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- Topic: narrow scope, time difference and exam integrity
| Author | Topic: narrow scope, time difference and exam integrity |
|---|---|
| Didion @2014-06-03 08:19:28 |
I think that the integrity of the exam is seriously compromised because of the time differences in conjunction with the narrow scope and small number of questions of the essay part of the test. Do you think that the signing of the non-disclosure pledges is actually prohibiting everyone from discussing the questions with others before the exam is over for everybody? I seriously doubt it. My experience says that when money is at stake, everything that is technically feasible does indeed take place by someone, no matter any pledges or how improbable it may seem. What if someone taking the exam in NYC calls on the mobile at 7am in Saturday morning his friend in London who has just finished the morning exam, getting a few tips like "take a look at the Dupont decomposition, the formula of DDM and FCFE, CIRCUS swaps, preferred habitat theory, futures theoretical value - cost of cary" etc. And take into account that there are larger time differences. Think of Honolulu (GMT-10) and Abu Dhabi GMT+4). Subtracting 9 hours (8am ? 5pm), there are 5 hours for someone in Hawaii to get a few tips and study after the end of the afternoon session in AbuDhabi. Furthermore, consider that the test centers located east of 60 degrees longitude are opening on Sunday. In Karachi (GMT+5) they sit for the exam 23 hours after those in Abu Dhabi (15 hours after they have finished the afternoon exam, or 20 hours after they have finished the morning exam). I haven't heard of anyone using the time difference but I am pretty sure that it happens.The only way to make the time difference of no use is to change the format of the morning exam to item set format and examine more topics so that no one could study all of them. What's your opinion? |
| BeginCFA @2014-06-03 17:51:53 |
I thought about it, and my conclusion is that CFA Institute gives different exam format in each area. For ex., last December I took level I and the exam code in my area was 4444 (both morning and noon) while many other candidates was given different codes. |
| PokKim @2014-06-04 03:43:16 |
Over here in S-E Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, etc.) (GMT +8) we take the exam on Sunday. I suppose this is to minimise the opportunity to compromise the exams. Assuming someone in the US (GMT -4?) finishes at 5.00 pm on Saturday, it's 5.00 am Sunday morning here (4 hrs before exams start). There could be 2-3 hours to do some cramming (or much longer if the "communication" is done during the lunch break. But one SURE way to compromise the exams is to discuss the questions on these message boards immediately after the exams. |
| Philippe @2014-06-04 09:00:38 |
I think that the tests are identical no matter the code. And how could they be different? How could they make different tests of equal difficulty? This would raise issues of fairness. The code may indicate the place taken. And in level I the questions are enough to make the circulation of them immaterial but this is not the case in level II & III. |
| stefdunk @2018-08-11 12:49:54 |
they can easily have different tests. The CFA uses metricians to work out the relative difficulty of each question, and each section, so that whether a person passes or fails is as fair as possible. Why do you think it takes two months to get the results? |
