Assessment validation

How many units per qualification should be validated?

At least two units from each qualification must be validated; however, your RTO may choose to validate more if validation of the two units identifies risks or a potential harm to learners who may not have met the required assessment outcomes, inconsistent assessment judgements have been made by assessors or assessment has not been conducted in accordance with the Principles of Assessment or the Rules of Evidence.

Our RTO has 1 trainer/assessor. Clause 1.11 states they can be involved in the validation of the training products delivered, but are not allowed to be solely responsible for determining the outcomes. How do we meet this requirement?

The validation process involves:

checking a statistically valid sample of completed student assessment tools has produced valid, reliable, sufficient, current and authentic evidence, and if required, making recommendations for future improvements to the assessment tool, process or outcome and acting upon those recommendations.

The trainer and assessor who delivered/assessed the training product being validated:

can participate in the validation process as part of a team
cannot conduct the validation on their own
cannot determine the validation outcome for any assessment judgements they made on their own.

You can still participate in the validation process as part of a team; however, you cannot decide the validation outcomes of your own assessment decisions on your own.

If the RTO does not have any other trainers and assessors to be part of the validation team, the RTO should consider seeking the assistance of an independent validator.

I work for a small RTO and am also the only trainer and assessor in my specific industry area. How can our RTO validate assessments? (Clauses 1.9 – 1.11)

You may undertake validation through a ‘team’ approach, where collectively, team members hold the required qualifications, skills and knowledge. Trainers and assessors who are involved in the training and assessment delivery being considered as part of the validation process may participate in validation activities, as long as they are not solely responsible for determining the outcomes of validation.

Combined, the people involved in validation must have:

vocational competencies and current industry skills relevant to the assessment being validated,
current knowledge and skills in vocational teaching and learning, and
the training and assessment credential specified in Item 2 or Item 5 of Schedule 1.

Who can be an independent validator?

An independent validator is someone who is:

not employed or subcontracted by the RTO to provide training and assessment, and
has no other involvement or interest in the operations of the RTO.