Self-assessment is a process that enables students to assess their own performance and greatly facilitates their acquisition of increased responsibility for their learning and performance. The advent of e-learning in the Spanish university system has provided opportunities to reorient translator training and accept new challenges that enhance the quality of undergraduate studies. The present study demonstrates that the benefits of this new mode of instruction are especially appropriate to translator training. We describe the results of centring e-learning course design on self- and peer-assessment combined with tutor-moderation through the application of a rating scale of criterion-referenced descriptors. Our data demonstrate that the quantitative outcomes of learning remain constant. Furthermore, we include a range of qualitative data which indicate that students have a positive perception of the new learning and assessment processes, suggesting that these are responsible for increasing their awareness of important aspects of the translation process.