White Paper 6: Assessment at a Crossroads: Why Current Models Are Failing Learning

This white paper examines the growing misalignment between assessment practices and meaningful learning in an AI-rich educational landscape. It argues that current models prioritise performance, comparability, and accountability at the expense of deep understanding, metacognition, and intellectual growth. As artificial intelligence exposes the limitations of product-based assessment, the paper calls for a fundamental rethinking of purpose, distinguishing clearly between assessment for learning and assessment for accountability. Drawing on the Entagogy framework, it outlines how schools can rebalance their approaches by valuing process alongside outcomes, strengthening professional judgement, and designing assessment systems that more truthfully reflect how learning develops over time.