At the Fern Hall bench, Nerin Thal lays two pieces of joinery on the assessment table. One is the familiar standard joint. The other comes from an apprentice’s completed commission, signed by the household that asked for the work.
The existing test gives every apprentice a shared point of comparison. The portfolio page adds a record of skill used beyond the bench, where a measurement has to fit a real frame and a different set of tools.
Thal is not replacing the common test. The bench will keep both samples, note who assessed each one and record any difference in the method. Apprentices asked for their actual work to count; masters asked that a common measure remain.
The next assessment cycle will use the two-page record. The guild will review completed assessments at the end of the season before making the portfolio a regular part of its practice.
The guild closed this docket by adopting the two-page record for the next assessment cycle. A later review will compare samples from completed commissions.
