Student Experience of Feedback, Assessment and Revision (SEFAR) undergraduate Survey 2025: OU key Insights

The Student Experience of Feedback, Assessment and Revision (SEFAR) 2025 survey provides unique snapshot (N=675) and longitudinal (every 5 years) insight into OU undergraduate assessment sentiment and behaviour. Using over 100 measures of assessment experience, performance, competencies and motivation, the survey explores questions such as how well assessment functions as assessment for learning, what students would like future assessment to look like, and patterns of interaction, including with tutors and AI. Questions are designed with reference both to emerging institutional strategic issues and current themes in the educational research literature. SEFAR seeks to offer original perspectives and challenge institutional assumptions and practice. It is developed and led by IET in collaboration with the Assessment Programme.SEFAR covers key periods of assessment: early understanding of standards and criteria, TMAs writing and submission, receiving and using feedback, contact and trust in tutor, end of module/exam assessment, and resits. It also measures assessment literacy, preference for new assessment approaches and authentic assessment, motivation, use of AI, comments about what works, and suggestions for improvement. Combined with demographic data and assessment scores, this provides a rich resource from which to examine many aspects of the online distance learning student assessment experience.Comparisons with previous iterations of the survey support identification of trends and build confidence in the relationships and patterns identified. This perspective alone makes SEFAR unusual in the sector. Previous outputs from SEFAR1 (2015) and 2(2020) have included internal reports, (P)VC briefings, research publications, faculty presentations, and invited talks. In 2020, a paper based on SEFAR was one of the fifty most downloaded documents on ORO. The SEFAR3 results will be of interest to a wide range of roles including policymaking and strategic planning, qualification leadership, module production, tutoring and student support, leading design, and scholarship of assessment practice. Our recommendations indicate there is substantial insight to be gained from further analysis alongside action that can be taken in response to the headline data reported.