Gauge what's been learned, demonstrate impact and increase motivation, ensuring alignment with the 2025 RSHE statutory guidance.
Our members tell us that, as a non-graded subject, it can be hard to assess pupil progress in PSHE. Our guides (updated for 2026) give you the ‘what?’ ‘when?’ and ‘how?’ to assess pupil work confidently.
Assessment is central to effective teaching and learning.
This is true for all subjects, and PSHE education is no exception. Effective assessment allows pupils and teachers to reflect on what has been learned, increases motivation for future learning and demonstrates impact.
The Department for Education (DfE) in the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance (2025) states that:
“Schools should have the same high expectations of the quality of pupils’ work in these subjects as for other curriculum areas. A strong curriculum will build on the knowledge pupils have previously acquired … with regular feedback provided on pupil progress.”
To identify the progress that has been made in a lesson or series of lessons, there needs to be effective assessment of not only knowledge, but also skills and personal attributes. The DfE RSHE guidance acknowledges this, stating that:
“Children and young people need knowledge and skills that will enable them to make informed and ethical decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships … Effective teaching will support young people to cultivate positive characteristics including resilience, self-worth, self-respect, honesty, integrity, courage, kindness, and trustworthiness.”
Our assessment guides for key stage 1-2 and key stage 3-4 explain how to use an ipsative model of assessment. We include a wide range of methods available to assess progress, with accompanyingexamples from real classrooms.
Topics covered:
How to use baseline assessments to gauge prior knowledge and understanding
Assessment for learning over the course of a lesson or series of lessons
Measuring progress and endpoint assessments
New! Adapting assessment for different groups, including pupils with SEND, early years and post-16
On-demand CPD courses for primary and secondary. Explore how, why and when to assess pupils’ learning in PSHE education, as well as how to best record progress and what that means for your school’s approach to assessment.
Download the guides
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