ABSTRACT
This chapter covers the concepts involved in appraisal of a learner and, more specifically, a learner who is junior to teachers. Appraisal is relevant to and undertaken by healthcare professionals across different disciplines and countries. Appraisal for healthcare professionals differs from that in industry, as in the latter setting it is often used as a performance management tool, and is an uncomfortable mixture of development and judgement. The appraisal process has links with performance review, as it covers areas of statutory competence and progress, but it is also contextualised to the individual's professional circumstances and needs, and so has some features that overlap with mentoring. A good working definition of appraisal is the provision of a structured process by which the learner can be helped to define their own learning needs in the light of information they can gather or be given about progress from whatever source.
