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CLEAR Quick Poll Results: Pandemic Pass Rate Changes

Republished with permission.

CLEAR periodically issues Quick Poll surveys asking members about their credentialing practices, policies and issues. These Quick Polls are not designed as scientific studies but allow CLEAR to gather snapshot data regarding current practices in credentialing. This excerpt from the CLEAR Exam Review discusses the results of a Quick Poll on changes in pass rates.

Questions Asked:

  1. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic response, has your program experienced a change in pass rates? (Yes/No)
  2. Have the pass rates increased or decreased?
  3. By what percentage did the pass rates change?

Number of Responses: 57

 

Results

Just over half of the 57 respondents (54%, N=31) indicated that their program had experienced a change in pass rates since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while 46% (N=26) reported no change in pass rates. Of the 31 respondents whose organizations had experienced changes in pass rates, 81% (N=25) had seen pass rates decrease, and 19% (N=6) had seen pass rates increase.

Percentage decreases in pass rates were provided by 17 respondents and ranged from 1% to 20%, with an average of just over 9% decrease in pass rates. Percentage increases in pass rates were only provided by four respondents and ranged from 4% to 40%, with an average increase of 16% — however, the small number providing this data suggests caution in making generalizations from this data.

For the organizations responding to this poll, it is clear that the pandemic has had an effect on the ability of candidates to pass their examination(s). Whether this is due to changes in exam delivery formats (e.g., switch to remote proctoring, fewer testing locations leading to impacts on travel), issues related to preparation such as truncated educational programs or lack of access to training or preparation, changes in the candidate population due to disruptions in employment, or the other pandemic-related stressors or issues remains to be investigated in future research.

An extended study on changes to pass rates is planned.

Reference

Caro, C. M. (2022). Recent CLEAR Quick Poll Results. CLEAR Exam Review, 32(1), 11-17. https://www.clearhq.org/cer