Getting The Job Done: Using Authentic Assessment Techniques In Extra And Co-Curricular Activities (Eccas) To Improve Law Students’ Employability Prospects

Authentic assessments are closely aligned with activities that take place in real work settings, as distinct from the
often artificial constructs of University courses. While the traditional ‘paper-based’ assessment strategy provides a pragmatic
solution to the problem of a general lack of time and resources to grade students en masse, the authors believe that the use of
authentic assessment techniques, in accredited and University-run extra and co-curricular activities (ECCAs), are perfectly
placed to improve law students’ employability prospects. By delivering authentic assessments methods in ECCAs, a
combination of formative and summative techniques used throughout the assessment processes improves student
performance, which thereby has positive cross-impact into improving critical reasoning, team-working, self-confidence and
public speaking skills – all highly prized by employers in many different disciplines and working environments. By
examining recent employability data, and cross-referencing them with trends in student participation with ECCAs, the
authors demonstrate that authentic assessment improves law students’ employability prospects in a variety of sectors – not
just in law.