ASQA | Spotlight On assessment validation, Chapter 4
Assembling your validation team
Chapter 4 aims to help training providers understand the requirements that your selected validation team needs to meet. We look at where and how you might begin sourcing your team.
Fair and impartial validation
To meet the Standards for validation, and to remove the risk of bias, your validation team will need to include someone who was outside training and assessment delivery to review your sample. Your team can be made up of one person or a team of people. However, the team needs to meet the requirements of Clause 1.11 of the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015.
Meeting Clause 1.11 of the Standards
Systematic validation of your assessment practices and judgements needs to be undertaken by one or more people who:
- are not directly involved in the instance of delivery and assessment of the training product being validated
- collectively have vocational competencies and current industry skills relevant to the assessment being validated
- hold current knowledge and skills in vocational teaching and learning
- hold training and assessment credentials specified in Item 2 or Item 5 of Schedule 1.
You may choose to engage industry experts in your validation to ensure there is the combination of expertise to meet these requirements.
Choosing your validation team
Your validation team can be sourced either internally or externally.
Internal contributors
Validators can be employees or contractors of your training provider, including
- trainers and assessors
- compliance staff
- consultants.
Trainers and assessors who were directly involved in the training and assessment of the products being validated can participate in the process as part of a team, but cannot:
- conduct the validation on his/her own
- determine the validation outcome for any assessment judgements they made, and
- be the lead validator in the assessment team.
External contributors
You can invite external sources to conduct your validation process. These could include:
- employers and employer associations
- industry bodies
- other training providers —from the same or different industry areas
- consultants.
Using external team members is particularly useful for small providers with only one or two trainers/assessors. The invaluable experience that industry and other providers bring to the process can allow you to embed new advice and feedback into your practices.
An internal or external contact cannot lead validation on their own unless they personally meet all the requirements. For example, a compliance officer may have the required credentials and vocational learning currency, but may not have the industry currency and vocational skills required.
If you’re collaboratively validating assessments with another training provider, you can also share other continuous improvement ideas and achievements.
The benefits of industry validation
There are several advantages to using industry representatives, especially those involved in the development of your training assessment systems and other moderation activities.
Industry representatives are able to provide relevant commentary on:
- the industry relevance of the context and conditions of the assessment
- the industry relevance of the resources used during assessment
- the tasks the learner completed.
More Spotlight On
- ASQA | Spotlight On assessment validation, Chapter 3
- ASQA | Spotlight On assessment validation, Chapter 5
View the webinar recording on assessment validation
ASQA held a webinar on 15 July 2021 about assessment validation. We covered the focus on self-assurance to achieve excellence in training outcomes, how to use assessment validation and its role in ASQA’s performance assessment process.