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Guidelines for External Dissemination of Examination Reports


The purpose of this document is to provide information regarding the external dissemination of the primary reports related to the Royal College specialty examinations. The following section indicates who receives these reports.

External Distribution of Examination Reports

Exam Committee Chair(s)

  • Post Examination Survey (PES)
  • Psychometric Examination Report (PER)*
  • Multiple Choice Question Report (MCQ)
  • Chair’s Examination Report**
  • Examination Committee exam review report

Exam Committee Vice-Chair(s)

  • Examination Committee exam review report

Speciality Committee Chair

  • Chair’s Examination Report**
  • Examination Committee exam review report

The chair’s report stipulates a number of conditions related to the dissemination of the information. While it is important that the SC members be given general information regarding the current year’s examination, it is also important to maintain the integrity of the examination. We must also be mindful not to inadvertently place program directors in a conflict-of-interest situation.

In order to achieve this, the following information must not be divulged:

  • Examination blueprints, marking schemes
  • Psychometric Reports beyond the first page (after item 3.1)
  • Specific percentages from the Candidates’ Post-Examination Surveys (it is fine to give a general idea of the responses using “neutral” words such as many, most, the majority, etc.)
  • Information that might lead program directors to identify a candidate, particularly for boards with small numbers of candidates. For example, to mention the number of borderline performances or the number of failures would not be appropriate.
  • Information regarding examination content other than what appears on the examination format.

*PER: the information contained on page 1 of the PER can be shared with the members of the exam board and can be also be appended to the Specialty Committee (SC) minutes. The remaining portion of this report can be discussed as appropriate but cannot be included in SC minutes as it contains information that could place the integrity of the examination at risk.
**Chair's Report: A partial report is sent to the programs directors including excerpts from the Chair’s report on 1) the entire section on the FITER and 2) the feedback chair’s provide on the last page under Comments to Program Directors.


Approved by the Royal College Assessment Manager’s Team - September 2014
Edited November 2016