This paper examines the King's Oxfordshire Assessment Project, which took place in the UK and explored the use of coursework as a means of terminal assessment. In particular, it considers the findings of the six English teachers who were involved. In a standards-based curriculum all six teachers supported 100% coursework. The paper looks at how,…

Recent policy developments in England have, to some extent, relaxed the hold of external, high-stakes assessment on teachers of students in the early years of secondary education. In such a context, there is the opportunity for teachers to reassert the importance of teacher assessment as the most reliable means of judging a student's abilities. A…

This article looks at the controversial starting of testing, its boycott, the subsequent years of protest and, in October 2008, the apparent end of key stage examining in England. It considers a possible alternative to the tests based on a project carried out at King's College London based on portfolio assessment.