Assesses woman - instruments hold answer (9)

'assesses' is the definition.
('evaluate' can be a synonym of 'assess')

'woman instruments hold answer' is the wordplay.
'woman' becomes 'eva' (woman's name).
'instruments' becomes 'lutes' (lute is a kind of instrument).
'hold' indicates putting letters inside.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'lutes' enclosing 'a' is 'luates'.
'eva'+'luates'='EVALUATES'