Following our post about the good work of the BPS’s Steering Committee on Test Standards (SCTS), this post notes some of the reasons behind the decision to change from Level A and Level B to Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3.
Over recent years, The BPS (and other national representative bodies) have been working with EFPA’s Standing Committee on Tests and Testing (SCTT) to harmonise practice and standards across Europe.
In doing so, some changes have been made to the BPS Level A and Level B qualifications so as to:
(i) Reduce the emphasis on statistical computation and focus more on the understanding of concepts.
(ii) Bring content up to date (e.g., inclusion of Item Response Theory [IRT] based as well as CCT tests).
(iii) Recognise that the Level A / Level B model is a reflection of a pre-1980 occupational testing situation and goes back to the time when ability testing was the main emphasis (e.g., apprentice selection in the 1960s).
(iv) While the current Level A and B test user qualifications have been a great success in setting an independent benchmark standard for test use, they have not been updated since they were introduced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the case, of Level A, that is now 20 years ago.
In line with standards of competence outlined by EFPA, the BPS’s revised test user certification and registration were launched on 5th September 2011.
As always, Selection by Design will be at he forefront of delivering training and consultancy solutions based upon these new qualifications and standards of competence.
Barbara and Conor
PS: We would like to extend thanks to our colleagues on the BPS SCTS for some of the content included in this post.
