When an acumen is rated on a learning outcome review, the assessment tool shows a path letter and a level. The letter is where a short decision tree ended; the level is that ending's verdict.
How the tree works
The tree asks yes or no questions about four things, in this order: guidance, integration of knowledge and skills, analysis with useful recommendations, and responsibility for the quality of work. Each answer sends it down a branch, and each branch ends at a path. Several different routes end at the same path, so the letter on its own does not say what was claimed. Your writing does.
Guidance decides the ceiling
The first question is how much guidance you needed, and the answer caps the best level the rest of the tree can reach:
| Guidance you needed | Best path | Best level |
|---|---|---|
| Little or none | A | 3, advanced |
| Some, but not frequent | F | 2, intermediate |
| Frequent | H | 1, foundational |
That is why the guidance sentence matters more than any other in an acumen entry. If you worked unaided, write it down.
Every path on a learning outcome review
| Path | Level | How it is reached |
|---|---|---|
| A | 3 | Little guidance, and yes to integration, analysis and responsibility. |
| B | 2 | Little guidance, integration and analysis, but not responsibility. |
| C | 2 | Little guidance and responsibility, with either integration or analysis missing (not both). |
| D | 1 | Little guidance, with responsibility and one of integration or analysis missing. |
| E | Not yet | Little guidance, but neither integration nor analysis. |
| F | 2 | Some guidance, and yes to integration, analysis and responsibility. |
| G | 1 | Some guidance, integration and analysis, but not responsibility. |
| H | 1 | Some guidance with responsibility and one of integration or analysis; or frequent guidance with yes to the other three. |
| I, J, K | Not yet | Frequent guidance with anything else missing; or some guidance with neither integration nor analysis, or with only one of them and no responsibility. |
"Not yet" is a path with no level: the outcome is not yet demonstrated on this review.
On a professional development summary it is different
The summary uses different trees, and they look back over the period rather than at one piece of work.
- Acumens are rated on the highest level your reviews have reached so far, whether there is enough evidence that you do it consistently at that level, and whether anything suggests you will not keep it up.
- Values and attitudes are only rated here, never on a monthly review. The questions are about frequency (many occasions in a variety of circumstances, many in specific ones, or only occasionally), how complex the situations were, and whether you would repeat the behaviour in similar situations.
So for values, one well-written instance is weak evidence however good it is. Log the behaviour each time it happens and the summary has a pattern to point at. LOR or PDS sets out the rest of the difference.
Where this comes from
This is our reading of the decision trees SAICA's assessment tool uses, last checked 2026-10-05. The summary trees agree with every rating on a real filed summary we have compared them to; the monthly review tree has not yet been compared as widely. Your reviewer answers the questions, and the assessment tool is the record.