Strategies for taking an oral assessment

Strategies for taking an oral assessment

To help make your oral assessment as stress-free as possible, there are a few things to consider. This involves knowing what you need to do on the day, as well as what to do during the assessment.

On the day...

Knowing your location and assessment time

Firstly, make certain you know where your assessment is being held. Check if your assessment is online and where to access the assessment from. If your assessment is in person, make sure you know where on campus this will be. If the location is unfamiliar to you, you might want to travel to the venue prior to your assessment so you can find it confidently on the day.

It is also important to know when your assessment is scheduled. Oral assessments can often be short (e.g. 15 minutes), so being late can have significant impacts on your ability to complete it.

Getting there early

Make sure you get to your venue early so that you have time to prepare. Planning to get there early also gives you buffer time if you experience travel delays. If your assessment is online, ensure you turn your device on well in advance and consider logging in early. Ensure you have used the platform before and that you can log on successfully, and it is working well for you. This is usually best done ahead of time. This makes certain that if you experience any technical issues, you have time to address them. If you are experiencing issues using a particular program, you may want to contact eSolutions.

Maintaining academic integrity

Just like other assessments, it is important to maintain academic integrity. If you are taking your assessment online, make sure you have access to a space where there are no other people around. You may want to consider booking a discussion room in the library if needed. Remember, that generative artificial intelligence needs to be used only in the ways that your assessment allows.

Your unit may also have processes in place to ensure that assessment is marked accurately and consistently. If your assessment is undertaken online, then the whole meeting will be recorded. For in-person assessments there may be two markers present, or the assessment might be audio recorded or filmed for another marker to review later. These measures help ensure fairness.

During the assessment...

It is normal to feel slightly nervous during any assessment, written or oral. Different people have different reasons for being nervous and experience nerves in different ways. It might help you to know research by Luckie et al., (2013) found not only did the majority of students value oral assessments, they showed greater gains in knowledge and longitudinal performance. Many studies have compared written assessments to oral ones and found students performed better on oral measures than written measures (e.g., Burke-Smalley 2014; Roecker, 2007).  Try to remember what you experience when you are nervous as this can help pick strategies to help manage this. There are a few strategies you can use to manage your nerves on the day. Consider if the following are helpful for you:

  • Take a moment to pause.
  • Practise so you feel comfortable with the assessment format.
  • You might prefer to sit or stand if you have a choice.
  • Don’t forget, you might be able to take notes when you are asked a question, write the question down, or ask further clarifying questions yourself. These can help you to feel more comfortable and confident.

The following resources can help you develop skills to master your nerves and feel prepared:

Note

It is normal to feel a level of anxiety before any assessment, written or oral, and for some students, specific health or accessibility considerations may also play a role. Monash provides a range of resources to help you manage performance anxiety, support your mental health, and ensure you have the necessary adjustments to succeed.

If you feel like you are more anxious than nervous, the university has lots of resources you can use:

Taking it further

References

Burke-Smalley, L. A. (2014). Using oral exams to assess communication skills in business courses. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 77(3), 266–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329490614537873

Fenton, A. (2025). Reconsidering the use of oral exams and assessments: An old way to move into a new future. Educational Researcher, 54(7), 430–436. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X251333638.

Henderson, J., Lloyd, P., & Scott, H. (2002). “In the real world we’re all put on the spot at some time or other, so you need to be prepared for it”: An exploratory study of an oral method of assessing knowledge of mental health law. Social Work Education, 21(1), 91–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470120107040

Luckie, D. B., Rivkin, A. M., Aubry, J. R., Marengo, B. J., Creech, L. R., & Sweeder, R. D. (2013). Verbal final exam in introductory biology yields gains in student content knowledge and longitudinal performance. CBE Life Sciences Education, 12(3), 515–529. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.12-04-0050

Roecker, L. (2007). Using oral examination as a technique to assess student understanding and teaching effectiveness. Journal of Chemical Education, 84(10), 1663-1665. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed084p1663