Assessment

Unlike formative assessment, summative assessment aims to provide a final evaluation of students’ knowledge, skills or competences after a defined period of learning, most commonly at the end of a teaching unit, course or semester. This evaluation results in an official grade that is recorded in the student information system and often has formal consequences for further studies.

Summative assessment therefore has a certifying function and focuses on determining the level of knowledge achieved relative to predefined criteria. In educational practice, summative assessment includes various forms of examinations, final essays, projects, research papers, presentations and oral defences. For example, a student may take a final written exam at the end of a semester in art history, submit an extensive research paper in sociology or orally defend a teaching methodology project.

Although its role is important, it is essential to be aware of the risks of placing excessive emphasis on this type of assessment. An exclusive focus on final results can lead to neglect of the learning process, student demotivation and the development of “grade-oriented learning” strategies rather than genuine understanding. It is therefore desirable to balance summative assessment with formative approaches to ensure more comprehensive and fair evaluation of student work.

If we compare formative and summative assessment, their key characteristics can be summarised as follows: