Performance-based testing (PBT)
Validate that candidates can do the job – not just what they know
Add performance-based items to your certification exams and validate demonstrated capability in live software, at scale.
Trusted by the most respected certification programs and exam delivery platforms
See why certification programs are modernizing with performance-based testing and assessments
Market differentiation
Shift from “proof of knowledge” to
“proof of skill”
Add a performance layer to your exams that validates what candidates can actually do in live software. When your credential proves job-readiness, employers trust it more and candidates value earning it.
- Align labs to job task analysis and exam blueprints
- AI-resilient certification design
- Higher value to market and candidates
- Improve rigor through proven performance vs. surveillance
Exam integrity
Improve exam security and defensibility
Strengthen exam integrity (and your item bank) with performance-based questions. When there’s no static key to harvest, the threat surface for item exposure, answer sharing and AI-assisted proxy testing shrinks dramatically, because the task is the test, delivered in a controlled, auditable environment.
- Candidates prove they can do the work
- Stronger defensibility with evidence-based activity data
- Reduce item churn and item bank maintenance
Candidate readiness
Accelerate candidate exam readiness
Candidates who practice in the same environment they’ll test in show up confident, not surprised. Practice labs provide hands-on product exposure with real-time performance feedback, reducing no-shows and first-attempt failures.
Our AI practice generator can create scenarios based on your exam blueprint and JTA to take the strain off of item writers and SMEs.
- More confident and prepared candidates
- Insights into candidate prep at scale
- Include in ILT, VILT and on-demand deliveries
Exam validity and fairness
Assess job readiness and competency, not test‑taking ability
Performance items strengthen validity and fairness by scoring observable actions, not language-heavy recall. Candidates can reach a correct outcome through multiple legitimate paths, so you’re measuring capability rather than test-taking strategy, giving qualified candidates a more equitable opportunity to demonstrate competence.
- Assess actual tasks and technical skills
- Track observable, reviewable and auditable evidence
- Standardized exam environments at scale
- Lab instructions available in 10+ languages and right-to-left layouts
Grading and scoring
Streamline operations with automated scoring and grading
Deterministic, criteria-based scoring eliminates manual evaluation bottlenecks and speeds score turnaround without sacrificing consistency. Your team shifts from grading submissions to high-value work: Item development, exam design and continuous improvement.
- Scale globally with less operational overhead
- Standardize scoring for consistency and defensibility
- Use performance data to continuously improve your exams
Low-stakes
Formative assessments, certification prep and certificatesHigh-stakes
Summative assessments and credentialsLearning assessments
Low-stakes checks for learning progress
- Performance-based, formative assessments
- Enable “in-flow” practice, feedback and skill checks
- Real‑time signals on learner progress and gaps
- Support practice‑driven learning journeys
Practice exams
Help candidates build confidence
- Reflect realistic scenarios candidates will likely encounter in the actual test
- Provide multiple exam forms for repeat practice
- Reduce exam anxiety by introducing the format before candidates sit for the exam
Micro-credentials
Small, stackable proof of competency
- Enable small, stackable, performance-based credentials
- Capture granular skill evidence aligned to workforce outcomes
- Support a modular, skills‑first program design
Professional certificates
Industry-based recognition of continuing education
- Recognize that a person has been trained on a subject
- Traditionally knowledge- and completion-based
- Add skill validation with performance-based hands-on scenarios/challenges
Certification
Formal credential requiring standardized exam
- Seamlessly integrate lab-based performance items with your exam delivery platform
- Deliver performance‑based exams using live software and real scenarios
- Automated scoring and evidence capture for defensible outcomes
- Scale performance-based certification programs globally, ensuring every candidate is evaluated in a consistent, secure, real-world environment
- Support for multiple exam forms to help mitigate cheating and support retakes
- Record exam sessions for logging and auditing purposes
Academic credentials
Degrees from accredited institutions
- Build and tailor hands‑on assessments to meet your degree programs
- Provides evidence of applied skill, not the credential itself
- Complements credit‑based evaluation with real‑world performance data
Professional licenses
Legal authorization to practice in a profession
- Can power practice, readiness checks and performance‑based components
- Enables safe, realistic environments for pre‑license skill validation
- Automated scoring and evidence capture for defensible outcomes
- Support for multiple exam forms to help mitigate cheating and support retakes
- Record exam sessions for logging and auditing purposes
What does the candidate lab experience look like on exam day?
Get an idea of the candidate experience when you include hands-on labs in your certification exams with Skillable.
