Schools in New Zealand use a variety of assessment approaches to measure students’ progress and achievement in relation to the national curriculum. Assessment in New Zealand is focused less on summative “end point testing” and has a broad focus on improving both teaching and learning. There are no full-cohort national tests and teachers are given prime responsibility for assessing their students’ learning based on a range of evidence. External reference points of expected performance are provided by national curriculum documents, literacy and numeracy progressions, the New Zealand Qualifications Framework and the recently introduced National Standards. A set of nationally validated assessment tools are at teachers’ disposal to guide assessment practice, and professional learning opportunities are provided in initial and in-service training. However, teacher capacities in student assessment are still variable in primary schools and there are concerns regarding the design and implementation of National Standards. While there is a clear aim to make assessment practice as inclusive and personalised as possible, there is room to optimise assessment for diverse groups of students.