Overview
The Observation element allows creators to build verification of competency style assessments within a topic. It is designed for situations where a learner must demonstrate a series of observable tasks or actions in front of an assessor, who grades each item individually.
Unlike the Task element, which records an activity as a single outcome, the Observation element records a result for every individual item in a checklist. Assessors can grade, score, comment on and attach evidence to each item, then provide an overall result. The element also supports retakes with a full attempt history, making it well suited to compliance and competency workflows.
Observations can also be configured for learner self-assessment, where learners work through a checklist themselves, ticking off items and uploading photos or files as evidence.
Note: Use the Observation element to grade a learner against a checklist of observable tasks, item by item. If you instead need to collect and verify a credential such as a licence or certificate, with expiry and renewal logic, use the Requirement element.
Key concepts
Key concepts
Observation: A structured checklist of items, organised into sections, which must be graded individually before an overall result can be finalised.
Assessor-led observation: The primary use case. An assessor observes the learner performing the required tasks and grades each item, before providing an overall result, score and comments.
Learner self-assessment: An alternative use case. Learners grade themselves against the checklist, adding their own comments, photos or files. This can be used on its own or combined with a final assessor review.
Grading labels: Customisable labels for each item's result. Every label is categorised as a pass, fail or not applicable type, but you choose the wording (e.g. 'Competent', 'Not yet competent', 'Not required').
Attempts and retakes: Assessors can issue retakes when a learner does not pass. Every attempt is preserved, so the full history of decisions remains available for auditing.
Learner acceptance: An optional setting requiring learners to acknowledge and accept the observation before the assessor can finalise their result.
Steps to add an Observation element to a topic
Add the element to your topic by selecting the Observation option from the content box (when you click + Content), then follow these steps:
Give the observation a label for reporting purposes.
Enter the learner instructions. These appear to learners within the element and should explain what the observation involves and how they will be assessed.
If required, enable Require learner acceptance and enter the acceptance text learners must agree to. When enabled, the assessor cannot finalise the observation until the learner has accepted.
Enter the assessor instructions. These are hidden from learners and only visible to assessors.
Configure your grading labels. Each label must be categorised as a pass, fail or not applicable type, and you can create more than one label of each type.
Select a scoring method: None, 1 to 5, 1 to 7, 1 to 10, A to F or Percentage. Scoring is optional.
Build your checklist: a. Click to add a section and give it a title. b. Add items to the section. Each item is plain text describing the task or action to be observed. c. Drag and drop sections and items to reorder them, and add or delete them as required.
Manage the progress settings. The most common configuration is requiring the assessor to complete the observation with an overall result of pass.
If required, enable the setting to set the entire knowledge to complete once the observation is complete. Only use this setting if you're certain learners do not need to complete or review any other content in the topic.
Click Save.
How learners complete an observation
What learners see and do depends on how the observation is configured:
Assessor-led, no learner acceptance: Learners may not need to log in at all. They can simply be enrolled in the topic and complete the observation in person, with the assessor recording the results. If the progress settings are configured to set the topic to complete once the observation is passed, the entire process can be managed by the assessor.
Assessor-led, with learner acceptance: Learners log in and accept the observation before being graded. Once they accept, they can see the checklist items, how they will be graded and their results as they come through.
Learner self-assessment: Learners work through the checklist themselves, grading each item, adding comments and uploading files. On a mobile device, learners can take photos or videos directly from their camera and attach multiple files to any item.
Checklist items are automatically numbered by section (1.1, 1.2 and so on), which makes results easy to reference in logs and reports.
Once finalised, learners can view their overall result, score and any assessor comments, and open each section to see how they went on individual items.
How assessors complete an observation
Navigate to the Assess learners page. Learners are sorted alphabetically and you can type to search for a learner.
Select the learner, open the Observations tab and click Review. Each observation opens on its own dedicated page, which is fully mobile friendly so assessments can be completed in the field on a phone or tablet.
Review the assessor instructions at the top of the page. You can also view the learner instructions if needed.
Work through each section of the checklist, grading every item using the available labels. For each item, you can also:
Apply a score (if a scoring method is enabled)
Add a comment
Upload files, or take photos or videos directly from your device
As you complete each section, a summary shows how many items were passed, failed, marked not applicable or are still pending.
Once all items are graded (and the learner has accepted, if learner acceptance is enabled), complete the overall result. You can add an overall comment, attach one or more files, apply an overall score and select the overall result.
Choose whether to notify the learner of their result, then finalise the observation.
Note: If learner acceptance is enabled and the learner has not yet accepted, you can still grade individual items but you cannot finalise the overall result.
Retakes and attempts
If a learner does not pass, the assessor can click Edit or retake and choose from three options:
Retake previous attempt: Clones the previous attempt with all of its current decisions, so the assessor can adjust and resubmit it.
Full retake: Creates a new attempt with every item reset to pending.
Partial retake: Creates a new attempt where passed items remain passed and failed items are reset to pending. This is ideal when the learner only needs to redemonstrate the items they did not pass.
