‘At key stage 3, geography teachers have the opportunity to create a curriculum that excites, interests and motivates their students. Assessment must be embedded in this process because it informs our teaching and learning.’

Gardner, Weeden and Butt, 2015

Assessment is a very important part of your professional role as a teacher. It is an essential part of helping students to learn because it informs teachers about what they do and do not understand so teachers can plan the next steps in their learning.

Geography teachers in secondary schools expend much time and effort on assessment because they are accountable for students’ progress in the subject. Assessing how well students are learning geography must be part and parcel of your day-to-day work as a teacher.

Christodoulou (2018) comments:

Assessment can sometimes feel like a tedious chore. Teaching should be about inspiring young minds, not driving them through a series of stultifying tests. And when assessment is done badly, it can get in the way of good teaching, and even distort it. But done well, assessment can give pupils better information about their performance and teachers better information about whether their methods are working.

• Read Christodoulou, D. ‘Assessment: Why it matters and what you need to know’ The profession (Chartered College of Teaching) June 2018.
• Refer to Assessment Standard 6 (Standard 6 – Make accurate and productive use of assessment).

For a detailed list of reference download Reading list for assessment in geography.

Start by looking at these topics about assessment in geography: