Passing Mark

[beandip]

Unfortunately, i took course one exam lightely and really didnt' study for it properly (horrible excuse i know). so i think i scored like around 23-24 points.

What do you guys think the passing mark on this one would be?? I guess the only people who can answer this question properly would be someone who new what the passing mark was in prior exams and is able to compare difficulty of the two.

[mxh9853]

I am on the same boat as you are. I hope this time the pass mark is going to be 23-24. What I have heard from this discussion forun tells me that 23- 24 probably is the boardline for passing.

[mxh9853]

The objective of the examinations is to identify those candidates who, as a prerequisite for qualifying
for Associateship and/or Fellowship, demonstrate adequate knowledge of the Course of Reading based
on standards that are formulated and applied consistently from year to year.
For the multiple-choice examinations, a panel of experts in the subject material is convened to
review the examination. Each expert is asked to review each question in the examination, and assess
the difficulty of that question. More specifically, they are asked to estimate the likelihood that a minimally
prepared candidate would answer the question correctly. The sum of these probabilities, averaged
across the panel of experts, gives a preliminary estimate of the pass mark. Performance on the
examinations is considered in finalizing the pass mark and especially the effect of any particularly
difficult questions. For written-answer questions, the assessment process is more difficult. A similar
panel of experts is used, and a sample of actual candidate responses is used in the review. Each expert
reviews each response in the sample, and makes an assessment as to how well the candidate
demonstrated that they understood the material. The responses are then sorted into broad categories,
relative to how close they are to the pass/fail line (in the opinion of the expert, for that particular
question). The sum of the average scores of those papers closest to the pass/fail line provides a good
indication of a preliminary pass mark.
There is no preconceived notion of the passing percentage. With the use of content based
passmarks, a fluctuation from session to session is expected. The final decision is reached by
consultation among the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the individual examination committee and
Officers of the E&E Committee.

[fallout]

Short version:

After careful review, try to pass no more than 40% and no less than 30%.

[Adamixoye]

Originally Posted by fallout

Short version:

After careful review, try to pass no more than 40% and no less than 30%.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pass rates have been much higher than 40% in the past...

[Summer]

I don't know about it being much higher than 40%. I don't remember the pass percentage being over 40% since the conversion. (maybe the effective one was, but i don't think the other has been).

Even so, it seems that they try to keep this at about 30%.

[fallout]

Originally Posted by Adamixoye

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pass rates have been much higher than 40% in the past...

Maybe for the course 7 pretest. For part 1, I don't recall it being much higher than 30%

[beandip]

Originally Posted by Summer lovin'

I don't know about it being much higher than 40%. I don't remember the pass percentage being over 40% since the conversion. (maybe the effective one was, but i don't think the other has been).

Even so, it seems that they try to keep this at about 30%.

Im thinking the passing mark is going to be 24. In general I think people on this forum are stronger then the average person taking the exam. 24 points should knock the passing rate below 40%. at least that's what i think.

[hugolizard]

It's funny how a lot of you answered 26 or more correctly are still worried. The passing mark is not going to be 30/40. On the other hand, the passing mark is probably going to be around 22-24 as usual. Beandip is so right, the people that would bother coming on this forum to discuss about the exam are overall better than the average joes. There are a lot of people who would go to exam 1 w/o studying for more than 2 days.

[Adamixoye]

I am aware that that there is a selection bias by coming here (i.e., that the pass rate of these posters is very likely to be much higher than the general pass rate).

However, I thought a documented case of a pass rate much higher than 40% had been seen, though perhaps not on Course 1. I want to say it was Course 4, Nov 2002, where the test was exceptionally easy and the pass level was very high, and yet the pass rate was still ridiculously high (50+%). But that was just something I read in another thread...who knows how accurate that is.