Work‐based learning assessed as a field or a mode of study

Abstract Work‐based learning is used and assessed in higher education a variety of ways. In this paper we look particularly at the differences between the assessment of WBL when it is constructed as a field of study, i.e., using generic and transdisciplinary criteria and when it is constructed as a mode of study, i.e., when it is assessed using subject specific criteria but the criteria have been met through work‐based practice. We draw data from a workshop that took place at a Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UK) WBL conference that aimed to codify the various types of work‐based learning being practiced in UK higher education and to ascertain how these are presently being assessed. We also drew data from our own experience as practitioners running international programmes in higher education WBL. Most universities approached WBL as a mode of learning, however there were a few who approached WBL as a field of study and some others that used both approaches to assessment. We conclude that the field of study approach to assessing WBL more closely matches the learning experience of the work‐based students.