This profile describes traditional assessment practices in Armenia--many of which are typical of those formerly practised throughout the Soviet Union--and the ongoing efforts to reform formal examinations and school-based evaluation techniques. The extraordinarily high stakes associated with the examination currently used to select applicants for university places are discussed, as are the consequences for teaching and learning of having entrance tests based on published, rather than unseen, item banks. Progress towards introducing a new, dual-purpose school-leaving/university selection examination is outlined and the remaining hurdles described. (Contains 2 figures, 2 tables and 8 notes.)