There are many international frameworks that support the importance of assessment as a key element in the quality of education (OECD, 2014).

Most nations develop their own assessment frameworks based on international and national standards that fulfill the requirements needed to access higher education and which in many cases determines the quality of the educational system of each state. It is worth noting at the outset that any analysis of different national assessment systems will quickly reveal a wide variety of assessment techniques and approaches. All of these systems have their strengths and weaknesses in relation to technical, resource and time considerations and in their impact on the associated education system. Even if it were possible, in a given context, to start completely afresh in devising an assessment system, there is no universal best technical practice that could be adopted. Instead, the choices made in devising assessment systems inevitably reflect the values and priorities of the broader social context in which they are made (Cresswell, 1996; Broadfoot, 1996).

In the case of Spain, the assessment framework has gone through many changes due to the different reforms that took place in the country which derived in many General Education Laws. (Lukas, Santiago, Joaristi & Lizasoain, 2006). The last assessment framework is briefly described in the recently approved General Law of Improvement of the Quality of Education (LOMCE, 2013)

In addition, nation states are now trying to combine their national assessment with  international assessments like PISA (OCDE, 2013) which at the end causes a comparison of educational systems among different countries. These educational system rankings are now generally accepted by the stakeholders as a quality standard of the educational system of a country and has become a priority on the agendas of the Ministries of Education around the world.

In such a comparison of educational systems, and international standard of assessment emerges to promote a real comparison of students around the world which goes beyond national standards. The International Baccalaureate (IB) offers today, four rigorous international programs to a community of more than 3,900 schools in 147 countries in the world. The IB has developed a rigorous international assessment methodology which has gained recognition among the most prestigious universities around the world. These international assessment allows students to access numerous higher education systems around the world and it is recognized as a reference of quality and equity grading,

In the case of this paper we will focus on the Diploma Program (set aside for students from 16 to 18 years old, those who study A levels –ISCED 3-) and on the Middle Years Program (set aside for  students from 12 to 16 years old, those who study Secondary School – ISCED 2-).

Considering everything that has been stated so far, the aim of this work is to understand the differences between the IB Assessment practice and those of a recall based system as the Spanish national one. To this aim the following purposes are:

a) Analyze different international assessment frameworks

b) Anallyze the IB assessment policies and those of the Spanish National System

c) Understanding the perception of teachers and students about both assessments

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