Qualifying Test Scoring
Q1. What is a standard score?
A standard score indicates how much a given value differs from the mean score (across the field of candidates) and is the number of standard deviations a given data point lies above or below mean.
Q2. Can a standard score be negative?
Standard scores can be positive or negative and indicate how well you performed on a test when compared to the rest of the field. A positive standard score indicates a score that was greater than the mean score (or above average), and a negative standard score indicates a score that was less than the mean score.
Q3. What is the spread of standard scores?
As standard scores move from negative to positive they are moving from left to right on the bell curve – see below. A negative standard score indicates a lower than average score on the test, while a positive standard score indicates an above average score on the test. The higher the absolute value of the standard score (negative or positive), the further above or below the average your score was.
Q4. How is a standard score calculated?
The standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of scores. To calculate a standard score, subtract the mean from the raw score and divide that answer by the standard deviation.
Test Score – Field of candidates’ mean score
Standard deviation σ
Q5. Can you provide some examples of calculating standard scores?
Example 1 (positive Situational Judgement Test standard score)
raw score = 24, mean = 20, standard deviation = 3
24 – 20 = 4, divided by 3 = 1.33
Standard score = 1.33
Interpretation: The candidate has scored 1.33 standard deviations above the mean, which is a very strong result.
Example 2 Situational Judgement Test standard score negative
raw score = 18, mean = 20, standard deviation = 3
18 – 20 = – 2, divided by 3 = – 0.67
Standard score = – 0.67
Interpretation: The candidate has scored 0.67 standard deviations below the mean, which indicates a weaker performance on the test.
Composite score
Q6. What is a composite score?
Candidates are ranked by their composite scores to determine outcomes in the qualifying test. The composite score is the result of combining candidates’ standard scores from the Situational Judgement Test and the Critical Analysis Test in a weighted average. 60% of the weight in this average is given to the Situational Judgement Test and 40% to the Critical Analysis Test. The weighting reflects the fact that the Situational Judgement Test assesses candidates on three competencies and the Critical Analysis Test assesses candidates on two competencies. Please note that for multiple choice tests prior to July 2023, the two tests were weighted equally.
Q7. What is the best way to understand how I did in the qualifying test?
Check your composite score against the graph published in the feedback report. Your score will show you where you sit in the field of candidates and the spread of composite scores above and below you. As with standard scores, positive composite scores indicate a performance that was above average, while negative scores indicate a performance that was below average. The higher the absolute value of the composite score, the further above or below average the performance was.
Q8. Can you provide some examples of calculating composite scores?
Example 1 Situational Judgement Test standard score = 1.20; Critical Analysis standard score = 0.20
Weighted average: (60% * 1.20) + (40% * 0.20) = 0.80 Composite score = 0.80
Example 2 Situational Judgement Test standard score = – 1.10; Critical Analysis standard score = – 0.40
Weighted average: (60% * – 1.10) + (40% * – 0.40) = – 0.82 Composite score = – 0.82