The Exam Directorate has remained as busy as ever this Summer with exam-related activity. Here are some updates on topics and events over the last three months.

While the 2014 DRAFT Style Guidelines were announced at the 2014 National Homebrewers Conference, they will not be used as the basis for exams until after they are finalized. We are NOT in the process of updating the question pool for the Online Exam, (Beer) Tasting Exam, Mead Exam, and Written Exam to focus upon the 2014 Guidelines. The process of updating will NOT start until after the new guidelines are finalized. In the past, revisions to the guidelines resulted in a 4-6 month transition period and we anticipate something similar this time around.

An effort is underway to create a pool of questions for an online Cider Entrance Exam and an online Mead Entrance Exam. This activity started with the DRAFT 2014 Style Guidelines.

An exam administrator brought it to the attention of the board that many exam administrators are finding that exams are being scheduled 12-18 months in advance, however, the dropout rate is tending to be over 50%. Many times, those on the waiting list are contacted and have not prepared and remove themselves from taking the exam as well. While some would think the Exam Directorate welcomes having to grade fewer exams, the same amount of effort goes into coordinating the grading. We want to make sure that ALL seats are being filled at every available exam site.

We are working with the IT Directorate to examine means for modernizing our exam registration, including designing the appropriate workflows for a centralized registration system for all potential and current judges.

We are also determining whether any policy changes should be recommended to the board. We are seeing people retake a given exam type while the results of a prior attempt are still pending. In these cases it is extremely rare for the exam taker to improve their score on these rapid retakes. Today, our official position is “We strongly discourage people from retaking the same exam when the results of a previous exam are still pending.” Currently there is no policy against this, and we don’t want to have to exclude an exam from being graded because the same Examinee has another exam being graded from a separate exam site. However, we are considering such measures. We strongly advise you to wait for the results of your exam before taking another one.

The first Quarterly geographically dispersed Beer Written Proficiency Exam was administered at multiple sites on September 20, 2014. The Quarterly exams are given by existing exam graders (see http://www.bjcp.org/apps/reports/graders.php ) to as few as one examinee at a given site. We coordinate the exams such that everyone is taking the exam on the same day and the same time so we can combine the exams for grading purposes. This approach alleviates the problems exam administrators were having with not being able to get enough judges to actually show up on exam day to sit for the Written Exam (the minimum is six). We hope to continue this model for the future as a way to meet the need for Beer Written Proficiency Exams. As we gain experience with this approach we may adjust the technique.

The next few dates have been finalized (December 6, 2014 and March 7, 2015) while further out dates just have a month selected so far – see the online exam schedule for details. Sites are added to the online schedule as local graders volunteer. To add a site to the schedule an exam grader needs to contact the exam directors. If you are interested in taking the Beer Written Proficiency Exam on the Quarterly date and there is not already a local site on the online schedule contact one of the graders in your area to try to get a local site started.

The procedures are a little different for these quarterly exams; the examinees MUST pay well in advance of the exam date and if they no-show on exam day there is no refund of the fee.

The Exam Structure document has been revised now that the new exam program has fully phased in. The document describes the requirements for different ranks, and how one progresses through the exam system. The major points are that the Apprentice rank is time-limited, and that those failing to progress to Recognized or above will be reclassified from Active status to Affiliated status. Affiliated judges have to start over in the exam program to become active, but keep their BJCP ID and past experience points.

Acting upon a recommendation from the Exam Directors, the board voted to raise fees for the Written Proficiency Exam from US$15 to US$25. This coincides with the rollout of a new Quarterly Written Exam that will allow multiple, geographically-dispersed sites to give written exams at the same time, and then combine them for grading purposes. The intent is to allow more written exams to be given without requiring a minimum number of examinees per site; this also frees up more slots for tasting exams on the exam calendar.

There is always a need for exam graders. All BJCP judges of National rank or higher are eligible to grade exams and exam grading credits are required to advance from Master rank to Grand Master rank. Additional grading credits are required for each additional Grand Master level. Graders earn non-judging experience points for their efforts. We strongly encourage eligible judges to participate in exam grading as both a way to help the program and as a way to improve their skills. If you are interested in becoming an exam grader send an email to exam_director@bjcp.org

Summer was busy for the BJCP outside of the USA. The Beer Judging exam was given in Melbourne, Australia in July, in Johannesburg, South Africa in August, in Temuco, Chile, in Mexico City, Mexico, and in Hong Kong, China in September. Upcoming International activities include Beer Judging exams in Buenos Aries, Argentina, Cape Town, South Africa and Adelaide, Australia in December.