Practising effective assessment means that educators need to be fully equipped and ready for action to deliver the goods. What are the goods in this case? For the author the answer is the very best evidence of the nature and quality of student learning so that teachers can get information to feed a higher goal. That higher goal is more and better learning for more and more students. What are the characteristics of a system that is fully equipped and ready for action? For the author the answer is quite simple: first and foremost, teachers possessing high-level assessment skills, contributing to student learning and effectively communicating the results of that learning. This article examines some of the principles that underpin effective assessment practice.