Topic-specific national assessment examinations

Child Welfare Education

  • Analysis of exam quality and student results on the national examination in legal methodology and application of law 2022–2024

    Read the report (in Norwegian | pdf)


    Abstract

    In 2022, Norway introduced a national examination in legal methodology and application of law for two distinct master programmes in child welfare. This report documents the implementation of the exam and analyses exam quality, assessment practices, and student outcomes from 2022 through 2024. The initiative responded to a long standing need to strengthen the legal competence in the child welfare sector to safeguard the rights of children and families. The purpose of the national examination is to ensure a consistent and sufficiently high level of legal proficiency across institutions, while also creating a platform for national collaboration.

    A key design decision was a common 5 ECTS introductory exam in the first semester to establish a shared legal foundation regardless of bachelor background. The examination is a case based, individual, and originally four hours (extended to five from autumn 2023). It’s graded pass/fail.

    High quality examinations and reliability in the assessments
    NOKUT and the academic community work with quality in examinations and assessment from two complementary tracks. The first, ensuring quality in assessment through written documents and psychometric – uses rubrics, marker guidelines, peer review (including student input), and IRT analyses to develop high quality exams. IRT-analyses documents well functioning rubrics, a broad difficulty range, good discrimination, and overall high reliability, particularly around the pass/fail threshold; inter rater agreement is generally high. Some markers alert that the rubrics occasionally “rescue” weaker students and make them pass despite their competency level as shown in the examination. The second track – assessment dialogues and calibration – brings all the assessors together in a national academic community, discussing and developing shared standards, knowledge and sharing of experiences as well as learning material and resources.

    From 2022 through 2024, 935 candidates at 13 institutions have undergone the assessment. The examinations have an average pass rate of 58 %, with substantial institutional variation. Upper secondary grades show limited and inconsistent predictive power. The grade in Norwegian language and students’ current master’s average grades are strong positive predictors of success; age has a small negative effect, and bachelor and master programme type have limited explanatory importance.

    The relatively high non pass rate shows that continued work is needed both to understand and to develop students’ mastery of legal methodology. In a policy context where the requirement to have a master’s degree in order to work in child welfare has to a large extent been removed, except for leaders, sustained efforts to build legal competence are even more critical. This report provides knowledge to guide further development.

    Author(s): Helen Bråten, Nora Torgersen, Maria Karlsen og Mathias Meier Nilsen, Karl Johan Skeidsvoll og Øystein Guttersrud

    Read the report (in Norwegian | pdf)

  • Teaching Legal Reasoning in Child Welfare Education

    Institutional Experiences of the Implementation of a National Examination in Norway

    Read the report (in Norwegian | pdf)


    Abstract

    In 2022, Norway introduced a national exam for all master’s students studying child welfare.

    This initiative aimed to strengthen legal competence among professionals in the child welfare sector, addressing long-standing concerns about educational quality and lack of legal awareness and competence among child welfare practitioners.

    This report presents findings from a comprehensive study conducted by NOKUT, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, which examined how 13 higher education institutions organized and delivered legal education in response to the new national exam and new master’s regulations.

    Drawing on interviews with educators and program leaders, as well as analysis of curricula and institutional documentation, the study reveals significant variation in program design, teaching resources, and student preparedness. While some institutions offered dedicated legal method courses, others integrated legal content into broader modules. The number of teaching hours ranged from 15 to 30, and student cohorts varied widely in size.

    Educators consistently reported challenges related to heterogeneous student groups, limited prior legal knowledge, and the demanding circumstances of students balancing full-time work with study.

    This national examination contributed to the development of a national teaching community and has served as an arena to share pedagogical knowledge and experience and fostered inter-institutional collaboration. Case-based teaching, highlighting relevance and tasks close to professional practice as well as close follow-up and feedback emerged as key strategies for supporting student learning. The report highlights how the examination has fostered a shared professional discourse on assessment and legal reasoning in child welfare.

    Author(s): Marte Pedersen og Helen Bråten

    Read the report (in Norwegian | pdf)