Friday, March 29, 2024

Testing with Prometric

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Additional Resources
register online for an exam
Prometric’s test center locator
registration phone numbers
Prometric home page

Many certification programs administer their exams through Prometric testing centers. This is because they have over 2900 offices serving more than 141 countries, making them the largest professional testing provider. Until recently they were pretty much the only such provider. Prometric used to be known as Sylvan Prometric, and was a division of Sylvan Learning Systems (NASDAQ: SLVN). But in early 2000 The Thomson Corporation (TSE: TOC) bought the division, and the name was changed to simply Prometric.

It’s best to register several weeks or more in advance of the exam. There are a limited number of seats at each center and they often fill up. You register by calling one of the Prometric registration numbers or through the online system, NOT by calling the testing center itself. Because gocertify.com has received numerous reports of errors related to the registration process, we suggest that several days after you have registered you should call back and confirm that your information is recorded correctly. You can also use Prometric’s online registration system to verify your information.

The test center will download your exam the night before your scheduled appointment. You can call the test center as soon as they open to verify that your exam has been downloaded and is ready for you. Although download failures are rare, this can save you travelling to the center only to find no test awaiting once you arrive.

On the day of the exam you should bring two forms of identification to the testing center. One of those must be a photo id. You will be provided with a small wipeoff board to use for notes and calculations during the exam. You can ask for paper and pencil instead, which many people find more comfortable to work with. Whichever you use, you will be required to return before leaving the testing center. You will also need to leave any study materials with the receptionist. To keep from forgetting them when you leave, consider leaving your car keys/bus pass as well. This will make it impossible to drive away without your other belongings.

You will take the test in a room that is dedicated to that purpose. There may be one or more additional people taking other tests in the same room. The room is typically monitored via video camera to deter cheating. You will have the option of completeing a practice test to familiarize yourself with the testing software. This is really only necessary if you haven’t used practice tests as part of your preparation, or if you feel like uncomfortable with computer-based testing.

When you finish the exam, your score will appear on the screen. Do not continue past that point until you have your official score sheet in hand. Although it’s extremely unlikely that your score will be lost, better safe than sorry.

Prometric tests usually involve some sort of survey at the end. There may actually be two surveys – one from Prometric and one from the certification program. These are not part of certification requirements, but you will probably have to complete them.

There will probably also be a confidentiality agreement that you must acknowledge by clicking on an “I agree” button. This is basically a promise not to give out the questions you encountered in the exam.

After your exam, Prometric transmits your results to the test sponsor where they are entered into your candidate record. The time between taking an exam and having the results registered in the sponsor’s database depend on a number of factors. Depending on how often a sponsor updates their database and how often the test center transmits data, your records may be updated within a few hours or several days.

That’s all there is to it!

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