HOW THE CPA EXAM IS SCORED

            

   Everyone knows that the special score you need to score on the CPA exam is a 75. However, many people also know numerous other little tidbits about how the CPA exam is scored. For instance, if you continue to answer questions correctly, the questions will increase in difficulty, and vice versa. Not only does this happen, but approximately 20% of the questions in each section do not count because they are considered test questions, or survey questions. So, how is the CPA exam truly scored?

                In the past ten years, the CPA exam has undergone drastic changes. During the year 2004, the CPA switched from being a pencil based exam, to a computer based exam. This action in itself made the participants have to learn how to manipulate the computer to take the exam, contradictory to what they had learned in their classes and from review material.

                Due to this change, the grading is no longer done by hand either. All of the grading is done by software that has been programmed to do so, even the simulations. In order to reduce errors in the grading, samples of questions are graded by hand to have a control. For each change to the exam, a new set of scoring features has to be developed.

                While some might wonder if having a computer grader is an advantage or a disadvantage, there are always ways to ensure the credibility. For instance, if ones multiple choice questions leave their total score on the border, the simulations and essays will be graded by hand.

                What I want to know is how we are supposed to trust the grading scale for the CPA exam when we could all essentially be getting different test questions. How are they accurately and efficiently grading us against each other? If they are comparing our data scores to each other in order to test for accuracy using models, what makes this effective?

As for the questions that are scored and not scored, what is the purpose behind this? I understand that they need experimental questions to try out new things, but that could technically hurt the test taker. Why should they not receive credit for answering those questions correctly? Yet, we are punished for answering the other questions incorrectly. Therefore, I believe that if you are asked to provide an answer to a question, then you should receive a score for that question.

Lastly, what I want to know is what happens after the exam. Whenever I have taken tests previously, I have been allowed to view my results personally to see what questions I answered correctly and incorrectly. By knowing this information, I know what I need to prepare for more on the next exam, if there needs to be a next exam. Everyone says you learn from your mistakes, and I believe you can learn more from studying the information you are not fluent in than studying information you already know.