Executive Director Hord Tipton Regarding Erroneous Pass/Fail Notifications
Recently, (ISC)˛ sent incorrect exam result notifications to some CISSP certification candidates who had taken the exam in September and first week of October. Some candidates who received ‘pass' notices had unfortunately failed the exam; others who had received ‘fail' notices actually passed.
All those who received the faulty notices have been notified. If you recently took the exam and have not been notified at the email address you provided when you registered, you can be confident that the exam results you received are accurate.
Before I provide the details on how this happened and what we are doing to rectify the situation, I wish to publicly offer our heartfelt apologies to the candidates who received the incorrect exam results. We understand the high-level of difficulty the CISSP exam presents to professionals and how hard candidates work to obtain their certifications to reap its many benefits, including better job opportunities and salaries. During this tough economic climate, we realize that the certification has become even more desired by information security professionals and critical to obtain. As a credential-holder myself, I know how heart-wrenching the exam process can be. We deeply regret any personal distress that may have been caused by these faulty notices. I speak not just for myself, but for all (ISC)˛ employees and board members.
The error arose when we implemented a new scoring interface as part of our transition to a new exam delivery and scoring provider. Some candidates whose exam results were scored between October 15 and 21, 2010 received an inaccurate test result notification. We have verified through rigorous testing and data review processes that the problem has been corrected, and we have since enhanced our quality assurance procedures to prevent it from occurring again. We have also verified that exam results scored before and after the period of October 15-21, 2010 are unaffected by the issue. The problem has been corrected, and we do not expect to encounter any further issues.
For the affected candidates who received ‘pass' notices and actually failed the exam, we are offering them a full refund of their exam fee, the opportunity to retake the exam at no charge, and a free online CISSP CBK Seminar. Affected candidates can call (ISC)˛ Customer Support at +1-727-785-0189 and select menu choice 5 to begin the reimbursement process or discuss registering for an upcoming exam and online seminar at no cost. Further, we are in the process of creating venues for private exams for affected candidates should they wish to retest before the end of the year. We will follow up with affected candidates to get them into these events. I offer my personal assistance to those who may need further explanation with their management or immediate supervisors.
It is our intent to ensure the integrity of the certification and hope our candidates understand these corrective measures are absolutely necessary. We are standing by to assist those candidates impacted by this unfortunate error as they move forward in their quest to become an (ISC)˛ credential holder.
If anyone has additional questions, please contact me personally at
hord.tipton@isc2.org. Thank you.
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