• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Authority
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Procedure
• Assessment System
• Assessment Principles
• Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence
• Assessment Tool Design and Review
• Validation
• Industry Engagement
• Continuous Improvement
• Feedback
• Assessment Evidence Retention
• VET Complaints and Appeals
• Section 5 - Compliance
• Section 6 - Definitions

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This procedure sets out assessment requirements that are specific to vocational education and that arise from RMIT’s obligations as a Registered Training Organisation.

(2) In the delivery of vocational education, RMIT fulfils its obligations under relevant legislation, including the:

1. National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Compliance Standards for NVR Registered Training Organisations and Fit and Proper Person Requirements) Instrument 2025
2. National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Outcome Standards for Registered Training Organisations) Instrument 2025
3. Skills First Contract
4. Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

(3) This procedure is read alongside the Assessment Procedure, which sets out the assessment requirements applying to all coursework assessment at RMIT, including assessment design. Those requirements apply to vocational education courses and programs in addition to the requirements set out in this procedure.

Section 2 - Authority

(4) Authority for this document is established by the Assessment Policy.

Section 3 - Scope

(5) This procedure applies to all staff responsible for the design, delivery, validation and quality assurance of vocational education assessment. It applies across all delivery locations and modes, including partner delivery arrangements.

Section 4 - Procedure

Assessment System

(6) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Vocational Education is responsible for ensuring that RMIT’s vocational education assessment system is fit for purpose, consistent with the training products on RMIT’s RTO scope, and capable of producing valid and reliable assessment outcomes across all delivery locations and modes.

(7) The assessment system encompasses assessment tool design and review, moderation, validation, industry engagement, and continuous improvement. The Teach VE Hub provides operational guidance, templates, and tools to support implementation of this procedure.

Assessment Principles

(8) RMIT ensures that assessment practices and outcomes in vocational education courses and programs are valid, reliable, fair, flexible, and consistent with training product requirements. Assessment is implemented in accordance with Training Package and Accredited Course requirements, particularly the principles of assessment and rules of evidence.

Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence

(9) All assessment in vocational education at RMIT is designed and conducted in accordance with the following four principles of assessment:

1. Fairness: assessment accommodates the needs of the student, implements reasonable adjustments where appropriate, and enables reassessment where necessary.
2. Flexibility: assessment is appropriate to the context, training product, and student, and assesses skills and knowledge relevant to the training product regardless of how or where the student acquired them.
3. Validity: assessment includes practical application components that enable the student to demonstrate relevant skills and knowledge in a practical setting.
4. Reliability: assessment evidence is interpreted consistently by assessors and outcomes are comparable regardless of which assessor conducts the assessment.

(10) Assessment decisions in vocational education are based on evidence that satisfies the following four rules of evidence:

1. Validity: evidence must be directly relevant to the unit of competency being assessed.
2. Sufficiency: the quality, quantity, and relevance of evidence enables the assessor to make an informed judgement of competency.
3. Authenticity: the assessor is assured that the evidence is the original and genuine work of that student.
4. Currency: evidence demonstrates the student’s current skills and knowledge.

(11) Assessment decisions must be based solely on competency against the standard specified in the training product, not on effort, participation, or attendance.

(12) Where a student does not demonstrate competency in an assessment task, they must be given at least one further opportunity to demonstrate competency before a final result of Not Yet Competent (NYC) is recorded. The further opportunity must be offered within a reasonable timeframe and documented.

Assessment Tool Design and Review

(13) Assessment tools including tasks, marking guides or rubrics, observation checklists, and questioning banks must be designed to enable collection of evidence satisfying all four rules of evidence and the unit of competency requirements.

(14) Assessment tools for vocational education courses must be validated prior to use by the Quality and Compliance team before the teaching period commences, to confirm alignment to the training product and fitness for purpose. The Teach VE Hub provides review checklists and tool templates to support this process.

(15) Changes to assessment tasks after the teaching period commences must follow the Assessment Change Request process. A change requires approval from the Dean, Head of School, or Cluster Director, validation prior to use by Quality and Compliance, communication to all enrolled students, and reflection in the course guide.

(16) Where changes are material (affecting assessment weightings, the number or type of assessment tasks, learning outcomes or units of competency, or academic standards) approval from the ADVC Learning and Teaching is also required.

