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ABSTRACT
Professional Legal Education in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is undertaken at the Legal Workshop. A problem‐based learning orientation is a prominent feature of their programme. In this paper the assessment of the problem‐based learning used in the Workshop is described. All stages of this assessment process, including setting the course objectives, defining the conditions under which the problems (tasks) will be undertaken, and setting the criteria which are the standards for the assessment of success in the task, are described. The importance of criterion‐referenced assessment in the stage of setting assessment standards is emphasised. The results of the first attempt to use this assessment method are then described, and problems emerging with the process are discussed. Although this first “reality test” reveals some difficulties with the assessment method, it is concluded that this novel and innovative teaching and assessment technique has been appropriately applied to Professional Legal Education. While some refinements are required in the implementation of the method, the overall assessment concept has been successfully developed.