Background:
• The Problem and Gap: Standard setting for assessments in medical education continues to be a less well-understood area. The new educationists are often faced with dilemmas regarding the best choice of the method for standard setting.
• The Hook: Clear understanding of the science that underpins the standard setting methods will guide the educationists and faculty members on how to establish standard setting for a given assessment tool.
Methods: A systematic search was carried out for the relevant publications. The search engines used included the PubMed, Google Scholar and ERIC. Additional manual search was undertaken to avoid missing any relevant articles. The standard setting methods employed for knowledge, skills and performance were critically assessed.
Results: The literature found is presented in the PRISMA flow chart. The resultant synthesized literature provided the theoretical background of the standard setting with practical demonstration of the process of standard setting using the Angoff' method for MCQs and borderline regression method for OSCEs.
Conclusion: There is no universal consensus regarding the best method for standard setting of assessments of knowledge and skills in medical education at present. For written assessments, the preferred standard setting methods are those that are item-focused or test-centered. For skills assessment, the borderline regression method is considered to be the most prudent one.