Summative Assessment

Summative Assessment takes place at the end of a semester or an academic year. It is typically conducted for the purpose of grading and promotion of students to the higher classes. Its main function is to measure the overall academic achievements of students at the end of a specified period of time. Usually, degrees/certificates are awarded as a result of this assessment. Data collected through summative assessment can also be used for evaluation purposes. Curriculum developer and policy maker use this data for evaluating the effectiveness of various educational   courses or programs. Exams conducted at the end of a semester or an academic year are the main forms of summative assessment. They are either administered by the concerned educational institutions, by the state/district education boards or by some third party organizations like National Testing Services etc. Normally standardized tests are used for this type of assessment.

I hope the following simple rule may help you great in understanding the difference between formative and summative assessments.

  “If an assessment is carried out by a teacher for the purpose of getting feedback about the on-going instruction, then it is formative assessment, but if it is conducted for the purpose of grading, then it is summative assessment."
Besides summative assessment there are two other famous types of assessments which are given as under:
Diagnostic Assessment
Formative Assessment

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Formative Assessment

Formative Assessment takes place during a lesson or educational activity. The main objective of formative assessment is not grading, but to know about the learning progress of students during instruction. It provides feedback to a teacher about the on-going learning or educational activity. It informs him/her of the  hurdles and difficulties faced by the students in mastering a particular lesson or skill.
Since formative assessment takes place during the lesson or educational activity, therefore it has dual effect, affects  the teacher and the students as well at the same time. On the one hand it provides an opportunity to the teacher to improve his/her performance by adjusting the instruction or teaching method to the learning styles of his/her students. While on the other hand, it provides a chance to the students for self-assessment. Formative assessment is a real-time process and can be found in almost every classroom of the world. Term papers, quizzes and mud cards, classroom assignments and class tests are the main forms of formative assessment. The other two famous types of assessment are:
Diagnostic Assessment
Summative Assessment

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