Abstract
Educational institutions have been immensely affected by COVID-19 outbreak. South Africa declared a national state disaster on 26th March 2020 and the country went into a national lockdown. The lockdown forced Higher to move to an online teaching and learning strategy. Many Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) had to conduct their assessments online for the first time without much planning. This study investigated third year faculty of education students’ perceptions of the online assessments at a private HEI. Research has identified online assessment as the preferred assessment method by students. Research has shown that student perceptions of assessments are important to ensure the best assessments methods are used. The data for this study was gathered through a qualitative questionnaire survey, coded using thematic coding, and common themes were identified. The findings from the data revealed that students have experienced challenges with internet connection, data cost, student readiness and technology infrastructure. Although students experienced these challenges, they still preferred the HEI continue with online assessments.