Validation

(17) Validation ensures that assessment tools, practices, and judgements are aligned with the principles of assessment and rules of evidence provided above. Each training product on RMIT’s scope of registration must be validated at least once within every five-year period, and more frequently where risks are identified, if there are changes to the training product or in response to feedback from students, assessors, or industry.

(18) RMIT maintains a validation schedule covering all training products on scope, reviewed annually and available for ASQA inspection.

(19) A training product from a Training and Education Training Package being delivered for the first time must be validated by Quality and Compliance after the first cohort completes it and before delivery to a second cohort.

(20) The validation schedule is risk-based, prioritising training products according to:

1. volume of students enrolled
2. time elapsed since last validation
3. changes to the training product, including new or revised units of competency
4. findings from previous validations, tool reviews, or audits
5. student outcome data, including completion rates and assessment results.

(21) Validation activities must include a review of:

1. assessment tools and their alignment to the training product
2. samples of student evidence and assessor judgements
3. consistency of judgements across assessors, delivery locations, and cohorts
4. and the effectiveness of the assessment system.

(22) Validation activities may include benchmarking against other RTOs, panel review of student evidence, structured discussion with assessors and industry practitioners, and analysis of student outcome data.

(23) Validation must be conducted by a panel with the collective capacity to assess:

1. vocational competency relevant to the training product
2. the requirements of the training product including E&PC
3. the principles of assessment and rules of evidence and assessment design and documentation.

(24) Validation outcomes are documented and used to improve the assessment system.

Industry Engagement

(25) The College of Vocational Education actively seeks advice from relevant industry, employer, and community representatives to ensure the currency and relevance of vocational education training and assessment.

(26) Industry engagement methods include structured consultation through Industry Advisory Committees, targeted surveys, direct engagement with industry practitioners involved in validation panels and through industry events.

(27) Industry feedback is used to update Training and Assessment Strategies and inform assessment tool review.

Continuous Improvement

(28) RMIT maintains a continuous improvement cycle for vocational education assessment informed by validation outcomes, industry engagement feedback, student outcome data, CAC and PAB findings and audit outcomes.

(29) Program and delivery teams are responsible for documenting continuous improvement actions in the Training Assessment Strategy.

Feedback

(30) For non-satisfactory assessment tasks, feedback must be sufficient for vocational education students to understand what is needed to reach a satisfactory standard and must be documented in the learning management system.

(31) Feedback requirements for vocational education programs are also set out in the Assessment Procedure.

Assessment Evidence Retention

(32) Records of vocational education assessment must be retained for a minimum of three years after the student’s completion of, or withdrawal from, the training product, in accordance with the requirements of ASQA and the Victorian Government. Records must be retained in a form that enables ASQA to verify the assessment.

(33) Where a training product is removed from RMIT’s RTO scope, records relating to students enrolled in that product must continue to be retained for a minimum of three years from the date of the student’s completion or withdrawal.

(34) Records must be stored securely in compliance with the Privacy Policy and applicable privacy legislation and must be accessible for retrieval within the timeframe specified by ASQA and the Victorian Government. The relevant school, college, or industry cluster is responsible for maintaining assessment evidence records. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Vocational Education (or nominee) is responsible for maintaining a central register of record locations accessible for regulatory inspection.

VET Complaints and Appeals

(35) Vocational education students have the right to seek review of an assessment decision and to appeal the outcome of a review in accordance with the Academic Progress and Appeals Procedure.

(36) Complaints relating to RMIT’s compliance with the Outcome Standards or with training package requirements are managed in accordance with the Student and Student-Related Complaints Policy.

(37) Students who are not satisfied with the outcome of RMIT’s internal review and appeals processes may seek external review by:

1. the Victorian Ombudsman, for matters relating to RMIT’s handling of a complaint, review or appeal
2. the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), for matters relating to RMIT’s compliance with the Outcome Standards or the requirements of a training product.

Section 5 - Compliance

(38) Any non-compliance with this procedure should be reported to the relevant program manager and/or the Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching, College of Vocational Education for review.

(39) Where clauses in this procedure inhibit educators assuring learning outcomes or competency, and efforts are required beyond or at variance from those described, course coordinators should report these instances to the relevant program manager and/or Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching, College of Vocational Education for approval.

(40) Non-conformance with clauses of this procedure resulting in potential or actual material student disadvantage should be reported to the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education.

(41) RMIT must notify ASQA of any changes to its operations that may affect its compliance with the Outcome Standards, in accordance with the National VET Regulator Act 2011.

Section 6 - Definitions