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The purpose of this article is to introduce some of the concepts of Rasch measurement through an example in vocational education. Test data are reported for a typical class size group of 19 students on six criterion-referenced and competency-based assessment tasks. These were part of an objective structured clinical examination for nursing students. The results are then compared with those of a bootstrap replicated sample of 1,000 students. The results from the classroom sample are markedly similar to that of the bootstrap. It is argued that Rasch measurement does have application for criterion-referenced assessments but there can be substantive limitations when applying it to the typically small samples representative of most vocational education groups. Rasch measurement is not a mere statistical tool but the application of fundamental measurement principles; therefore, there are a number of theoretical issues involved that need to be considered before applying Rasch analysis in any situation and these are outlined.