Why it is important to know how your school assesses you

When an assignment is given to us, we’ve all said or heard things like:

“I’ve got a great idea about what I want to write about, so I’m just going to go for it!”

“It’s better to get something down on paper and just go from there.”

“I did one like this last year, so I’ll do what I did then.”

Although it is always good to brainstorm ideas, we have to make sure that they are within the parameters set by the teacher/examiner. You don’t want to start off in the wrong direction and have to start all over again or throw away a lot of the work that you’ve done. Starting off on the wrong path ultimately costs you time, effort, and you can lose the marks that you deserve. 

If you have had to delete work before that didn’t fit what was expected of you, you know how hard it is!

But never hold onto a mistake, no matter how long you spent making it.

So, starting off on the right track is super-important. Preparation is key, time spent preparing is never wasted, and some time spent now organising your ideas will pay dividends in the end. 

This article is about the importance of knowing what is expected of you in any task. 

If you find yourself reading or writing about something you haven’t been taught, go back to the task sheet and recheck the task description. Always double check that you know what you are meant to be doing!

Try putting the task title on a sticky-note and keep it on your monitor or writing-pad to make sure that all of your work is focused on the right topic.

Teachers often use a rubric as a scoring tool to make sure that they are marking their students fairly, and marks are awarded fairly both within the class and also between classes in the same year. This way, you know that your friends’ marks are given in the same way as your own, even if you have different teachers. 

Rubrics and mark schemes are guidelines that clearly show the assessment criteria. When rubrics are shared, both the teachers and students know what is expected from them to get the top marks for each piece of work. Rubrics provide a standardised 'framework' that defines different levels of performance, along with specific descriptions or indicators of what you need to do to reach each level.

Your teacher might even circle parts of the rubric to show you what level you received for your work. Click here to see an example rubric and how the teacher used it.

As noted above, taking the time to look at the rubric that will be used to assess your work helps in several ways, including:

1. Clarity: Rubrics clearly outline the expectations and criteria for a particular task or assignment, providing you with a clear understanding of what is expected of you to get the top marks in each task.

2. Consistency: Rubrics help ensure consistent and fair evaluation by different assessors or teachers. By providing specific criteria and descriptions for each level of performance, rubrics help teachers assign marks fairly.

3. Feedback: Rubrics facilitate the provision of constructive feedback. You can easily identify areas where you have done well and areas where you need to improve based on the criteria outlined in the rubric. This feedback can help you develop your writing and understand how you can improve your work to reach the higher levels.

4. Goal Setting: Rubrics can be used as a springboard to jump to the next assessment level. Set specific goals and targets based on the feedback from your last piece of work and use the rubric to understand how to get to the next level.

5. Self-Assessment: Rubrics let you to assess your own work. By using the rubric as a guide, you can even use a Critical Friend to evaluate each other’s performance. 

Overall, rubrics offer a transparent and structured way to assess and evaluate student work, so if your school uses them, so should you! 

If your school doesn’t share rubrics or mark schemes with you, pay close attention to how the assignment is introduced. 

Write down the key words and any expectations (like topic area, word-length, number of pages/slides, whether or not to include diagrams) given — either in writing or verbally. You can always ask your teacher to clarify any points you are unsure about.

Use Rubrics to improve your academic performance

'Improving academic performance' obviously means getting better marks in class, but it also means that you are getting better at how you listen, prepare, and go about the required tasks in school. 

Teachers know that this not only helps set you up for life after school but also improves your grades AND gives you more free time now!

Understanding how your school assess you will give you a massive boost in your academic performance. It is one of the quickest ways to jump up to the higher marks.

Here are some key points to consider when you get a new task in class. These can also be applied to how you plan your answers in exams.

How you will be assessed helps you understand what you need to do. Between subjects and even within the same subject, tasks vary in their type, structure. Depending on the type of assignment, how you show your understanding  of the course content varies, from written exams, online quizzes, project portfolios, essays, presentations, to practical demonstrations. 

Each type of assessment has its own requirements and tests different parts of your knowledge, skills, and understanding from the current course syllabus. Make sure you have understood what you need to do for each task you are given. For example, an exam answer will require much fewer words than an essay! Use the amount of marks available to guide you.

Make sure that your response to the task (essay, presentation, project portfolio) aligns with the learning objectives and course content you have covered in class. The teacher should ensure that you have the opportunity to show your knowledge of the content using appropriate skills that use what they have taught you. 

Use the task as an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the course content. Clearly show that you are not just simply relaying details from the course but you are using your knowledge to complete the task.

Show you can link the course-content to real-life examples. This will really show that you understand what you have been taught and that you can use the knowledge in new and novel situations. 

Using real-world examples shows that you have engaged with the course and have conducted further research on the topic — you have not just recited sections of your course notes. 

Task-outputs that include real-life scenarios help you to connect your learning to practical applications, which not only demonstrates deep understanding but also helps you to remember the content for exams! You will show the assessor your critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, which are often the crucial skills needed to access the higher levels of rubrics.

That's OK! We all have different strengths and weaknesses and all students have diverse learning styles and things they are good at. 

Schools should use different types of tasks to help those with different learning styles to show their understanding in different ways. Not everyone is good at exams! For example, visual learners may benefit from assessments that incorporate diagrams or visual representations, like making an infographic. While kinesthetic learners may be great at design or lab-based assessments. 

Use the feedback you get from previous tasks you found difficult (from any subject) to help you see where you can improve and what techniques you need to practise to improve your marks and make your academic life easier.

Whatever task you have been given, always use all the help you have been given. You should be able to identify what part of the course content you are expected to show understanding of from the task title, the task description and the key words used. Then you should use the rubric or mark scheme to understand how you have to complete the task to get the top marks.

You will soon find that this approach not only boosts your marks overall, but you will feel more confident that you can do your school work really well. You will be less likely to feel that overwhelming sense of being lost at the start of a task (we all know about it — it’s normal!). 

Knowing what is expected of you will help you to plan your time wisely, giving you more free time to do what you enjoy along with receiving great marks for your work.

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