Literacy and numeracy issues need to be taken into account when designing assessment methods and tools.

As an assessor it is essential to understand that, for some candidates, the literacy/numeracy demands of the assessment process may be the biggest challenge they have ever faced in the workplace. A lot of emotional issues relating to poor LLN skills may be raised during the assessment process.

These comments highlight the principles of fairness and flexibility in assessment, and the issue of reasonable adjustment.

There is also the question of validity in assessment.

It is very easy to make the mistake of setting up an assessment task in which you are assessing communication skills you did not need or intend to assess. For example, to complete an assessment task requiring short, written answers to questions, a candidate needs reading and writing skills as well as a knowledge of the answers. If reading and writing skills are not part of the competency, then a more valid approach would be to ask the questions verbally.

The literacy/numeracy components of the assessment process should mirror the LLN requirements of the competency being assessed.

As with learning resources, It is essential that your assessment materials and tasks match, rather than exceed, the LLN requirements of your units.

It is also important to ensure that assessment materials are user-friendly, written in Plain English, and where appropriate, include pictures and graphics to supplement text.

The following activity gives you an opportunity to review your assessment methods with literacy/numeracy in mind.

• Choose a range of assessment materials and tasks that you use with your students.
• Use the table provided in the link opposite to:

Before beginning an assessment process, it is important to consider: