Assessment for Learning: Current Practice Exemplars from the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Assessment for Learning

The concept of Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs) arose from the Government White Paper "The future of Higher Education" published in January 2003. Within this paper it was recognised that effective teaching and learning was essential to promote excellence and opportunity in Higher Education.
CETLs were proposed as a way in which excellent teaching and learning could be rewarded, recognised and best practice could be shared. Successful CETLs were to receive substantial funding to further invest in their practice to further enhance students' experience of university study.
After a two-stage selection process involving 259 applications from both HEFCE -funded higher education institutions and directly HEFCE-funded further education colleges, fifty-five single institution based CETLs and nineteen collaborative CETLs were announced in January 2005. Northumbria University has been recognised for its excellence in three of these CETLs - two collaborative centres in the areas of Contemporary Music Culture and Healthcare Professional Education and a single institution CETL in Assessment for Learning. This Red Guide outlines the some examples of the exceptional practice across the institution which led to this significant recognition of excellence in Northumbria's Assessment for Learning CETL.
The core Assessment for Learning CETL team are drawn from five subject areas across the university which were able to demonstrate a long-standing commitment to improving the assessment experience of students. These are: Education (significantly Childhood Studies), Engineering, English, History and Psychology. The CETL aims to move well beyond these subject areas, however, during its five-year funding period, so that as many of our staff and students can benefit as possible.