A norm-referenced assessment reports how students performed compared with students who have already taken the exam.
Teachmint has a great description here: https://www.teachmint.com/glossary/n/norm-referenced-assessment/
“Norm-Referenced Assessment is the evaluation of a student’s performance compared to another student or students of the class. This type of assessment is done to check the knowledge or skills of the students amongst a group. These tests determine a student’s intelligence and compare it with the others. The objective of the norm-referenced assessment is to identify the best candidate from a classroom or a group.
It uses a grading or scoring method as part of the assessment method. This grading or scoring method can be done numerically, in percentiles or percentages. Students can be assigned grades like A, B, C, and D, which depends on the percentage criteria. This method of assessment is helpful for the individual development of a student.
Some examples of norm-referenced assessments are class examination, auditions, job interviews, debate competition, etc. The students under evaluation have to attempt the same question paper or test. These are used in academics to distinguish the most intelligent student in class or the highest scoring candidate at state or national level examination.”