It is becoming more commonplace in higher education for teaching, learning and assessment to be delivered in the online environment. There a variety of reasons for this, in part due to the numerous benefits afforded to both tutors and learners. This study explores the challenges faced by a group life science tutors at a UK university when implementing a continuous assessment strategy within an online environment. Adopting a phenomenological approach, interviews were conducted with nine tutors who have experience of implementing continuous and/or online assessments. Analysis indicates that there are several aspects that influence the delivery of continuous assessment in an online environment: 1) the purpose of assessment; 2) devising and managing assessment; 3) professional development; and 4) assessment in an online environment. For those adopting a continuous assessment approach in an online environment, it is crucial that tutors are aware of a range of assessment methods that help to promote self-regulated learning amongst students, through the delivery of personalised and detailed feedback in a timely manner
