This chapter explores the use of rubrics in formative assessment. A brief review of grading practices in higher education may help shed light on why the need for greater objectivity in grading has gained increasing attention and how a well-structured rubric can fill the bill. The analytic rubric is used more often as its design is better suited to individualized, objective feedback. The purpose of a rubric is to increase objectivity and ideally intra- and interrater reliability in grading. Rubrics can be used for both formative and summative assessments, although because of the scoring strategy they are most often used for the latter. The scoring strategy is the final element of the rubric to be considered. Rubrics have won praise for promoting objectivity in assessing students’ performance, increasing reliability in grading, informing students of performance expectations, but have been criticized for increasing the grading time.