European Test User Standards v1 92
European Test User Standards v1 92
European Test User Standards v1 92
Organizational settings
VERSION 1.92
Prepared by
and
These standards are the outcome of a two-year project undertaken jointly by EFPA and
EAWOP during the period 2003 to 2005.
They have undergone minor changes and modifications since having been accepted by the
EFPA General Assembly in Granada, July 2005, as the basis for further development.
It is anticipated that a revision will be published following the July 2007 Prague EFPA General
Assembly
Comments should be addressed to the Convenor of the EFPA Standing Committee on Tests
and Testing, Prof Dave Bartram, at dave.bartram@shlgroup.com
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Introduction to the Standards
The standards have been developed to provide the basis for qualifications in test use. They are
intended to provide a general European level ‘benchmark’ against which local national
qualification systems can be compared or audited. It should be noted that they are a reference
document and not intended to be ‘read’ like a book. In their present form they are,
intentionally, repetitive in terms of content. It is assumed that they will provide the source for
more user-friendly documents as work progresses on their implementation.
What is a test?
In line with the International Test Commission’s guidelines on test use, the terms ‘test’ and
‘testing’ should be interpreted broadly. The present test user standards will be relevant either
in part or in whole for people using tests and for those using assessment procedures that are
not called ‘tests’ but which meet the following criteria. From the ITC Guidelines:
• Testing includes a wide range of procedures for use in psychological, occupational and
educational assessment.
• Testing may include procedures for the measurement of both normal and abnormal or
dysfunctional behaviours.
• Testing procedures are normally designed to be administered under carefully controlled or
standardised conditions that embody systematic scoring protocols.
• These procedures provide measures of performance and involve the drawing of inferences
from samples of behaviour.
• They also include procedures that may result in the qualitative classification or ordering of
people (e.g., in terms of type).
Any procedure used for ‘testing’, in the above sense, should be regarded as a ‘test’, regardless
of its mode of administration; regardless of whether it was developed by a professional test
developer; and regardless of whether it involves sets of questions, or requires the performance
of tasks or operations (e.g., work samples, psycho-motor tracking tests).
Many of these test user standards will apply also to other assessment procedures that lie
outside the domain of ‘tests’. They may be relevant for any assessment procedure that is used
in situations where the assessment of people has a serious and meaningful intent and which, if
misused, may result in personal loss or psychological distress (for example, job selection
interviews, job performance appraisals, diagnostic assessment of learning support needs).
The standards are intended for those who use tests in their professional practice as applied to
the world of work. As such they are directed primarily towards:
• The purchasers and holders of test materials intended for use in work settings;
• Those responsible for selecting such tests and determining the use to which they will be
put;
• Those who administer, score or interpret the tests;
• Those who provide advice to others on the basis of test results (e.g., recruitment
consultants, career counsellors, trainers, succession planners);
• Those concerned with the process of reporting test results and providing feedback to
people who have been tested.
The standards are not intended to cover every type of assessment technique (e.g., unstructured
or semi-structured interviews, assessed group activities) or every situation in which
assessment occurs. Yet many of the standards are likely to be applicable in assessment
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Introduction to the Standards
situations and for purposes more general than those concerned primarily with psychological
testing (for example, the use of assessment centres for employment placement or selection,
semi-structured and structured interviews, or assessment for selection, career guidance and
counselling).
Within the work and organizational field, there is increasing interest in Europe in the
development of test user standards and qualifications. This interest arises not only from the
psychology profession but also from allied professions, like human resources management.
At present there is little if any uniformity across Europe in terms of test user qualification
standards or processes. In some countries people can obtain almost any instrument without
any training or formal qualification, in others very high standards of competence are set and
people are expected to demonstrate that they can meet these standards before publishers will
supply them with materials.
As mobility of test users increases and as the use of test by multinationals across European
borders increases, so it has become increasingly important to define some benchmark
standards both for test quality and for competence in test use. It is also important for
publishers of tests, who operate globally, to be able to set comparable standards for supply in
different countries. If they do not, there is the danger of ‘grey markets’ emerging where
poorly qualified test users buy in one country and then use in another.
The EFPA Standing Committee on Tests and Testing (SCTT) has already produced and
published standards for the quality of tests. The present Standards for test use were developed
jointly with EAWOP.
Local national test user qualification systems have been developed in a number of European
countries (UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Norway). Those countries and others have
expressed a desire for there to be some higher level coordination of these projects.
