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Validation Isn’t Just About Improving Assessment. It’s About Improving Assessors.
For years, we’ve talked about validation as though its primary purpose is to improve assessment tools. We review assessment judgements. We identify improvements to instructions. We tighten mapping. We clarify benchmark answers. We update observation checklists. Then we document the actions, make the amendments, and move on until the next validation meeting. Those are all worthwhile outcomes. However, I think we sometimes overlook the most valuable outcome of validation: the development of the people involved. Every validation meeting has two outputs. The first is a better assessment. The second is a more capable assessor. The trouble is that we tend to measure the first and ignore the second.
Validation exposes our thinking
One of the things I enjoy most about participating in validation is listening to experienced assessors explain why they made a particular judgement. Sometimes everyone reaches the same conclusion, but for completely different reasons. Sometimes someone notices a piece of evidence that nobody else had considered. Sometimes a simple question changes the entire conversation. Those discussions aren’t just about the learner’s evidence. They’re about our own professional judgement.
Validation forces us to articulate the reasoning behind our decisions. It challenges assumptions we didn’t even realise we were making and encourages us to consider perspectives that differ from our own. That is professional development in its purest form.
We start to notice patterns
Looking at one learner’s assessment tells us something about that learner. Looking at twenty assessments starts to tell us something about our systems. Perhaps learners are consistently misunderstanding the same question. Perhaps everyone struggles with one practical task. Perhaps assessors are interpreting the same benchmark differently. Perhaps learners are producing technically correct answers that still don’t demonstrate workplace competence.
These patterns are valuable because they shift the conversation away from individual performance and towards continuous improvement. Rather than asking, “Why did this learner get it wrong?”, we begin asking, “What is this telling us about the way we’re designing, delivering or assessing learning?” Those are much richer conversations.
Validation isn’t only about assessment
Although validation focuses on assessment, I think it often tells us just as much about training. If learners repeatedly struggle to demonstrate a particular skill, we should certainly consider whether the assessment is appropriate. However, we should also ask whether our training genuinely prepared them for success.
- Did learners have sufficient opportunities to practice?
- Were expectations communicated clearly?
- Did training reflect the realities of the workplace?
- Were learners asked to demonstrate skills in assessment that they had little opportunity to develop during training?
Validation provides us with a valuable opportunity to reflect on the entire learner journey, not just the assessment that sits at the end of it.
Capability grows through conversation
Some of the most valuable learning I’ve experienced hasn’t come from attending formal professional development. It’s come from sitting around a table with experienced educators discussing evidence.
Good validation meetings aren’t about proving who’s right. They’re about being curious.
- Why did you interpret that evidence differently?
- What made you comfortable making that judgement?
- What would strengthen this assessment?
- What are we seeing across multiple learners?
Those conversations develop critical thinking, strengthen professional judgement, and build confidence in assessment decision-making. In many ways, validation is reflective practice with colleagues.
Making the most of validation
If validation becomes little more than a compliance exercise, we’re leaving a great deal of value on the table. Instead of focusing solely on identifying improvements to assessment tools, we should also be asking:
- What did we learn from this discussion?
- How has this challenged our thinking?
- What have we learnt about our learners?
- What have we learnt about our training?
- How will this influence the way we assess in the future?
These are the conversations that build capability, not just compliance.
Final thoughts
The best validation meetings don’t simply produce better assessment tools. They produce better assessors.
When we stop viewing validation as a regulatory requirement and start viewing it as an opportunity for professional learning, it becomes much more than a quality assurance process. It becomes one of the most effective ways to strengthen judgement, encourage reflection, and continuously improve the quality of training and assessment.
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