-profile literature reviews from Advance HE.

Their review, focused on enhancing assessment and feedback practices in higher education, launched on 19 May.  Based on 481 empirical studies published from 2016-2021, it is a timely and comprehensive resource for higher education practitioners and policy makers.

The review concludes with a series of evidence-based recommendations for educators, policymakers, and researchers in the field.

According to Stuart Norton, Senior Adviser Learning and Teaching, Advance HE, “the authors have done an excellent job of providing details and explanations of each [recommendation], ultimately with a view to rethinking and repositioning assessment strategies, processes, and practices across the sector.”

In an accompanying blog, Quinlan and Pitt reflect on the process of completing the review.  In two companion podcasts, they discuss high level messages from the review, explaining key principles and offering examples of practices that illustrate those principles.  They will present webinars on 9 June.

Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Education and Student Experience at the University of Kent welcomed the report, “it offers valuable and insightful guidance on the steps we need to take as a University and a sector to ensure assessment and feedback best serve our students’ learning. It will guide our own review of assessment and feedback policy and practices at the University of Kent in the coming year. We hope colleagues will begin that process at this year’s Learning and Teaching Conference on 20 June, which Dr Pitt and Professor Quinlan have organised around these themes.”

Sign up to the conference on the 20 June.

Advance HE is a charity that works with institutions and higher education across the world to improve higher education for staff, students, and society. A membership organisation, it enrols more than 500 higher education and research institutions around the world, including most UK higher education providers.

This literature review is being showcased as a member benefit, ensuring wide dissemination among key stakeholders. To retrieve these resources, simply login using an email address from a member institution.