How do we know how good our students are at history? For that matter, how precisely do we really know what ‘good' at history even means? Even harder, how does our assessment of our students' attainment fit in with the National Curriculum Levels for Key Stage 3? Simon Harrison has led a project to help history teachers in Hampshire to add real meaning to their Key Stage 3 assessment, even when it involves levelling. He has produced a series of highly focused common assessment tasks. These tasks test each of the major second order concepts of history, and can be used to identify precise areas for student improvement. The real strength of Harrison's approach, though, is the level of support which is afforded to the teachers who follow it. His markschemes and examples of students' work - and the collaborative means of their development - mean that history teachers in Hampshire do not have to work alone to design assessment tasks. Nor are they even confined to their departments. Harrison has produced a county-wide approach to meaningful assessment.