Is passing just enough? Some issues to consider in grading competence-based assessments

Abstract

Competence-based assessment involves judgements about whether candidates are competent or not. For a variety of historical reasons, competency-based assessment has had an ambivalent relationship with grading (i.e., identifying different levels of competence), although it is accepted by some that 'grading is a reality' (Thomson, Saunders and Foyster, 2001, p.4). The question of grading in competence-based qualifications is particularly important in the light of recent national and international moves towards developing unified frameworks for linking qualifications. This article uses validity as a basis for discussing some of the issues that surround the grading of competence-based assessments and is structured around 10 key points.