Our procedure describes the processes for coursework assessment at Adelaide University.
Please read this procedure in conjunction with:
Our procedure applies to all undergraduate and postgraduate coursework at Adelaide University, including single course and cross-institutional enrolments, short courses, micro-credentials, non-award and offshore courses.
Our assessment enables learning by:
Assessment certifies learning achievements by:
Assessment supports continual improvement and accountability by providing evidence of effective educational practice and informing teaching.
Our assessments are designed according to the Principles of our Assessment Policy to fulfil the vision, principles and purposes of assessment for Adelaide University. This requires educational expertise and academic judgment. Our procedure is intended to support good assessment design, seeking to balance consistency with flexibility.
The design of assessment in a course will be consistent with the [Programmatic Assessment Strategies] of associated programs.
Assessment within a course may contain purely formative assignments, graded assignments and non-graded assignments. Students will be awarded a course grade according to the grading schemes for graded courses and non-graded courses available in our Grading Procedure.
Assessment design will consider total student workload so that the majority of students can engage with learning activities and achieve the course learning outcomes within the learning hours for the course. The assessment design should specifically consider the number of assessment tasks, which would normally not exceed three (3).
Courses will contain a variety of assignments in accordance with the following:
Variations to the above can be approved by the [role or committee]. This may only be done when changes are necessary to support the [Programmatic Assessment Strategies] of any program in which the course is available.
The [program leadership role] will monitor due dates for assignments and ensure a reasonable spread of assessment activity during the [study period] wherever possible.
Programmatic Assessment Strategies will consider a consistent approach to submission deadlines for courses in the program.
[Course Coordinators] will take reasonable steps to design and secure assignments to prevent, deter and detect academic misconduct.
Additional resources for [Course Coordinators], including examples of best practice, are available on our [Teaching and Learning web site].
Mandatory requirements are those that students must meet before they are able to undertake the assessment in a course. For example, it may be mandatory to have completed an induction into a workplace-based learning environment. Mandatory requirements will be approved as part of the course design and justified by clear rationale based on safe practice, professional competencies, registration or accreditation requirements.
Some courses will have assignments that must be completed to a satisfactory standard to pass that course. These hurdle requirements can be applied to graded and non-graded assignments.
Hurdle requirements must be approved by [role] as part of the course design and justified by clear rationale based on:
Due to the significant consequences to students of failing a hurdle, including failure because of [academic misconduct], the choice to have a hurdle requirement should be carefully considered.
Any non-graded assignments in graded courses will have 0% weight and will be a hurdle requirement.
Graded assignments or assignment groups may only have a hurdle requirement if they are worth 20% or more of the course grade.
No more than 60% of the total assessment for a graded course can be subject to hurdle requirements.
The consequence of not meeting a hurdle requirement is one of the following:
Students who submit their assignment after the published deadline, without an approved extension as described in the [Variations to Assessment Procedure], will have 5% of the total mark deducted for every day (or part thereof) the assignment is overdue, for a maximum of 7 calendar days. After 7 calendar days the assignment will not be accepted for marking.
Some assignment types, such as test or group assignments, are not eligible for late submission. [Course Coordinators] will identify these assignments on the relevant [LMS page].
Our course outlines will be written to allow students to easily understand the criteria, standards, processes, and purposes of each of their assignments. This includes how the assignment relates to the learning outcomes, graduate qualities, professional standards, and relationship to other assignments in the course.
Course outlines will clearly describe how the assignments in the course will be used to calculate the course grade. This will include the exact nature of any multiple submission assignments.
The course outline will clearly and explicitly communicate any:
Assessment will comply with the details published in the course outline and will not change after teaching has started, unless this is necessary for the integrity of assessment, or due to exceptional circumstances. [Course Coordinators] are responsible for communicating proposed changes to students and will attempt to minimise disruption or disadvantage arising from the changes. Changes will only be made with the approval of [senior role]. The [Course Coordinator] will ensure students are notified of any changes by email.
Where assessment requirements are negotiated with students, this process will be included in the course outline. All negotiated assessment arrangements will be agreed upon in writing before census date and will comply with our assessment policies and procedures.
Students will be able to easily access information for each of their assignments that lets them know exactly what must be submitted, how and when they should submit their assignment, and the standards against which they will be assessed. This should include a rubric or a marking guide if a rubric is not appropriate. Examples or exemplars should also be provided whenever possible.
The [Course Coordinator] will ensure students are informed about the standards associated with evidence-based academic writing, the appropriate use of generative artificial intelligence and similar tools, and relevant scholarly and/or professional conventions that apply to assessment in the course.
The [Course Coordinator] will ensure that students are informed about how to demonstrate that their work is their own and that all cited works have been acknowledged, in accordance with the Academic Integrity Policy.
Our Assessment Policy states that assessment feedback will be timely, meaningful, clear, constructive, and actionable. It will give students the opportunity to respond constructively to feedback, evaluate their learning and adapt to best achieve the learning outcomes.
The [Course Coordinator] will ensure constructive feedback on how a student can improve is provided for all assignments. Feedback may be provided in a variety of ways, prior to, during, or after the assessment, including:
The [Course Coordinator] will provide opportunities for students to seek individual clarification of feedback, in writing, in person or both.
