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After comparing candidate models, use validation data or cross-validation to choose the complete training procedure, then fit that procedure on the data intended for the final model. Keep a separate test set out of those decisions if you need an independent estimate of performance. The fitted model is the artifact; the test score is an estimate of how the chosen procedure may perform on unseen data.

What “final model” means

A final model is the fitted result of a training procedure selected during development. That procedure includes more than the estimator: it can include feature preparation, learned preprocessing, model settings, and any other steps used to turn input data into predictions.

Keep two outputs distinct:

  • The fitted artifact: the model and associated transformations you will use to generate predictions.
  • The performance estimate: a score from data not used to choose or tune the procedure. It estimates generalization; it does not guarantee production performance.

Training and scoring on the same examples is not a valid substitute for an independent evaluation. As scikit-learn explains, a model can score perfectly by repeating labels it has already seen yet fail on unseen examples (scikit-learn: Cross-validation).

Choose the data roles before fitting

Define what the model must predict and select an evaluation measure that reflects the real application. There is no universally correct metric or split ratio: both depend on the task, the volume and structure of the data, and how predictions will be used.

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Partition examples so development and evaluation reflect the intended use. Avoid duplicates across partitions, and respect dependencies such as shared people, devices, sites, or time periods. Google recommends a test set large enough for statistically meaningful results, representative of both the dataset and expected real-world data, with no examples duplicated in training (Google for Developers: Dividing the original dataset).

A 70% training, 15% validation, 15% test split shown on Google’s page is an illustration, not a universal prescription. Choose a partitioning strategy according to sample volume, dependence structure, deployment conditions, and how precise an estimate you need.

Use validation data or cross-validation to select the procedure

Compare candidate models and tune settings using development data only. A validation set or cross-validation can guide these choices; the final test set should not.

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One validation holdout

Set aside a portion of the development data for validation, fit candidates on the remaining training portion, and compare their validation results. This is relatively straightforward and requires less computation than fitting a model repeatedly across folds. Its result can be sensitive to which examples landed in that one split.

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K-fold cross-validation

Divide development data into k folds. For each run, train on k−1 folds and score on the remaining fold, then average the fold scores. This uses the available data more efficiently than relying on one arbitrary validation split, but requires more model fits and therefore more computation. The scikit-learn guide describes this procedure and its role in evaluating estimator performance (scikit-learn: Cross-validation).

Neither approach makes a repeatedly consulted test set safe for tuning. Repeated decisions based on the same validation results can overfit choices to that validation set; repeatedly checking the test set similarly weakens its value as an independent check. Google warns that the more the same data is used to make hyperparameter or model-improvement decisions, the less confidence there is that the result will carry over to new data (Google for Developers: Dividing the original dataset).

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Put preprocessing inside the training procedure

Any transformation that learns values from data—such as a normalization step that estimates a mean—must be fit only on the relevant training portion. If you calculate those values using validation or test examples, information from evaluation data leaks into training and can make scores misleading.

Use a pipeline that fits learned transformations and the estimator together where possible. In cross-validation, the pipeline must be fit separately within each training fold; do not preprocess the full dataset first. Apply the resulting fitted transformations consistently to validation, test, and serving inputs. Scikit-learn details these leakage pitfalls and recommends pipelines to help enforce the correct order (scikit-learn: Common pitfalls and recommended practices).

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Freeze choices, then evaluate once on the test set

When the model family, preprocessing, hyperparameters, and other development decisions are settled, evaluate the chosen procedure on the untouched test set if you need a final generalization estimate. Do not change the model in response to that score and continue to present the same test set as an independent evaluation; once its result guides a decision, it has become development information.

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Cross-validation can provide development estimates and guide selection, but it does not replace a separately held-out test set when you want a final check untouched by those decisions. The score is evidence about expected performance under the test set’s sampling conditions, not a promise about every future input or production outcome.

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Refit for the intended use

After selection, fit the chosen procedure on the data available for the final model’s intended use. If the goal is a deployable artifact and the test estimate has already been recorded, you may train the production model on more data, potentially including the former test examples. But then those examples no longer provide an independent score for that refitted artifact. Preserve the test set separately if you need to keep reporting the independent estimate.

Whether to retain a test set or incorporate its examples after evaluation depends on the goal: a deployable artifact, a published performance estimate, or both. The model used in production and the model configuration associated with a reported test score are not necessarily the same fitted instance.

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Check that training matches prediction in production

Serving must construct features and apply transformations compatibly with training. Differences between training and serving pipelines, as well as changes in incoming data, can create training-serving skew. Google recommends explicit validation and monitoring as part of production ML workflows (Google for Developers: Rules of ML; Google for Developers: ML pipelines).

For time-dependent prediction, a random shuffle may let past and future examples mix in a way that does not reflect deployment. Evaluate on data later than the model’s training cutoff when the real task is to predict the future; preserve the time boundary during both tuning and final evaluation.

Account for variation between runs

Scores can shift because of random initialization, data shuffling, sampling, or randomness in hyperparameter search. A single run is not certainty. Before adopting a change, consider whether its apparent improvement is stable across runs or folds and whether the difference matters for the application. Google’s guidance on improving model performance discusses accounting for sources of variance (Google for Developers: A scientific approach to improving model performance).

A practical final-model checklist

  • Choose a task-aligned metric and an evaluation design that reflects deployment, including relevant time or group boundaries.
  • Keep duplicated or related examples from crossing partitions in ways that leak information.
  • Use validation or cross-validation for model and hyperparameter choices; reserve the test set for a final, independent evaluation.
  • Fit learned preprocessing only on each training portion, using a pipeline to keep the steps in the right order.
  • After decisions are frozen, fit the selected procedure on the data appropriate for the final artifact.
  • Keep training and serving feature generation aligned, and monitor for skew or data changes.
  • Interpret scores as estimates tied to a sampling and training procedure, not guarantees.

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