The key role of feedback in institutional readiness for programmatic assessment

Programmatic assessment for learning represents a shift from fragmented, summative assessment practices to integrated, developmental systems where feedback is central to learning. This paper argues that feedback is foundational to programmatic assessment (PAx) implementation. Using feedback as an analytical lens, it examines institutional readiness for the deep structural and cultural shifts that PAx requires, drawing on a qualitative case study of course coordinators across three disciplines at an Australian university. Five interrelated barriers were identified: fragmented feedback, summative assessment reliance, workload constraints, absence of coordinated feedback pathways, and unconstrained educator autonomy. These reflect structural and cultural misalignments with PAx principles. This paper positions feedback as a diagnostic of systemic readiness for PAx implementation. Reconceptualising feedback as central to curriculum and pedagogy enables institutions to move beyond siloed unit assessment to coherent, student-centred programs, offering practical and conceptual guidance to institutions seeking to undertake meaningful assessment reform.