The work of the joint EFPA-EAWOP European Working Group (EWG) sprang from this
need and has attempted to address the complex task of defining a meaningful set of standards
of competence in test use that can be used as a benchmark for a range of very different
national approaches to test user qualification and certification.
The present version of these Standards is the result of a two-year programme of development
and Europe-wide consultation.
The standards are about competence in test use. They endeavour to define what people need
to know and do, what skills are required and what understanding is required for safe and
competent use of a limited range of tests in a variety of occupational settings or contexts (e.g.
personnel selection; assessment for management development; guidance for career
development; etc). Because testing is such a broad and diverse topic, it is very important for
standards processes to make clear the limits of the qualifications that they define. Any
qualifications that might be based on these standards need to reflect the realities of practice in
the field.
The basis chosen for the Standards was the International Test Commission’s (ITC)
International Guidelines on Test Use (Bartram, 2001; ITC, 2001). These have become widely
accepted as defining best practice in test use, and have been adopted by a number of
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Introduction to the Standards
psychological associations and translated into many different languages. While these provide
a good structure for standards, the ITC Guidelines are not sufficiently specific to provide the
basis for qualifications. Consequently, the EFPA-EAWOP Working Group modified and
expanded the ITC Guidelines into a more detailed format. The format adopted is as follows.
The ITC Guidelines have been re-cast into three Units, each containing a number of specific
Standards:
For each Unit, relevant aspects of the occupational context are defined and the knowledge and
skills required are outlined. Within each Unit, each standard is defined in terms of what
performance is required of the competent test user and the more specific contexts to which the
competence relates. In addition there is a specification of the knowledge and skills that
underpin competence in relation to the Standard.
The format used is inevitably repetitious, as it is intended to allow users to access the
standards in various ways. Thus the occupational context is defined at the unit level and then,
the relevant parts of it are repeated for each standard.
Future version of the standards will be prepared that remove this repetition and make it easier
to ‘read’ the standards as a single document.
A GLOSSARY has been produced to clarify the definition of terms used in the Standards.
The Glossary is provided as a separate document.
Psychological test use typically forms part of a larger assessment process in work settings.
This process starts with an analysis of needs to define the assessment requirements. Test may
then be used as one of a number of assessment methods. The outcome of the assessment is
then used to realise some outcome. Psychological testing may constitute no more than 20% of
this process. However, it is a relatively ‘high tech’ process compared to other occupational
assessment methods. Qualification in test use is likely to be of general benefit in that it
emphasis constructs like reliability and validity that are important for all forms of assessment.
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Introduction to the Standards
The present standards stress the importance of putting the use of tests into context; of basing
the choice of them on a good definition of requirements; and of integrating the results of
testing with other sources of information in realising outcomes.
Occupational Assessment
Define Measure
Requirements Realise
Attributes
Outcomes
Occupational
Occupational
Job analysis
Competency Testing
Testing Performance
managements
profiling
AC exercises
Other-reports
Structured-interviews etc
Context
Another way of looking at the way in which these standards have been positioned is given
below.
Psychological Occupational
Testing Assessment
Occupational
Test Use
Standards
These standards focus on those aspects of psychological testing that are used in occupational
assessment. They do not claim to provide a qualification in psychology, only in the
application of psychological testing to work settings.
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Introduction to the Standards
Similarly, they do not claim to cover all aspects of occupational assessment. Assessment
centre design, the construction of group exercises, performance rating methods, different
types of interview structure and so on all require their own special expertise.
European countries differ in relation to test user qualification in two important regards.
There are some countries where the use of psychological tests is restricted to psychologists.
This may be supported by law or practice or simply asserted as the desirable state of affairs by
the local psychological association. For other countries, the use of tests by non-psychologist
professionals is recognised and may also be supported by the local psychological association.
In practice this diversity of practice represents a continuum with countries like Italy at one
end where the psychological associations are supporting moves for a law to limit use of tests
to psychologists, and countries like UK, Norway and Sweden, where the local psychological
associations are working with other professional bodies to set standards and qualifications in
test use.
In addition to the psychologist vs non-psychologist issue, countries differ in how they are
tackling the issue of breadth in test user qualification. In Germany the approach has been to
develop a broad qualification in occupational assessment (based on the DIN33430 standard).
