An assessment template is a re-usable definition — a set of items, the rubric for scoring, the metadata about what it measures. An assessment is one specific instance of a template assigned to a specific person at a specific time. The two are different records and the distinction matters.
Template
A template has:
- Type — behavioural, cognitive, technical, structured interview, or simulation.
- Items (or rubric questions, or scenario steps depending on type).
- Competency mappings — which taxonomy competencies the template measures.
- Time bound — strict (cognitive) or advisory (others).
- Versioning — every published edit creates a new version; existing assessments retain their original version.
Templates live in the assessment library at /{slug}/app/develop/library. Some templates are global (shipped with the platform); others are workspace-private (authored by HR).
Assessment
An assessment is an instance of a template assigned to one person. It has:
- A reference to the template (and the version of the template at assignment time).
- A reference to the assignee (Person).
- An assignment date and an optional deadline.
- A status —
ASSIGNED,IN_PROGRESS,COMPLETED, orEXPIRED. - The assignee's responses (if started).
- The score (if completed).
- The narrative report (if completed and generated).
- Per-competency contributions to the competency profile (if completed).
When you assign an assessment, the platform creates one of these records linked to the template. Many assessments can be created from the same template — every assignee gets their own.
Why two entities
Three reasons:
- Templates change; assessments should not. Editing a template should not retroactively change what every assessee took. Versioning the template at assignment time keeps every assessment reproducible.
- Assignment is a discrete event. The assignment has its own metadata — who assigned it, when, with what deadline — that does not belong on the template.
- Responses, scores, and reports are per-instance. They have nowhere to live on the template; they live on the assessment record.
Lifecycle
- Created. An HR admin or line manager assigns it. The assignment creates the assessment record and notifies the assignee.
- Started. The assignee opens the runner; status flips to
IN_PROGRESS. - Completed. The assignee submits; status flips to
COMPLETED. Score is computed; narrative generates in the background; profile contributions land. - Expired. If the assignee does not start within 30 days of assignment, the platform auto-flips status to
EXPIRED. Expired assessments are preserved for audit but stop being actionable.
Assessments cannot be edited in place. If a result is materially wrong, retire the assessment and reassign a fresh one from the same template.
What an assessment cannot do
- Be reassigned to a different person. Each assessment is bound to one assignee; a different person needs a fresh assessment.
- Be duplicated. A new assessment from the same template is a new record, not a copy of an old one.
- Be edited after completion. Score corrections happen by retiring and reassigning; narrative regeneration is the only post-completion edit.
How templates and assessments are visible
Templates are in the library view, where you can see every available template, browse items, and assign.
Assessments are visible in three places:
- The assignee's portal (
/me/assessments) — only the assessments assigned to them. - The person's profile in HR view — the assessment history for that person.
- A workspace-wide assessment status report at
/{slug}/app/develop— all assessments across all assignees, filterable.
Why this matters
The template/assessment distinction explains:
- Why you can edit a template without breaking historical reports. Each historical report uses the template version it was assigned with.
- Why you cannot bulk-edit a hundred assessments at once. They are independent records; bulk editing them as a group would silently rewrite history.
- Why assigning to ten people creates ten records, not one. Each is a separate observation.