Assessment is key to the educational process and plays a significant role in looking at the progress trainees make as a result of training and personal development. Recent developments in curricula have led to substantial changes in assessing progress and attainment throughout postgraduate medical education in the UK. This article outlines the framework used to develop the postgraduate curriculum in psychiatry and describes the nature and purpose of the assessment programme that forms part of this new curriculum. The article considers the principles of medical education that are essential for the success of assessments, not only centrally in the development of the assessment system, but also locally in the delivery of these assessments. The overall context of developments in medical education, as well as the relationship between workplace-based assessments (WPBAs) and formal examinations, are described with specific references to developments in psychiatric training, its curriculum and assessments.