As you begin your preparation for the CASPer test - choosing a CASPer Prep Course, even a CASPer tutor, and working through sample materials, you will no doubt wonder how you can know what score you got - or even if you got a perfect score.
The first thing to note is that your best chance of a near-perfect score is through dedicated preparation with a CASPer tuition agency. We recommend BlackStone Tutors, who have a track record in preparing students for CASPer, and for Medicine interviews, Residency, and professional exams. Here, we will consider how the test is scored, and by whom.
How is the CASPer Test Scored?
The CASPer is assessed by a number of markers, whom CASPer calls ‘raters’. Each rater is trained to be as objective as possible, and provided with criteria to assess each response. Every response that they rate will be graded using a scale from 1 to 9, with 9 being a superb answer and 1 being an entirely unsatisfactory response. Each of your scenarios (of which there are 15 in the latest version of test) will be marked by a separate rater, in order to minimise the potential for one rater to skew results.
The test is scored by a range of reviewers, who may be doctors, medical students, or members of the general public. As stated, they will have undergone a training program to prepare them to score the tests. They are trained to be as objective in their assessment of given criteria as possible.
All three responses to a given prompt are graded by the same scorer, with the score you receive being an average of your ability over the three questions. Each individual section (of three prompts) will be scored by a different marker, meaning that you should have 15 different markers over the course of the entire test.
Each marker is given a series of candidate responses to individual scenarios, meaning that their marking should be uniform throughout - meaning that the marking should be as fair as possible. However - that doesn’t mean that you will know if you’ve got a perfect score!
Who Scores the CASPer Test?
The pool of raters is localised with the tests that will be rated, meaning that US raters will rate US healthcare program CASPers, for example. The rating pool is designed to be as diverse as the population that the students will serve, and each rater should have some form of interest in the future of the healthcare profession, or in the future of education.
Each rater is monitored daily or in real time, with a quality assurance system. There are a range of metrics in place to monitor the raters, such as checking that their mean ratings aren’t too high or too low, that they use the full range of the scale to differentiate applicants, and that they read at a realistic speed.
In order to become a rater, each individual must have submitted a CV, with the CASPer team then looking for relevant experience, healthcare knowledge, their general work experience, and confirmation that they don’t have any connection to medical school applicants. They will then sit a short version of the CASPer to ensure that they have balanced viewpoints that will allow them to rate others. 26% of raters work in healthcare, with the remaining 74% being divided between other fields.
You will not be able to receive any direct feedback from the raters on how you performed.
How Long Do Results Take to be Processed?
Results take three weeks to be processed and sent to your chosen schools. So, if you’re wondering if you got a perfect score - the schools that you are applying to will know within three weeks. Despite this, you will not receive your results. This is because the results are still used in ‘a variety of ways’ by Altus Assessments, so they are not able to reveal them to students.
As such, you will never know if you got a perfect score - only if your score was good enough to allow you a place at the universities that you were interested in.
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