Policy writing assessments are increasingly used as an alternative or supplementary method of assessment within the teaching of politics and policy. Such assessments, often referred to as 'policy briefs' or 'briefing memos', are often used to develop writing skills and to encourage active learning of policy-related topics among students. While they can be readily adapted to different teaching and learning contexts, it can be challenging to make appropriate design choices to implement policy writing assessments so that are able to meet the learning aims of students. This article sets out a heuristic framework, derived from the existing literature on policy writing assessments to help clarify these choices. It advocates for viewing assessment design as embedded within course design and emphasises the pedagogical and contextual aspects of assessment design. To illustrate how this heuristic framework can help those involved in course design, this article concludes with a reconstruction of the design process for a policy writing assessment in an undergraduate course on Global Energy Politics.