Feedback should be returned to students in time to allow them to act on this feedback in their subsequent related assessment.
Feedback on assignments will be provided no more than 15 working days following the assignment’s due date, except where a variation is approved by [role] and students are clearly notified in writing.
Except where a variation is approved by [role], feedback and grades (excepting course grades) will only be published for students between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm on working days from Monday to Thursday inclusive.
Students undertaking practice-based learning activities will receive regular and constructive feedback about their performance, either from the [Course Coordinator], designated placement supervisor, and/or the supervising professional in the placement setting.
Certified assessment provides a means to assure that individual students have achieved the learning outcomes in a course. Not every assignment can, or should be, certified but there must be sufficient certified assessment within a student’s program that we can confidently attest they have achieved the program learning outcomes.
Certified assessment can be achieved in a variety of ways. This includes, for example, interviews, exams, performances, professional simulations, and other assignments that allow assessors to know their students, and to track their development over multiple points of observation. This helps them to directly observe their students’ achievement of learning outcomes. Further examples are provided on the [teaching and learning website].
Certified assessment requires both:
The certified assessment in a course should be approved as part of the course design and justified with reference to its role in certifying learning as a part of relevant Programmatic Assessment Strategies.
Marking of assessments supports the enabling of learning, certifying of learning achievements, and supports continual improvement and accountability. It is the [Course Coordinator’s] responsibility to ensure that marking satisfies the following procedures as well as the requirements identified in section 3.1, and our Assessment Policy. To achieve this [Course Coordinators] will:
1 This will need to be reconsidered after the variations to assessment policy.
Re-marking is a formal process where a second assessor marks an assignment, in part or in whole, as it was submitted (i.e. without any further revision by the student). These procedures for re-marking do not exclude the possibility of a [Course Coordinator] revising a grade to correct a marking mistake or administrative error. Re-marking must adhere to the principles articulated in the Assessment Policy which requires assessment to be valid and reliable.
A student who receives less than 50% for an assignment can request a resubmission. Resubmission will be available for all assignments with a weight over 20% or with a hurdle requirement, except those where it is explicitly noted in the course outline.
Where a student’s performance in an assignment has been affected by exceptional or compassionate circumstances, the [Variations in Assessment Procedure] applies rather than these provisions for resubmission.
Assignment means assessment tasks. Assignments can be graded, non-graded, or purely formative (see definitions for each of these terms).
Assignment Group means a group of related assignments that together contribute a percentage weighting of a student’s course grade.
Certified Assessment means providing a way of assuring that individual students have achieved the learning outcomes in a course.
Course Grade mean the student’s result for a course expressed as a letter grade and a percentage for graded courses, and as a letter grade only for pass non-graded courses.
Educator Graded Assignment means the grade is determined by a qualified assessor, and not by self-assessment or peer-assessment. Educator graded assignments can be marked automatically by a system overseen by a qualified assessor.
Graded Assignment means students receive a result expressed as a letter grade and a percentage that contributes to the student’s course grade.
Graded Course means students receive a result expressed as a letter grade and a percentage.
Group Graded Assignment means students work together on shared assessed outcomes and receive a grade and feedback that is determined by the shared performance or outcomes of the group.
Individually Graded Assignment means students submit their own outcomes for assessment and each receives a grade and feedback that is independent of the performance or outcomes of other students.
Multiple Submission Assignment means students are permitted to make multiple submissions such that they can improve their grade for the assignment. Arrangements for multiple submissions can be different to those of resubmission, which is a formalised mechanism to allow a student who has failed an assignment a second attempt. It is also different to re-marking.
Non-graded Assignment means students receive only a pass/fail grade, expressed as a letter grade that contributes to the student’s course grade.
Non-graded Course means students will receive only a pass/fail grade or similar, expressed as a letter grade.
Purely Formative Assignment means they do not contribute to a student’s course grade.
Re-marking means a formal process in which a second assessor marks an assignment in the state it was submitted (i.e. without any further revision by the student).
Resubmission means a formal process that permits students to revise an assignment, in part or in whole, that they have failed. The assignment is then marked by the original assessor within a specified time frame.
Working Days are the weekdays from Monday to Friday inclusive, excluding public holidays.
This Procedure is categorised, approved and owned in line with the governance structure of Adelaide University and the offices and officers listed below.
| Parent policy | Assessment policy |
| Policy category | Academic |
| Approving authority | co-Vice Chancellors/Vice Chancellor and President |
| Policy owner | Deputy Vice Chancellor - Academic |
| Responsible officer | [Title] |
| Effective from | 17 February 2025 |
| Review date | 17th Feb 2028 |
| Enquiries | Interim Central Policy Unit staff.policy.enquiries@adelaideuni.edu.au |
| Replaced documents | None |
| Adelaide University Act 2023 |
Higher Education Standards Framework standards 1.4 Learning Outcomes and Assessment |
| Date approved | To section/clauses | Description of change |
| 4 February 2025 | N/A | New procedure |
Note on structures, positions and position titles:
At the time of writing, the organisational structure, positions and position titles for Adelaide University have not been confirmed. Accordingly, square brackets [ ] temporarily enclose position titles in this procedure until position titles for Adelaide University are known.
