ABSTRACT
This article explores the transformation of the assessment strategy in the LLB (Hons) Land Law module at Cardiff University during the 2022-23 academic year. The changes in strategy were set in the context of a number of factors familiar to many higher education institutions in the UK and beyond, including increased student numbers, the effects of Covid-19, institutional pressure for greater diversity in forms of assessment and developing the ’employability’ skills of students. These factors also coincided with the discontinuation of the qualifying law degree (QLD) for prospective solicitors and its replacement with the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Grounded in the pedagogy of authentic assessment, two new forms of assessment were introduced: (1) a problem-based multiple-choice test (MCT); and (2) a written assessment set in the context of a mock ‘village’. The module’s learning activities and outcomes were altered to achieve constructive alignment and to create a dynamic, structured, skills-based, ‘authentic’ learning experience for the students. The article sets out the literature on the pedagogy of authentic assessment and the application of the theory to develop the module’s assessment strategy. It highlights the alignment with developments in wider legal education and identifies the logistical and pedagogical challenges encountered during the transition.
Rachel Cahill-O’Callaghan, Natasha Hammond-Browning and Lee Price, Reassessing land law: introducing greater authenticity to undergraduate assessment and the challenges of innovation, Law Teacher, volume 59, 2025 – issue 3, pp 340-363. Published online: 16 October 2025.
See also: Nicole Graham, A response to Cahill-O’Callaghan et al ‘Reassessing land law’, Law Teacher, volume 59, 2025 – issue 3, pp 364-371. Published online: 16 October 2025.
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