An important rationale for higher education is that it equips students for learning beyond the point of graduation. This paper considers the role that assessment plays in this. It suggests we need to take a new perspective on assessment: assessment to promote learning throughout life. It focuses on ideas that can be used to contribute to the construction of assessment practices and on wider implications for course design. It concludes by exploring barriers to acceptance of this perspective and how they might be addressed.

Keywords: assessment, lifelong learning, course design