Understanding and Applying Assessment in Education

Designed as a pragmatic guide for new teachers and those training to teach, this book is a one-stop-shop for understanding assessment in primary and secondary schools, supported by a range of policy examples drawn from the UK, Ireland and wider international contexts.



All teachers are responsible for assessing the children they teach, and the outcomes of any assessment are important for individual learners, schools and wider education systems.

Designed as a pragmatic guide for new teachers and those training to teach, this book is your one-stop-shop for understanding assessment in schools. It covers formative and summative approaches used across primary and secondary education, supporting a balanced overview with policy examples drawn from the UK, Ireland and wider international contexts.

This updated second edition reflects recent trends in assessment and includes:

• more balanced coverage across primary and secondary age phases with a broader range of examples across curriculum subject areas
• a new chapter on the potential of digital assessment for both formative and summative purposes
• the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on assessment in general, and examinations in particular

Damian Murchan is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Trinity College Dublin.
Gerry Shiel is a Research Fellow at the Educational Research Centre, Dublin, Ireland.