The reference page
Validation, explained
Five sections. Every regulatory claim renders from a verified source with a date. Bookmark it, or jump straight in:
1. What validation is
In practice: validation is a structured review of your assessment system after assessment has happened. It asks two questions. Do the tools match the training product and the instrument’s requirements? And are the judgements assessors make with those tools consistent — would another competent assessor, looking at the same evidence, reach the same decision? It is a system check, not a proofread.
2. Pre-use review vs validation
Two obligations, two moments in time. Pre-use review (Outcome Standard 1.3) happens before a tool is used on students: does the tool, on its face, cover the unit? Validation (Outcome Standard 1.5) happens after use: did the system, including real judgements on real student work, produce consistent outcomes? Running one and calling it the other is one of the most common findings in performance assessments. We sell them as separate products so the distinction stays visible on the invoice too.
3. Who can validate
Validators need the training and assessment credential set out in the Credential Policy, plus current industry skills relevant to what they are validating. Independence is graded: for most products, validation should be organised so that people are not validating purely their own assessments; for TAE products, independence is absolute — the validator cannot be employed or subcontracted by your RTO at all.
4. Sample size and risk
Risk drives two dials: when a product is validated inside the five-year cycle, and how much gets sampled when it is. A product with a new assessor, a changed unit, a complaint or weak completion data moves earlier and samples deeper. A stable product with clean data can sit later in the cycle with a leaner sample — provided your schedule says why. For the statistics, ASQA publishes its own validation sample size calculator; our Schedule Builder handles the risk-rating and pricing around it.
5. Evidence of validation
A performance assessment does not take your word for it. The evidence set that stands up is boring and specific:
- A risk-rated schedule covering every training product on scope across five years, with the justification narrative attached
- A validation record per activity: who validated, their credentials and independence status, what was sampled, when
- The findings and actions — and then the follow-through: what changed in the tools or practice, and who signed it off
- For TAE products, proof the validator was independent of the RTO
Every engagement we deliver produces exactly this set. If you want the blank instruments first, they are in the free template pack.