Seamlessly add hands-on labs into your assessments and exams
Skillable’s virtual lab platform securely integrates with your exam delivery platform and LMS/LXP via API, LTI and more.
Robust exam delivery partner integrations
Skillable has long-term integrations with the industry’s most trusted exam delivery platforms, including:
Our EDP integrations support:
- Secure handoff between exam items and live labs
- Automated, objective scoring returned via API
- Session recordings and audit trails for legal defensibility
- Online‑proctored and test‑center workflows
- Consistent delivery across global testing windows
- We can even make an introduction to an EDP for you
Your candidates get a reliable, unified experience – your team gets operational simplicity.
How to build performance-based assessments with Skillable
Get a preview of how you can create hands-on exam labs purpose-built to your software, users and certification strategy.
- Robust lab authoring tools to create exam environments aligned to JTAs and exam blueprints
- Automate scoring and create score reports aligned to your frameworks
- Repurpose lab environments for multiple exams, certification prep and practice
Short on time and resources?
We can help.
“We knew we had the talent to grow and manage this program ourselves, but we needed the solution in market as soon as possible. The Skillable team met us where we were, understood our vision and helped us deliver with excellence.”
Joe T.
Cybersecurity Services Director
“You have to give people a safe place to practice as they’re learning, or they’re going back to work and they’re practicing in production environments.”
Bryan O.
Director of Product Management
The benefit of working with Skillable is we can capitalize on all the learning they’ve gained by working with other customers. We get tremendous value from their level of testing at scale across many event deliveries.”
Director, Experience Development
Fortune 50 company
See how leading companies are moving to practical assessment and exams with Skillable
Build certifications that prove candidates can do the job
See the candidate experience firsthand. Learn how software certification teams use Skillable to offer performance-based testing at scale.
PBT FAQs
What hands-on lab platform integrates best with exam delivery platforms for high-stakes certification?
Skillable offers robust integrations with leading exam delivery partners to ensure:
- Secure integrations with leading exam delivery ecosystems
Skillable seamlessly integrates with major EDPs like Pearson VUE, Prometric, Certiverse and others via API or LTI, reducing integration risk for certification programs. The platform uses session-level identifiers passed from the EDP to maintain traceability and support, making the lab a true exam component rather than a separate tool. It also supports combined exam formats, allowing multiple-choice questions and performance-based labs to operate within a single exam experience with unified scoring. - End-to-end scoring, reliability and exam integrity built into the integration
Skillable can deliver detailed scoring data via API back to the EDP and supports automated scoring models aligned to certification requirements, eliminating manual grading dependencies. High-stakes reliability is built in with features like backup lab instances for failure recovery and a documented uptime SLA exceeding 99.99%, ensuring consistent exam delivery.
Bottom line: Skillable integrates best because it doesn’t treat labs as an add-on. It operates as a native exam component – embedded in the delivery workflow, aligned to scoring models and validated across major EDPs.
What does a performance-based test look like?
In a high-stakes setting, the individual enters a live software environment or secure virtual lab to complete a hands-on project through an EDP such as Certiverse, Pearson VUE, etc. They receive a specific prompt or broken scenario to fix within a set timeframe. The platform then evaluates their final configuration state automatically.
This video provides an overview of the candidate’s exam day experience.
In a low-stakes setting, the main difference is that the lab is embedded within your LMS/LXP instead of an EDP and is not proctored.
Learn more about how to integrate virtual labs with your LMS and EDP for certification prep and exam delivery.
How are performance-based tests scored automatically?
Automated scripts review the backend state of the environment to verify if the required changes were executed successfully. The system checks for specific outcomes, emphasizing problem-solving skills rather than simply tracking mouse clicks or keystrokes. This allows for highly scalable and deeply accurate rubric-based evaluation.
Skillable’s platform supports item- and task-level scoring models as well as pass/fail, binary scoring, weighted scoring and partial credit.
Learn more about how software certification teams have automated scoring.
Does Skillable support exams in multiple languages and reading right to left?
Yes. With Skillable, you can provide multilingual sandboxes and lab environments to your candidates in their native language. We support languages such as Arabic, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
Our instructions pane (aka our lab client) supports RTL (right-to-left) reading layouts.
In lower stakes settings, you can also use Microsoft’s Edge AI translation tools with Skillable’s platform.
Does Skillable provide item authoring tools for performance items?
Yes, our platform includes native AI tools for helping write exam items and scoring scripts.
