Intended Learning Outcomes

Clear intended learning outcomes are a key component of good programme and unit planning and assessment for our students. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) define what a learner will have acquired and will be able to do upon successfully completing their studies. ILOs should be expressed from the students’ perspective and are measurable, achievable and assessable.

The role descriptors for unit and programme directors assign responsibility for both learning outcomes and alignment between unit and programme. 

How many learning outcomes? 

Three or four learning outcomes are normally enough for each unit. It can be helpful to map these to Bristol’s overarching approach to learning and teaching, and consider what students will know, what they will be able to do, and who they will become as a result of the unit. ILOs should not simply list the curriculum content of a unit – this can appear elsewhere in the unit specification.  

Learning outcomes and competence standards  

Competence standards are distinct from intended learning outcomes (ILOs). They are not usually used in programme and unit specifications. Competence standards describe specific requirements of a course that can only be tested by particular methods. They need to be objectively justifiable as an absolute requirement for a discipline or professional qualification. For further information see the separate information at this page: Defining competence standards 

Writing learning outcomes

When writing learning outcomes it is important to get the language right.

• Start with 'at the end of the session/course/programme a successful student will be able to...'
• Then choose an action verb that says clearly what you expect the students to be able to do at the end of the unit and the cognitive level they are expected to operate at when assessed.
• Remember that the learning outcome represents the threshold level for a pass.
• It is also important to use language that students understand.

Avoid expressions such as 'know', 'understand', 'appreciate', 'be familiar with', 'be aware of' as these are too vague to convey the exact nature of the outcome being sought and are difficult to assess accurately.

There are many lists of appropriate verbs available, mostly based on Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives (1956) which identified 6 levels of the 'cognitive domain', each subsuming the last:

At each level, a range of verbs are listed which can be used in learning outcomes. We have provided a few suggestions below, but there is also a selection of websites which offer versions of Bloom's taxonomy in various forms (grid, pyramid, wheel etc.) that you might find useful. You may find that in your discipline the hierarchy is not as straightforward as Bloom's model implies, but the associated verbs are still useful when writing learning outcomes.

• Knowledge is the first step, but although it is a verb 'know' is not a good word for learning outcomes - it is better to think of a verb that describes what a student can DO to demonstrate their knowledge, so verbs like describe, identify, recognise, define, name, recall and list are better.
• Comprehension or understanding is important, but as with 'know', 'understand' is not a very useful verb for learning outcomes as it is imprecise, better to use words like explain, summarise, discuss, recognize, report and review which will show students' understanding.
• Application is at a higher level where students are able to put their knowledge and understanding to use in new situations so some relevant active verbs are: employ, illustrate, interpret, practice, solve and use.
• Analysis is about understanding complex structures by the identification of parts and their relationships so learning outcomes can ask students to analyse, appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, experiment or question.
• Synthesis is about putting parts together to form a new whole, which is important in constructing an argument and integrating knowledge so verbs such as construct, create, design, develop and organise can be used.
• Evaluation is posited as the highest level where students can make judgements based on the value of evidence and material for a given purpose. Verbs like appraise, argue, assess and judge are relevant.

These are just a few suggestions, you can use any active verbs that are appropriate to your context, but if you want more suggestions have a look at the following:

• Guide for Busy Academics (Office document, 42kB)

Intended Learning Outcomes and Assessment 

Our unit and programme catalogues set out the assessment methods we have designed to enable students to show that they have met the ILOs. In line with our assessment and feedback strategy, these assessment methods should be designed to be as inclusive as possible for all students, and could include alternative assessment types as part of the unit design. Information and ideas are available in this BILT Guide: Inclusive teaching, learning and assessment – how to design for all 

Where an assessment method places a disabled student at a disadvantage, the university has a duty to make reasonable adjustments, as set out in our policy on reasonable adjustments for teaching, learning and assessment.