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A better assessment experience with Cadmus

03 Jan 2025

A new assessment tool, Cadmus, offers many benefits to both colleagues and students. There are a number of resources available to get you started, or register for an upcoming training session.

Students talking at table

Following a successful pilot where 90% of students rated their experience as good to excellent, the University invested in a site-wide licence of Cadmus, a secure online assessment platform.

Cadmus is designed to support students and improve outcomes by streamlining the assessment process.

Key benefits for students include:

  • Auto-save feature eliminates worries about losing unsaved work.
  • Simplified submission with one-click options, keyboard shortcuts, and helpful tips.
  • Stress-free formatting, with automatic settings for font, spacing, and reference lists, so students can focus on content.
  • Centralised assessment information promotes clarity around criteria.
  • Educative prompts and resources help maintain good academic practice, reducing instances of malpractice.

Cadmus also benefits staff by providing engagement analytics to monitor student progress. If a student hasn’t accessed the assignment, staff can contact them directly via the platform to provide reminders or support.

Scaffolded checklists

One standout feature is the scaffolded checklists, which guide students through planning, research, writing, and review. These step-by-step instructions help students manage workloads and gain confidence in completing assignments.

During the pilot, a student noted, “This made the workload so much more manageable, and I knew exactly what I had to do to complete it.”

Dr. Eleanor Aspey from the School of Law, who used Cadmus for an EU Law assignment, praised the checklist feature: “I have found the checklist function to be a great help, enabling me to provide more details on how students should approach different types of questions and key skills we’re looking for in assessments.”

Dr. Doron Cohen from the School of Health Sciences highlighted how Cadmus reduces stress: “I’ve been impressed by how Cadmus breaks down the work into smaller chunks, making the process feel more manageable and structured. This feature supports student engagement and reduces overwhelm.”

Getting Started with Cadmus

The Institute of Teaching and Learning (ITL) offers a Cadmus resource page with FAQs, recorded training sessions, and registration for upcoming training before semester 2.

Local e-learning teams are trained in Cadmus and ready to help set up and manage assessments. Cadmus integrates with Canvas, ensuring a seamless transition to the new Learning Management System (LMS).

Dr. Eleanor Aspey from the School of Law says: “As a course director, I appreciate the ease of setting up and amending assessments. While some time is needed initially to design the assessment page and checklist, these can be easily reused, making future setups quick. I also value the intuitive tools for marking, which streamline large team workflows and moderation.”

Support Contacts:

For any other information about Cadmus, please contact the Teaching Excellence team: teaching.learning@manchester.ac.uk