What is a formal assessment?

• A. A casual evaluation with no scoring
• B. Formal assessments are highly structured and provide specific guidelines and procedures for administering, scoring, and interpreting their results. Formal assessments include two categories basic skills assessments and career assessments.
• C. An informal conversation
• D. A self-assessment questionnaire

Answer: (B)

Formal assessment is a planned, standardized process for measuring abilities or knowledge. It uses clear, consistent procedures for administering, scoring, and interpreting results, so scores are reliable and comparable across individuals and over time. This structured approach is what makes it formal and ensures decisions based on the results are consistent. It includes categories such as basic skills assessments and career assessments. In contrast, casual evaluations, informal conversations, or self‑assessment questionnaires describe informal methods that lack standardized procedures and scoring, so they aren’t considered formal assessments.