This paper discusses challenges in assessing design students within studio model education. It reflects on the assessment methods used in the M.Sc. Digital Design, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, with input from an online survey targeting former students and assessors of the programme. Building on the particularities they see in this assessment process and its perceived advantages and disadvantages; we reflect on the extent to which these methods respond to the intentions for their development. Lastly, we discuss these issues in relation to the literature with the purpose of providing input to others that, like us, are in search of improved assessment tools for studio-based education.