Skills Education

In Vocational Education and Training (VET), the term validation has a number of meanings and applications which can make it confusing. Here is some clarity on some of the differences. 

Independent validation

This is a requirement linked to Clause 1.25 of the Standards for RTOs 2015 which deals with the provision of training and assessment of an AQF qualification or assessor skill set from the Training and Education (TAE) Training Package.

Pre-use validation

Also known as names including ‘assessment review’, ‘assessment health check’ , 'pre-assessment validation' and 'pre-implementation validation', pre-use validation has long been a best-practice activity to verify assessment tools are fit-for-purpose.

We consider pre-use validation as a quality assurance process as it is an analysis of materials before they are put into use to confirm requirements will be fulfilled.

Pre-use validation might include a validation of mapping to confirm coverage against the unit and a check that the instruments have been written to collect the right type of evidence as required by the training package/unit of competency. Validation of assessment also confirms that the assessment tool is fit-for-purpose and has been designed to allow for the provision of sufficient evidence that is valid, reliable, authentic, and current.   

Pre-use validation is not mandated by the Standards for RTOs 2015. However, it is being considered as an inclusion in the revised Standards due for implementation 1.7.25. It is also now a requirement in the new TAE unit of competency TAEASS413 - Participate in assessment validation (R1).

And, for RTOs based in Western Australia, the state-based regulator, TAC, has expected for some time that all assessment resources, whether purchased or designed internally, must be validated prior to use in accordance with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

In-use validation

As a quality check, in-use validation is a process to confirm with industry and other stakeholders that the assessment tools and processes are fulfilling requirements. i.e. doing what they said they would do

Post-use validation - validation of assessment judgements

As a quality review, this validation activity is the formal process mandated by the Standards for RTOs 2015 and that every RTO must undertake. This validation can be known as 'formal validation', post-use validation', 'post-implementation validation' and 'validation of assessment judgements'. The aim of post-use validation is to confirm that your RTO's assessment system did consistently produce valid assessment judgments. This validation is conducted after assessment is complete and students have been notified of their results - hence post-use validation. 

Within a post-use validation process, validators are to consider the validity of both assessment practices and assessment judgements (how the assessment has been conducted/the assessment system used, and how the assessments have been marked). It is the latter which can be confused with moderation - more on that below.

In a post-use validation, checks are done on the assessment tools to confirm they have produced valid, reliable, sufficient, current and authentic evidence - evidence that has allowed an RTO to make reasonable judgements about whether training product requirements have been met. This is why it is vital (and makes sense) to have assessment tools validated at pre-use stage and/or in an assessment review activity to catch any issues before getting to the formal validation stage.

RTOs must comply will all requirements associated with post-use validation - including who can be involved, when it should occur, assessments for which training products should be validated, when, and the creation of a 5-year plan

In terms of the plan and a formal validation process, the Standards also require the following:

• A systematic process in place (a validation plan)
• A plan which covers specific quantities over set time-frames (five-year cycle to validate all training products on an RTO's scope; 50% to be completed within the first three years of any five-year cycle)
• Details within the plan as to what will be validated when, and by who, and how any actions will be recorded and acted upon
• Sampling method and statistically valid sample sizes to be used
• Improvements to be documented and acted upon - including any identified rectification requirements (again, here is a good point for why pre-use validation is so valuable)

Moderation

Essentially a quality control process, moderation is a process of comparing judgments and confirming that across the board, and over time, assessors are giving similar results for similar evidence. Moderation is completed before students are advised of their results. It aims to ensure all results decisions for a unit are aligned.