In a digitally evolving world where practical work has long been considered a natural part of learning science, it seems an opportune time to consider its assessment in laboratory settings. The current human-centred approach of determining if every student can handle a titration or set up an electrical circuit is deemed by some science teachers to be important; to others, technology now challenges the primacy of the teacher in the assessment of students’ laboratory performance. We discuss how posthumanism and new materialism can provide fresh understandings of what is happening when students engage in practical work. Whilst there remains a potential question around whether digital learning opportunities in practical work offer the same opportunities to their traditional counterpart, there is a pressing need to offer a holistic and multimodal approach to laboratory learning. The increasing use of virtual assessment approaches in areas such as aviation and surgery raises the possibility of science educators making greater use of the affordances of digital approaches to the assessment of practical work within school settings. We ask whether these new approaches to laboratory assessment in school contexts shift earlier debates about the issue.