Time for a rethink: Assessment policy to enable equity

At a glance

Background

Access to time is an important equity consideration within assessment. Students from equity backgrounds consistently face complex, often unavoidable circumstances (such as paid work, caring responsibilities, or the impacts of trauma) that significantly constrain their available time during assessment compared to their more advantaged peers. However, assessment policies and tasks are often designed around the assumption that all students have equal time to prepare and complete tasks. This project aimed to improve our understanding of the problems around time and assessment from the perspectives of students from equity backgrounds by examining how Australian universities currently construct and consider student “timescapes” within assessment contexts, and by identifying potentially high-equity assessment policy and practices.

What we did

The project involved four phases. First, we analysed 92 student interviews to identify time-related factors that negatively impacted on students’ assessment completion and success. Second, we searched the websites of 42 Australian universities for policy documents, guidelines, and web-based information relating to assessment and time (for example, extensions and other accommodations related to time). We identified the types of circumstances that merit additional time and time-related accommodations, as well as underlying assumptions about students and their rights to assessment equity. Third, we conducted focus group discussions with 27 staff from four universities we identified as having potentially high-equity practices. Lastly, we held a National Roundtable to discuss the findings of the study, share good practices, and gain feedback on a model and framework of questions to support university leaders and educators to consider policy and practice around time and assessment.

What we found

Analysis identified the salience of time within assessment policies. Significant variation existed between institutions around which student circumstances were described as meriting extra time, how students requiring additional time were constructed within policy, and how accessible policy was to students. Additionally, there are tensions around how equity-based changes to time-related policies might interact with existing university timelines and systems and impact upon staff and student workload and relationships.

What we recommend

Universities need to fundamentally re-evaluate how assessment policies are framed, moving away from individualised notions of “time management” towards a recognition of systemic time inequities. There is a need to audit and streamline policies and processes related to assessment adjustments, ensuring students find them easily accessible, comprehensible, and consistently applied. Relying solely on reactive measures like extensions is insufficient to address underlying time inequities. We need to move beyond a “one-size-fits-all” assessment model and embrace innovative designs that are inherently more equitable. Sharing effective examples of inclusive assessment design and practice is a key first step.

The full report is available for download in PDF [1 MB] or Word [2 MB] format.