A similar approach has been adopted in Finland, but with a clear distinction between what
psychologists and non-psychologists can do in this area. The UK, Sweden and Norway have
focused on developing qualifications specifically in psychological test use. In the UK, for
example, broader qualification in occupational assessment is available through other routes
(e.g. from the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development).
Related to the above differences in breadth are differences in approach to qualification. The
current German and Finnish qualifications focus on the assessment of knowledge. They do
not contain any requirement for the assessment of competence in terms of skills or application
of knowledge in practice. The British, Swedish and Norwegian approaches, on the other hand
adopt a competence- based approach to qualification and require potential test user to
demonstrate knowledge, skill and understanding.
The present Standards are intended to provide a set of content against which all these various
approaches can be mapped. Some will provide relatively complete mappings, others less so. It
is not anticipated at this stage that every European test user qualification would, or should
provide complete coverage of everything contained here.
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The Standards
The Standards
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UNIT 1 Take responsibility for ethical test use: Test user standards
What is this unit about? This unit is about taking responsibility for acting in an ethical
manner
Who is this unit for? This unit should be appropriate for all test users involved in or
advising on individual assessments which include or might include
the use of psychological tests.
Occupational Context:
Testing methods
• Psychological tests of ability (maximum performance measures)
• Psychological tests of personality, motivation etc (typical performance measures)
Administration modes
• Individual vs Group
• Paper-based, equipment-based and multi-media testing
• Online (internet/intranet) vs offline computer-based testing
• Open, Controlled, Supervised or Managed administration
Theories, models and principles Facts, data and information Methods, techniques and
of: about: procedures relating to:
Ethics and principles of good EFPA Meta-code of ethics Assessment needs analysis
practice in testing including:
• Informed consent Psychological tests Testing of people for:
• Privacy and confidentiality • Recruitment and selection
Good practice guides: • Organizational or team fit
Ethics and principles of good • ITC Guidelines on Test Use • Identification of development
practice in client relationships • ITC Guidelines on Computer- needs
based testing and testing on • Career advice and guidance
Principles of good practice and the Internet/intranet
conduct regarding relationships • ITC Guidelines on test
with paying clients adaptation
• Local and national good
practice guides relating to
testing and test use
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UNIT 1 Take responsibility for ethical test use: Test user standards
Administration modes
• Individual vs Group
• Paper-based, equipment-based and multi-
media testing
• Online (internet/intranet) vs offline computer-
based testing
• Open, Controlled, Supervised or Managed
administration
Professional and ethical standards in testing Ability to use appropriate levels and methods of
communication, taking account of the needs, abilities
Professional issues and debates relating to use of and sensitivities of test takers and other relevant
tests in occupational settings parties.
Testing and test use policies Ability to present tests and testing in a positive and
balanced manner.
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UNIT 1 Take responsibility for ethical test use: Test user standards
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UNIT 1 Take responsibility for ethical test use: Test user standards
b Accept responsibility for the choice of tests used, Testing of groups for
and for the recommendations made. • Team development
• Competencies audit
c Provide clear and adequate information to • Other organizational purposes
participants in the testing process about the ethical
principles and legal regulations governing Participants
psychological testing.
• Test taker
• Organizational representatives
d Ensure other parties are informed of their duties of
responsibility and accountability regarding legal, • Hiring manager
contractual and ethical codes • Recruitment consultant
• Career advisor
e Accept the duties of responsibility and
accountability regarding legal, contractual and Testing methods
ethical codes. • Psychological tests of ability (maximum
performance measures)
f Ensure that there is informed consent and that the • Psychological tests of personality, motivation
nature of the contract between test-taker (or etc (typical performance measures)
responsible person) and tester is clear and
understood. Administration modes
• Individual vs Group
9 Be alert to any unintended consequences of test • Paper-based, equipment-based and multi-
use. media testing
• Online (internet/intranet) vs offline computer-
h Try to avoid doing harm or causing distress to based testing
those involved in the testing process. • Open, Controlled, Supervised or Managed
administration
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UNIT 1 Take responsibility for ethical test use: Test user standards
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UNIT 1 Take responsibility for ethical test use: Test user standards
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
What is this unit about? This unit is about following good practice in choosing, using and
interpreting psychological tests
Who is this unit for? This unit should be appropriate for all test users involved in or advising
on individual assessments which include or might include the use of
psychological tests.
