Twelve tips for building institutional readiness for program-level assessment transformation

Program-level approaches to assessment are increasingly adopted in health professions education to strengthen curriculum coherence, integrate longitudinal feedback and support program-level assurance of learning. However, the institutional conditions required for sustainable program-level assessment transformation are often assumed rather than systematically developed. Extending prior guidance focused primarily on assessment design, this paper positions institutional readiness as central to successful implementation. Drawing on organisational readiness theory, which conceptualises readiness as a shared organisational state characterised by change commitment and change efficacy, we propose twelve practical tips for diagnosing, sequencing and sustaining program-level assessment transformation. Organised across four readiness domains: structural, cultural, pedagogical and evaluative, and supported by a developmental continuum, this framework operationalises readiness theory into actionable guidance for staged implementation.