Do you know how to access and use the “Performance Report” for your CIPS exam results? In this short article we give you advice on how to interpret your feedback scores and use them to improve your results at the next exam.
All the marking for CIPS exams is digitised. Naturally, the marking for the Objective Response (OR, multiple-choice) exams is automated, but even the CR (Constructed Response, essay-based exams) are marked online by CIPS examiners. This allows the results to be digitised and the necessary statistical reviews to be automated. It helps speed up the marking and quality review processes, and it also reduces the likelihood of human error.
Since 2019, CIPS has been producing simple Performance Reports for each exam result. In essence, you receive your results by email directly from CIPS and next to the mark there is a link to access your Performance Report.
Now, don’t get too excited! The report is very basic, and simply shows a breakdown of your marks for each Learning Outcome that was tested. Not a lot of information!
However, we at Cordie, still think this breakdown can be extremely helpful.
How to interpret a CIPS Performance Report
Let’s consider the following fictitious report from a Level 4 OR exam:
L4M6 Supplier Relationships
Here, we’ve shown the breakdown in an easy to understand graphical format. You won’t get a graph for your Performance Report from CIPS (just numbers), but the principle is the same.
In the above example, we can see that the exam candidate correctly answered 20 out of the 20 questions for both Learning Outcomes 1.0 and 2.0, but only correctly answered 10 out of the 20 questions for Learning Outcome 3.0. The total of 50 correct answers out of 60 means they achieved an 83% result for this exam, which is a clear pass.
But should they be pleased with this result?
Well of course, a pass is a pass and everyone should celebrate their achievements. 83% is a fantastic result and let’s not take that away from this fictitious learner. However, there is a more valuable way of reading these feedback results.
In this case, the learner can see they performed excellently on the questions for the first two Learning Outcomes, which for this study module are all about the dynamics of commercial relationships and various processes supporting them. The take-away lesson from this is that whatever the learner did in terms of their exam preparation and revision, it clearly worked very well and so, reflecting back, if they can continue to apply this kind of study practice to their future exams they should continue to do well.
Conversely, the feedback for LO 3.0 shows that these questions were not answered so well. In fact, the learner “failed” this Learning Outcome and had they performed in a similar way across the other Learning Outcomes, then they would have failed the exam overall, possibly with a mark as low as 50% (against the 70% pass-mark).
In this situation, we would strongly recommend the learner reflects back over how they approached their exam preparation for this Learning Outcome. Perhaps the mark indicates some areas of theory (in this study module, about partnering relationships) that the learner did not understand or even may have missed out altogether. The learner needs to discuss this through with their study centre.
The learner can take the lessons of this feedback and their reflections forward to their next exam to prevent this performance from recurring.
What happens if MY scores are all very similar?
So far, we’ve considered the scenario where the CIPS Performance Report highlights large discrepancies between the results for each Learning Outcome, which is a great way of highlighting where to focus your energies for your next exam. But what if the mark breakdown shows little or no discrepancy?
Imagine a situation where a CIPS learner fails a CR exam with a mark of 44%. They click on their Performance Report and to their dismay they find they were marked 11 out of 25 for each of their four exam answers. Is this helpful feedback?
We would argue that it is! The big take-away lesson is one of consistency. The learner has consistently not done enough to pass their CR exam, and so they need to have a conversation with their study centre to help explore why this was the case. In each case, their answers were “almost” satisfactory to pass, but not quite.
An even distribution of marks across all Learning Outcomes could suggest one of two things:
Perhaps the learner is not putting in sufficient preparation on the learning content. They broadly understand the content and concepts, but are not showing sufficient depth within their exam answers.
Linked to this, perhaps the learner needs to work more on their exam technique and specifically on how to write exam essay answers. We do a lot of work on this at Cordie and we actively encourage every student to prepare mock exam papers for us to mark on your behalf and feedback on. We also run exam essay writing workshops to support learners develop their essay-writing skills.
What happens if there is a problem with the CIPS Performance Report?
This situation is uncommon, but it has been known to occur. As previously mentioned, marking is processed automatically by CIPS assessment software and so the feedback within the Performance Reports is usually an accurate reflection of the marks.
During the November 2023 exam series, a problem was encountered with the CIPS Performance Reports for the L4M8 Procurement & Supply in Practice CR exam. A number of learners noticed that the marks in their Performance Report did not add up correctly to their overall mark.
Naturally this causes concern for everyone involved.
If this should happen to you, then do please get in touch immediately and we will liaise with CIPS to have the matter investigated. In the November 2023 incident, there was a software error that incorrectly added up the marks for Learning Outcomes 1.0 and 2.0, and although many learners raised their concern to CIPS, the matter was quickly resolved and rectified (within a matter of 3 working days).
Since then, CIPS has been working with their supplier to ensure the problem does not recur.
The Value of a Study Centre
It is in cases like this, you truly get to appreciate the added-value of a study centre, particularly a CIPS “centre of excellence” like Cordie. You are never “alone” in your exams and we are always on hand to help or advise.
Given the number of learners we have, it is often the case that other learners are experiencing exactly the same as you, and we can help share common solutions and helpful guidance. We can offer the benefit of our experience, or we can even take up your case with CIPS on your behalf.
Do feel free to reach out. We always love hearing from you and look forward to being of help!