ABSTRACT
Principles of assessment were introduced in Unit 6.1, which highlighted the importance that this aspect of education has assumed since the Education Reform Act of 1988 (ERA 1988). This Act included the publication of a report by the Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT) recommending strategies for assessing and reporting pupils’ progress in the National Curriculum (NC) in England (DES/WO, 1988). This unit looks at the particular role, function and nature of external assessment and examinations. Before reading this unit we suggest you work through Unit 6.1. The relationship between the NC and the subject of this unit is a key one to understand and you should refer also to Unit 7.3 which focuses on the NC of England.
