Assessment 

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment guides the student towards a thorough understanding of the subject matter, and helps the student prepare for examinations (summative assessment) by learning how to approach a problem and present their response.

Formative assessment takes many forms, including:

• Feedback in tutorials and classes to student’s essays and prepared work. This may take the form of annotations on their work, or extended discussions of the student’s argument, drawing in contributions from other students in the tutorial group.
• Colleges hold informal examinations at the start of each term on material that students have covered in the previous term. These are known as Collections. They give students the opportunity to practise their examination technique and to compare their performance with their college peers.

Summative assessment

Summative assessment consists of two sets of examinations, which all students on the degree programme undertake. The first set of examinations is held at the end of the first year, known as Prelims. Students may re-sit once only the exams that they have failed.

The second set of examinations, Finals, takes place at the end of the third year of study. The outcome of these examinations determines the students’ final degree classification. There is no opportunity for re-sits.