# Set Up Your Validation Program
Validation is how you prove your assessment tools are producing valid, reliable, and fair outcomes. Under the Standards for RTOs 2025, every RTO must validate assessment practices across all qualifications on their scope within a 5-year cycle — and that validation is risk-based, not arbitrary.
This guide walks you through setting up your validation program in RTOSafe.
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## Why This Matters
Auditors don't just want to see that you've done validations — they want to see a **systematic, risk-based approach** to deciding what gets validated, when, and why. A well-structured validation program demonstrates that your RTO:
- Has a defensible rationale for how you sample and schedule validations
- Prioritises higher-risk areas rather than validating randomly
- Maintains a rolling schedule that covers your entire scope over time
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## Overview
| Step | What you'll do |
| ---- | -------------- |
| **1** | [Sync your scope](#1--sync-your-scope) — import from training.gov.au and approve changes |
| **2** | [Set up delivery](#2--set-up-delivery) — define which units or modules you deliver |
| **3** | [Create validation strategies](#3--create-validation-strategies) — choose which units to sample and document your rationale |
| **4** | [Complete your validation program](#4--complete-your-validation-program) — set risk levels and next validation years for units in the program |
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## 1 — Sync Your Scope
Pull your scope of registration from training.gov.au into RTOSafe. Go to [**RTO Settings > TGA Scope Sync**](https://app.rtosafe.com.au/TgaSyncSettings) and click **Start New Sync**. Once the comparison completes, review the changes and click **Approve & Apply**.
New qualifications, skill sets, and accredited courses will appear on your Scope page marked as **Needs Setup**. For more detail, see [Sync Your Scope](/help/scope-sync).
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## 2 — Set Up Delivery
If your scope only contains individual units (no qualifications, skill sets, or accredited courses), you can skip this step.
For each qualification, skill set, or accredited course, tell RTOSafe which units or modules you deliver.
1
Go to [**Scope**](https://app.rtosafe.com.au/Scope) and select the **Needs Setup** tab
2
Click **Start Setup** next to the item you want to configure
3
Add the units or modules you deliver by selecting them from the dropdown
4
Click **Complete Setup** when done
Repeat for each item in the Needs Setup tab. For more detail, see [Set Up Delivery](/help/delivery-streams).
If a skill set came down from TGA but you don't actually deliver it, you can [mark it as not delivered](/help/delivery-streams#skill-sets-you-dont-deliver) so it doesn't pull through into your validation program.
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## 3 — Create Validation Strategies
If your scope only contains individual units (no qualifications, skill sets, or accredited courses), you can skip this step.
Most RTOs sample rather than validate every unit every year — either way, you need a defensible approach. For each qualification, skill set, or accredited course, define which units you'll sample and document your rationale.
1
From [**Scope**](https://app.rtosafe.com.au/Scope), open the qualification, skill set, or accredited course
2
Click **Validation Strategy**, then **Modify Units**
3
Select the units to include in your validation sampling and enter your **Selection Rationale** — explain why you chose these units
4
Click **Save Changes**
Repeat for each qualification, skill set, and accredited course on your scope. For more detail, see [Create a Validation Strategy](/help/validation-strategy-setup).
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## 4 — Complete Your Validation Program
For a unit to appear in your validation program, it needs a **risk level** and a **next validation year**. Rather than setting these on every unit individually, RTOSafe gives you a single page to work through them.
Go to [**Validation Program**](https://app.rtosafe.com.au/ValidationProgram). If any units are missing, you'll see a warning banner with a **View Report** link. This opens the [Missing from Validation Program](https://app.rtosafe.com.au/Reports/MissingFromValidationProgram) report where you can set risk levels and next validation years inline — working through them all in one place.
This report only shows units that are either explicitly on your scope or selected in a validation strategy, so you're only filling in details for units that actually need them.
For guidance on choosing risk levels, see [Set Risk Levels for Units](/help/validation-strategy-risk-levels).
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## You're Done
Once the report is clear, your [**Validation Program**](https://app.rtosafe.com.au/ValidationProgram) will show a 5-year schedule — what's due to be validated and when. From here, you just book in your validation sessions as they come due. See [Record a Validation](/help/record-validation) for how to do that.
As you complete validations, the schedule updates automatically. You can also adjust [validation frequency settings](https://app.rtosafe.com.au/Settings/ValidationSettings) to match your organisation's capacity.