StepSim is the official instrument.
An instrument is how a person is assessed against the Standard. It generates the observations; it does not define the rubric. StepSim is the official assessment tool of AIRS-J/1. It is built and operated by Exeter Labs. Candidates work through realistic work decisions with an AI partner whose advice may be wrong. Written rules read what they did, every step is recorded, and no AI grades anyone.
Official instrument: StepSim Sections 8.1, 16.3 and Annex F
Approved instruments
The list, with owners.
| Instrument | Owner | Eligible type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| StepSim | Exeter Labs, under common ownership with AIR APAC (section 4.9) | Scenario simulation with retained decision trace | Official instrument (section 16.3, Annex F) |
Further instruments may be approved against sections 8, 9 and 10 of the Standard. AIR APAC publishes every approved instrument and its owner on this page.
Declared interests
Section 4.9, verbatim.
The issuing body states its interest in the official instrument in the Standard itself, and enters any further arrangement there before it takes effect.
4.9 Declared interests of the issuing body. The owner of AIR APAC Pte. Ltd. also owns Exeter Labs. StepSim is an AIR APAC initiative, built and operated by Exeter Labs, and is the official instrument of this Standard (Section 16.3). Exeter Labs also holds the intellectual property in, builds and operates the other tools AIR APAC uses, under contract with AIR APAC. AIR Academy, AIR APAC's learning division, delivers the StepSim facilitator programme under a written arrangement with Exeter Labs. AIR APAC certifies the facilitators who complete it, under Section 20.6; Exeter Labs builds the software, licenses certified facilitators to run it, and issues no certification. Any further arrangement between the two is entered here before it takes effect.
What an instrument is
Section 8, verbatim.
Scores never use keystroke tracking, emotion reading, video or biometric data. The Standard reads what a person did, which can be shown to them and explained.
Methods, evidence and what never counts as evidence. Self-report, training attendance and manager endorsement generate no observations.
8.1 Instruments. Observations for certification are generated through an approved instrument meeting Sections 8, 9 and 10. StepSim is the official instrument (Section 16.3): a scenario simulation with retained decision trace, specified in Annex F. Further instruments may be approved against the same sections. Eligible instrument types are:
- scenario simulation with retained decision trace;
- assessed live exercise with an authorised assessor;
- structured work-product review against a defined brief.
8.2 Self-report is not evidence. Self-assessment, survey response, declared experience, training attendance and manager endorsement generate no observations and contribute nothing to a score.
8.3 Minimum observations. Each dimension requires a minimum of three independent observations arising from distinct decision points. Two observations from the same decision point are one observation. A dimension below the minimum is scored Insufficient Evidence and cannot be certified.
8.4 Assessment volume. The minimum implies 27 observations. The official instrument's coverage per scenario, and the number of scenarios a certifying assessment needs, are set in its specification (Annex F). StepSim's rule is at least three held-back Assessment scenarios.
8.5 Contextual localisation. Scenario setting, sector, role titles, organisational norms, regulatory context and language may be localised. The decision points, the dimensions they elicit, the stakes profile and the anchors applied may not. Localised scenarios require AIR APAC approval before use in certification.
8.6 Decision-point integrity. Where an instrument reveals consequence, the candidate's position must be recorded before revelation. Post-revelation revision is an observation under P2, not a correction to P1. An instrument that permits silent overwriting of a committed position is not approvable.
8.7 Evidence. Transcripts retain the full decision trace: decisions, artifacts, sources consulted, stated rationale, revisions and timings. Keystroke capture, affect inference, video analysis and biometric signals are never scoring inputs: the Standard reads what a person did, which can be shown to them and explained.
8.8 Derivability. Every observation must be traceable to identified evidence in the transcript. An observation whose evidence cannot be pointed at does not exist.
8.9 Accessibility and accommodations. Every certifying instrument meets published accessibility requirements (set for StepSim in Annex F) and supports a documented accommodations process. A candidate may request an access support before assessment and receives a written decision with reasons. Approved supports must preserve the construct, decision points, stakes profile and assessment integrity; they are recorded under Section 7.1.1 and Annex C. A denial or material misapplication is appealable under Section 18.6. Request procedures and decision authority are published with this edition's release.
The specification
Annex F, verbatim.
No scoring criterion applied in certification exists outside the Standard and this specification.
StepSim's instrument specification, "AIRS-J/1 instrument specification: StepSim" version 2.0.0, is incorporated in this Standard by reference and is published with it on release. It sets out how StepSim's recorded acts become observations for each of the nine dimensions, the rule for each level, each scenario's decision points and stakes profile, the number of Assessment scenarios a certifying result needs, and how StepSim meets Sections 8, 9 and 10. A change to the specification that changes a rule is released with a new version of this Standard.
Relationship to other instruments
Section 16, extract
16.3 The official instrument. StepSim is the official instrument of AIRS-J/1. It is an AIR APAC initiative, built and operated by Exeter Labs (Section 4.9), and its specification is incorporated in Annex F. Observations StepSim generates under that specification count as AIRS-J/1 evidence. Further instruments may be approved against Sections 8, 9 and 10, and AIR APAC publishes the list of approved instruments and their owners. The rubric in Section 7 depends on no product's interaction design: an instrument implements it, it does not define it.
Third parties
Further instruments.
Any instrument may be approved against sections 8, 9 and 10 of the Standard. The approval criteria for further instruments are item A12 of the evidence programme in Annex A; AIR APAC publishes them with the first approval decision. If you are building an instrument toward those sections, tell AIR APAC.
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