Public Statement Regarding PTE General Tests Taken in December 2015

Pearson Test of English General (PTE General) is designed to reward positive achievement in English language learning. PTE General integrates all four skills (Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing) and focuses on assessing the ability of communicating in English, rather than test-taking skills.

As part of our quality assurance process we run mark consistency checks to ensure that the fractional question level marks are rounded correctly. For December 2015 results, the quality assurance and sampling process was carried out in the normal way. The sample did not show any incorrect rounding of fractional scores, so results were issued.

Unfortunately, the sample did not pick up the fact that there were some inconsistencies, which meant that a small proportion of scores should have been rounded up or rounded down by a further digit, but were not. This was our mistake, and not the fault of the centres delivering the test.

Pearson apologises for the inconvenience this has caused to the small amount of students affected by this mistake. We are acutely aware of the importance of PTE General scores for the students who take the test, and are profoundly sorry for this rare grading error.

We have spoken to a number of candidates affected and gained an understanding of additional tuition, resource and travel expenses incurred, and have subsequently offered affected students a payment to cover direct costs incurred as a result of this mistake, as well as a test retake - and subsequent level of test - free of charge.

We wholeheartedly apologise for the inconvenience the error has caused some students. Nonetheless, as a company that prides itself on operating to the highest standards, we fully stand by our decision not to award inaccurate grades to the small number of impacted students.

To have reinstated the original marks for some learners who were initially told they had passed, but who should not have passed, would mean that we would be applying our established procedures inconsistently. This would be unfair to other learners and a failure, on our part, to ensure the integrity of results.

As well as reviewing the specific lessons learned in this instance, we are conducting a full review of our sampling methodology, to ensure that an error such as this cannot happen again.

We are in the process of contacting affected candidates with the offer of a compensation payment for direct costs incurred. We also have a dedicated hotline to assist affected candidates in accepting the compensation, booking their complementary test retake - and subsequent level of test - and assisting with any questions or concerns: +44 (0) 120 4770 696

Please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for more information.

What is PTE General?

What happened to the PTE General tests taken in December 2015?

PTE General tests are scored in a way that requires precise fractions of marks to be awarded at question level, which are then rounded to whole numbers. It is these whole number scores that are reported to centres and candidates.

As part of our quality assurance process we run mark consistency checks to ensure that the fractional question level marks are rounded correctly so that the total for the skills scores matches the overall score. This quality assurance process is carried out through a sampling mechanism.

For December 2015 results, the quality assurance and sampling process was carried out in the normal way. The sample did not show any incorrect rounding of fractional scores, so results were issued. In fact, we later found that the sample was not representative of the whole cohort of tests taken and there were in fact some inconsistencies, which meant that a small proportion of scores should have been rounded up or rounded down by a further digit, but were not. This was our mistake, and not the fault of the centres delivering the test.

How many test candidates were affected?

A small proportion of scores were rounded up or down incorrectly, meaning less than 2% of test takers globally were affected by this error.

Why must Pearson correct the original results that were issued?

We have a responsibility to issue correct examination and test results and we have thorough and robust procedures in place to ensure that we do this. However, on this occasion, despite those procedures being applied, a highly regrettable error occurred and we are putting measures in place to ensure that it cannot happen again.

We have a duty to ensure that all decisions that we take are fair to all learners and to achieve that we do, on rare occasions, have to issue revised results, which we have had to do here. To have reinstated the original marks for some learners who were initially told they had passed, but who should not have passed, would mean that we would be applying our established procedures inconsistently. This would be unfair to other learners and a failure, on our part, to ensure the integrity of results.

What are you doing to prevent a reoccurrence?

As well as reviewing the specific lessons learned in this instance, we are conducting a full review of our sampling methodology, to ensure that an error such as this can not happen again.

Should I expect to be contacted by Pearson?

We are in the process of contacting affected candidates with the offer of a compensation payment for direct costs incurred. We also have a dedicated hotline to assist affected candidates in accepting the compensation, booking their complementary test retake - or subsequent level of test - and assisting with any questions or concerns: +44 (0) 120 4770 696