Using results from a survey and focus groups with staff and students, I evaluate best practice for student-focused assessment criteria, including the value of specific assessment criteria, where and when students engage with criteria, the use of exemplars, how assessment criteria connect to feedback and the importance of bringing students more actively into the assessment process. I argue that we need to accept that many students are assessment motivated, and rather than work against this reality (which is rarely successful), we should instead consider how assessment can address student concerns of clarity and fairness while being more tied into learning.