Every attempt is preserved. Assessors and admins can switch between attempts to view the full history of decisions, comments and evidence.
Offline assessments
If you're assessing in a location without internet access, you can download a blank PDF version of the observation from the review page. Complete the assessment on paper, then enter the results once you're back online (or pass the paper copy to a training admin to enter). You can also photograph or scan the completed paper version and upload it as an attachment.
Assessor log
Every action taken on an observation is captured in its audit log, including who made each decision, what was given, when it occurred and which attempt it related to. The full log can be downloaded as a CSV, providing a complete audit trail for compliance purposes.
Note: For a consolidated view of one user's assessment activity across all elements in the portal, see the Assessor Logs report.
Reporting
Observations are supported by dedicated reporting in Admin → Analytics:
Observations: A high-level report listing every observation across your topics, with each enrolled learner's acceptance status, score and latest attempt result.
Observations - Attempts: Breakdown of attempt distribution, including pass rates and average number of attempts per observation.
Observations - Scores: Breakdown of score distribution, including average, first, and final scores.
Observations can also be reported at the individual learner level:
Topic Progress: The topic progress page in Admin (found in the Enrolments tab for each topic after clicking on a learner's progress status) includes a panel for each observation, showing exactly how each learner was graded on every item. The topic progress PDF includes these details, along with any photos taken during the assessment.
Best practices
Write learner instructions that clearly explain how the assessment will be organised and what learners need to do to prepare.
Use the assessor instructions to give assessors the extra context they need, such as grading standards or evidence requirements. Learners never see these.
Choose grading labels that match your organisation's language, such as 'Competent' and 'Not yet competent' for formal competency assessments, or 'Done' and 'Not done' for checklists.
Keep checklist items short, specific and observable, so each item describes a single task or action the assessor can clearly verify.
Use sections to group related items. This makes long checklists easier to navigate, particularly on mobile.
Use partial retakes when learners only need to redemonstrate the items they failed, while keeping a complete record of each attempt.
Enable learner acceptance when you need learners to formally acknowledge the assessment process before being graded.
Examples
Example 1: Verification of competency
An assessor observes a learner operating machinery against a checklist of required actions.
Configuration: Assessor-led, learner acceptance enabled, grading labels of 'Competent' and 'Not yet competent', A to F scoring, progress setting requiring an overall result of pass.
Behaviour: The learner accepts the assessment, the assessor grades each item in the field on their mobile, and partial retakes are issued until all items are passed.
Example 2: Recurring site inspection
A store manager completes a monthly inspection checklist, photographing each completed item.
Configuration: Learner self-assessment, grading labels of 'Done' and 'Not done', no scoring, paired with a topic recertification schedule for the repeating cycle.
Behaviour: The learner works through the checklist on their phone, attaching photos as evidence for each item.
Example 3: Self-assessment with assessor sign-off
A learner completes a working from home setup checklist with photos, which an assessor then reviews.
Configuration: Learner self-assessment combined with assessor review.
Behaviour: The learner ticks off each item and uploads photos. The assessor reviews the completed checklist and evidence, then applies the overall result.
Troubleshooting
Problem: The assessor cannot finalise the overall result
Cause: Learner acceptance is enabled and the learner has not yet accepted, or some checklist items are still pending.
Solution: Ask the learner to log in and accept the observation, and ensure every item has been graded.
Problem: The learner cannot see how they will be graded
Cause: Learner acceptance is enabled and the learner has not yet accepted.
Solution: The learner must accept the observation before the checklist and grading details are revealed.
Problem: The learner says they have nothing to do for the observation
Cause: The observation is configured as assessor-led without learner acceptance, so there is no action required from the learner in the platform.
Solution: This is expected behaviour. The learner completes the observation in person and the assessor records the results.
FAQs
How is the Observation element different from the Task element?
The Task element records an activity as a single outcome, even if that activity involves multiple steps. The Observation element records an individual result for every item in a checklist, along with scores, comments, evidence and a full attempt history.
Can learners assess themselves?
Yes. The observation can be configured for learner self-assessment, where learners grade each item, add comments and upload files or photos. This can be used on its own or combined with a final assessor review.
Can assessors complete observations on a mobile device?
Yes. The assessment page is designed to work well on mobile, so assessors can grade items, add comments and capture photos or videos directly from their phone while in the field.
What happens if a learner doesn't pass?
The assessor can issue a retake. A partial retake keeps all passed items and resets failed items to pending, while a full retake resets everything. Every attempt is preserved in the learner's record.
Can I customise the grading labels?
Yes. You choose the wording for every label, and each label is categorised as a pass, fail or not applicable type. You can create more than one label of each type.
Is scoring mandatory?
No. Scoring is optional. If you don't need scores, select None as the scoring method and assessors will simply grade each item using your grading labels.
Can evidence be attached to an observation?
Yes. Both assessors and learners (in self-assessment) can attach multiple files, photos or videos to individual items, and the assessor can attach files to the overall result.
Is there an audit trail?
Yes. Every decision on every attempt is captured in the observation's audit log, including who took each action and when. The log can be downloaded as a CSV.