Assessment for Learning: Free Teaching Course

About this course

Use assessment to understand learning and decide what to teach next. This free Cambridge course follows a four-part teacher-training series on Assessment for Learning, moving from principles and classroom techniques to exam choices and learner confidence. The recordings provide a focused professional-development pathway for teachers who want assessment to inform their teaching rather than function only as a final mark.

Course at a glance

What you’ll learn

• Explain how information from a classroom task can inform the next teaching decision, including what needs more practice or a different explanation.
• Choose an assessment technique by the learning purpose and the evidence it can produce, rather than by convenience alone.
• Recognise the distinction between multilevel and level-based assessment and identify questions to ask when considering an exam context.
• Plan a clear review routine that helps learners understand expectations and prepare more confidently for an assessment.

Skills you’ll gain

• Formative assessment
• Learning evidence
• Assessment technique selection
• Feedback planning
• Exam literacy
• Learner confidence

Course Overview

The first session introduces the principles and essentials of Assessment for Learning. The second considers techniques and instruments teachers can use to gather evidence. The third compares multilevel and level-based exams, and the fourth examines building confidence toward summative assessment. This progression connects everyday classroom decisions with a wider understanding of assessment purpose. The course is presented through recorded training webinars, all retained in their original sequence. Use the explanations to review a small part of your own practice and to ask what the evidence from an activity can actually tell you about learner understanding.

How the course develops

• Session 1 provides the foundation: what Assessment for Learning is intended to achieve and why its purpose matters in classroom planning.
• Session 2 develops the practical side, while Session 3 broadens the discussion to the kinds of evidence different exam arrangements may provide.
• Session 4 connects assessment with learner confidence. Consider how clear expectations and useful feedback can support preparation without promising a particular result.

Use the searchable lesson list to revisit an explanation while planning or practising. Keep a short note of the idea you want to apply and return to it after trying it in your own context.

Who is this for?

This course is for English teachers, teacher trainees, academic coordinators and educators reviewing how they assess learning. It is useful when a teacher has collected scores or responses but is unsure what to do with that information next. The recorded format also supports group discussion in a teacher-development meeting.

Before you start

Some classroom experience will help you connect the ideas with practice. Bring an activity, a learning aim and an example of the evidence you currently collect. You do not need to register for or purchase an exam to study the public video course.

Put the lessons into practice

Choose one lesson aim and design a short check of understanding. Write the response you would expect, one response that would suggest a misunderstanding and the teaching action you would take in each case. Review whether the task measures the intended learning or places an unrelated demand on the learner. Then draft a brief explanation of the task’s purpose for your class. After watching the techniques session, revise the check to make the evidence more useful. After the confidence session, add a review routine in which learners can identify one successful part of their work and one specific next step.

This optional activity is provided by WikiFree for independent study. It is not a graded assignment from the instructor. Keep your working notes and separate evidence from assumptions so that you can review your reasoning as you progress.

Certificate / Assessment

The public video training is free to watch. Completing this WikiFree course does not include a Cambridge English exam, a qualification, academic credit or instructor assessment.

Use your notes and the optional practice to reflect on how you would apply the ideas. Completion tracking records study progress; it is not a marked assessment.

Frequently asked questions

Provider: Cambridge English. Videos play from the English with Cambridge channel on YouTube.