As higher education adopts innovative pedagogical approaches like Challenge-Based Learning (CBL), assessing student progress towards reaching learning outcomes, and evaluating their academic and professional potential remains a significant challenge. Despite the growing recognition that learning is a continuous process rather than a fixed-term outcome, traditional assessments often fail to capture progress, potential, and real-world applicability. This study explores alumni perceptions of their experiences with higher education assessments and their relevance to their later professional contexts.

The current assessment methods in higher education often fail to align with the real-world demands of professional careers, as revealed by a comprehensive survey of graduates across different fields who evaluated how their academic evaluations - both theoretical and practical - translated into applicable workplace skills and competencies. The survey also examines attitudes toward alternative methods, such as open-book exams, process-oriented evaluations, and collaborative projects, assessing their perceived effectiveness in fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and other transferable skills which employers increasingly complain are missing in graduates when they enter the workplace.

Preliminary insights reveal that while traditional methods such as writing papers and multiple choice exams are perceived as having value, alumni often identify alternative approaches—such as case-based and practical assessments—as more in line with fostering transferable skills. These findings highlight opportunities for universities to align assessment practices more closely with workplace demands, ultimately supporting students' career readiness. That is especially the case when innovative teaching frameworks and strategies, such as Challenge Based Learning (CBL), are in line with those assessment practices. CBL develops students' abilities to tackle complex problems, collaborate effectively, and demonstrate their competencies through authentic assessment—precisely the same skills and approaches that define success in modern workplaces. Our research provides actionable recommendations for impactful and future-proof, and above all, authentic and effective assessment methods.

Keywords: Higher Education, assessment, Challenge Based Learning, workplace readiness.