Gone downhill fast over the past 3 years
I fully support the negative reviews from exam candidates on here, having worked as Invigilator and Supervisor for Cambridge English Qualifications for the past 9 years.
There's two sides to the problem, really. On the one hand, there's the ridiculous number of regulations that now need to be followed when administering the test: what used to be a difficult-yet-manageable task when I started in 2015 has recently become nearly impossible to get completely right. Some regulations are worded amiguously, there is lots of conflicting information in the training materials, and many colleagues now fear the strict and condescending Centre Inspectors showing up for compliance checks unannounced every 1-2 years. Being rated "excellent" during such a compliance check has become exceedingly difficult.
On the other hand, however, there is also a large number of colleagues who are just grossly incompetent, but who have so far avoided being monitored by a Centre Inspector. I have no doubt that the review about an invigilator mistiming a component and not giving clear instructions is accurate, as I have witnessed similar incidents myself on numerous occasions.
Speaking Examiners are also becoming increasingly hit-and-miss, thanks to unsatisfactory quality control mechanisms in certain regions. In just the past 1.5 years, I've witnessed Speaking Examiners in my local area mishandling test materials, failing to fill in mark sheets correctly (leading to missing marks and thus unreliable exam results), and on one occasion even attempting to administer THE WRONG EXAM to candidates. None of these incidents resulted in genuine repercussions for the examiners in question, as apparently length of service is mistaken for competence when it comes to Speaking Examiners.
Writing Examiners appear to be heading in the same direction, as I'm told that some examining work has now been offshored to India and training of those overseas Writing Examiners has been rather poor.
To sum up, if you need a language test result, do stay away from Cambridge English Qualifications. They are becoming increasingly poor value for money, and there's better exam providers out there. I decided to stop running these exams recently, to focus on more pleasant and worthwhile professional ventures.
20. april 2024
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