Meeting Learning Outcomes
One purpose of the assessment is to make sure that students are meeting the desired outcomes of learning and simply, assessment ensures that students are making progress by applying the skills and knowledge they acquire in the formal education system. The standards tests or national assessments do not often provide a learner with indicators or success criteria for their learning.
Grading or grade can discourage some students and make them anxious. Competency-based Assessment (CBA) or proficiency-based assessment is more appropriate and it allows students to see the continuum of their learning, and the areas that they need to develop and provides an indication of measures to develop them. Research shows that CBA “sets the bar high for all students—but offers personalised support and allows each student to move at his or her own pace”
'When an education system is grounded in PBL, students not only gain the academic and transferrable skills, abilities, and knowledge required for different content areas, but more importantly, the ability to apply their learning in novel and cross-disciplinary contexts necessary for success in career, college, and civic life. Proficiency-based education ensures that all students have the opportunity to be fully engaged and supported in authentic, rigorous learning inside and outside the classroom'
Vermont Agency of Education https://education.vermont.gov/student-learning/proficiency-based-learning
As per the description above, proficiency-based assessment has benefits to an individual;
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Assessment helps each student to see where they are at and provides information on where to develop
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Feedback is individually catered
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Students can make active decisions about how to grow and fix their gaps
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Assessment is engaging and meaningful to the individual
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Students can make decisions about how to apply knowledge
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There is no comparison, so it motivating and empowering