Occupational Context:
Testing of people for:
• Recruitment and selection
• Organizational or team fit
• Identification of development needs
• Career advice and guidance
• Other organizational purposes
Testing of groups for:
• Team development
• Competencies audit
• Other organizational purposes
Testing methods
• Psychological tests of ability (maximum performance measures)
• Psychological tests of personality, motivation etc (typical performance measures)
Administration modes
• Individual vs Group
• Paper-based, equipment-based and multi-media testing
• Online (internet/intranet) vs offline computer-based testing
• Open, Controlled, Supervised or Managed administration
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
e Testing methods
Conduct a risk assessment with regards to
assessment method security, legal issues and • Psychological tests of ability (maximum
protection of intellectual property in relation to: performance measures)
• testing methods • Psychological tests of personality, motivation
etc (typical performance measures)
• testing conditions
• modes of administration,
Administration modes
• context,
• Individual vs Group
• stakeholders.
• Paper-based, equipment-based and multi-
media testing
Consider how other sources of information might
f • Online (internet/intranet) vs offline computer-
be used together with or instead of the tests.
based testing
Can explain to the relevant stakeholder the utility • Open, Controlled, Supervised or Managed
g administration
associated with the use of tests and other
methods of assessment.
Legal and best practice requirements relating to Relating job descriptions to person specifications
confidentiality and security of personal data
Risk assessment
Costs, benefits and risks associated with different
modes of testing Cost-benefit analysis
Utility theory
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
Administration modes
• Individual vs Group
• Paper-based, equipment-based and multi-
media testing
• Online (internet/intranet) vs offline
computer-based testing
• Open, Controlled, Supervised or Managed
administration
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
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UNIT 2 Follow good practice in the use of tests: Test User Standards
Standard: 2.6 Review the appropriateness of the test and its use
Performance required Occupational Context
You must ensure that you: Testing of people for:
• Recruitment and selection
a Monitor and periodically review change over time • Organizational or team fit
in the populations of individuals being tested and • Identification of development needs
any criterion measures being used. • Career advice and guidance
• Other organizational purposes
b Monitor test data for evidence of adverse impact
and re-evaluate the legal and equity issues Testing of groups for:
arising in using the test and check that best • Team development
practice is being followed. • Competencies audit
• Other organizational purposes
c Participate in formal validation studies where
possible and practical.
General knowledge of the psychometric properties of Communication with test developers, publishers and
testing instruments. researchers (criteria: d, c; in line with standards 1.5,
2.3)
Knowledge of specific tests used Co-operation skills (criteria: d, c; in line with
Validity and reliability standards: 1.5,)
Norms and standardisation Evaluation skills (criteria: b, e, f)
Monitoring skills (criteria: a, b)
Management of data, filing and data storage (criteria:
d)
Search skills for finding information about test
updates (criteria: e, f; in line with standards: 1.2,)
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UNIT 3 Follow good practice in the administration of tests: Test User
Standards
What is this unit about? This unit is about following good practice in administering psychological
tests
Who is this unit for? This unit should be appropriate for all those involved in the administration
of tests to individuals or groups.
Occupational Context:
Testing of people for:
• Recruitment and selection
• Organizational or team fit
• Identification of development needs
• Career advice and guidance
• Other organizational purposes
Testing methods
• Psychological tests of ability (maximum performance measures)
• Psychological tests of personality, motivation etc (typical performance measures)
Administration modes
• Individual vs Group
• Paper-based, equipment-based and multi-media testing
• Online (internet/intranet) vs offline computer-based testing
• Open, Controlled, Supervised or Managed administration
Theories, models and Facts, data and information Methods, techniques and
principles of: about: procedures relating to:
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UNIT 3 Follow good practice in the administration of tests: Test User
Standards
General administration
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UNIT 3 Follow good practice in the administration of tests: Test User
Standards
The possible impact of assessment on test takers General skills associated with managing issues and
problems that might arise in testing sessions
The possible impact of mode of administration on the
quality of test results Test administration process skills relating to different
types of tests and conditions of administration
The possible impact of anxiety on test performance. (group, individual; interactive non-interactive)
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UNIT 3 Follow good practice in the administration of tests: Test User
Standards
Administration modes
• Individual vs Group
• Paper-based, equipment-based and
multi-media testing
• Online (internet/intranet) vs offline
computer-based testing
• Open, Controlled, Supervised or
Managed administration
Test scoring procedures Use of scoring keys and self-scoring test forms
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