About the project
How do students experience final grades and examinations, and to what extent do they feel able to demonstrate their competence? The project investigates students’ understanding of final assessment and their experiences of fairness, predictability, trust, achievement, motivation and stress. In a longitudinal study, we follow students in Year 10 and the final year of upper secondary education before, during and after the 2027 examination period. We combine case studies in four schools with national surveys to gain in-depth insights into students’ experiences and a broader understanding of how these vary across students and school contexts.
Background
Final grades and examinations play an important role in students’ future educational opportunities. However, research on how students themselves experience and understand the final assessment system remains limited. Recent changes to examination arrangements and the timing of final grades make it particularly relevant to investigate students’ experiences of assessment, preparation and opportunities to demonstrate their competence.
Aims
The project aims to develop knowledge about how students understand and experience final grades and examinations, and how their experiences change throughout the final assessment period. We focus particularly on opportunities to demonstrate competence, perceptions of fairness and trust, and how assessment arrangements and different school contexts relate to motivation, achievement and stress.
