Universities are working hard to offer alternative assessments. Assessments are decided months in advance and changing them at such short notice is very challenging. Well done everyone who is working on this. Inclusivity is still really important. Here are 3 best practice steps:

1. Does the new assessment type match the formative teaching strategies?

You planned a different assessment, but does the new one still assess the ways in which the students engaged with the material this semester? If it doesn't, do something about it or don't use it.

2. Have you communicated clearly what the new expectations are?

Whether it's a students first or last assessment at university, you need to tell students what the expectations of the assessment form are, how it is assessing knowledge and why it is being used.

3. What barriers are presented by the new assessment?

What about students with physical/mental health issues? Students with caring responsibilities? Students with SpLDs? Students who have to work? To the best of your ability, can all students engage with this assessment equally?

eg if you've gone from an exam to an essay. Can students get feedback in advance? They can't access library materials as normal, so what's the expected number of sources? Have you shared a referencing guide? Have your students with SpLDs got assistive technology on their laptops?