This is the second part of a study, carried out over four years, which examined what happens in nursing practice in relation to assessing the clinical competence of nursing students during their Common Foundation Programme (CFP). The study was based upon the experiences and perceptions of 155 skilled practitioners and 300 students. Many themes and categories emerged, including role overlap and lack of understanding of the role of the practitioner who has been charged with the responsibility of assessing student performance on practice placement during the CFP. Last week we reported the data on the skilled practitioners, and this week we look at the student and assessor data at the end of the project. Most students accepted the dual role and, at times, even the triple role of assessor, mentor and/or supervisor forced upon practitioners, provided that the practitioners assessing them were well prepared and ‘trained’ as assessors. The first part of this study was published in Nursing Standard last week