Certainties about what assessment is for and how it should operate are being challenged. An older norm-referenced approach has been overturned by one based on standards, and the overwhelming dominance of grading and certification is being challenged by a view that gives more emphasis to howassessment can support learning and future practice. A new focus is emerging based on the core value of higher education that relates to the development of educated persons who can contribute to the world of practice and manage their own learning. It frames assessment not as looking back to knowledge acquired, but as making a contribution to building students’ capacity for future practice through fostering their capacity to make judgements about their own work. The emphasis of the presentation is on the ways assessment practices can be conceptualized to allow for this future-orientation, whilst simultaneously maintaining an emphasis on current needs for certification and the improvement of learning. It builds on the notion of sustainable assessment and identifies key features of a future-orientation that can be built into everyday assessment in courses.