Candidates spend weeks preparing for an exam and a few minutes reading the result. That report is the part of your program they remember, quote to their employer, and bring to an appeal. Yet many score reports are a single number, a pass or fail line, and a paragraph of legal text.
This article sets out what a candidate needs from a score report, how to show domain results without overreading them, and a worked layout for a candidate who did not pass.
A report is an interpretation
A score report does not just display a number. It tells the reader what the number means, and that is a validity question. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA and NCME, 2014) define validity as “the degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores for proposed uses of tests,” as quoted in Sireci and Benítez’s 2023 review in Psicothema.
The report is where those interpretations are written down for the candidate. If it implies that a domain result is precise when it rests on a handful of items, the report claims more than the evidence supports. Good design keeps every statement on the page within what the scores can carry.
What a candidate needs to know
Most candidates come to a score report with three questions, in this order.
- Did I pass? The decision, stated plainly at the top.
- What does that mean? What the result allows them to do, or not do, and for how long.
- What happens next? For a pass, how to get the credential and when it renews. For a fail, where they were weakest, when they can retest and how to register.
A report that answers all three on one screen does more for candidates than a longer one that answers none clearly.
Lead with the decision
Put the result in the first line, in words: “Result: Pass” or “Result: Not passed.” Avoid euphemisms such as “did not meet the standard at this time,” which candidates often reread several times to decode.
Below the result, show the scaled score and the passing score on the same scale, side by side. A short line explains that scores are reported on a scale so results are comparable across exam forms.
Avoid showing the raw number correct for programs that use more than one form. Raw scores differ in meaning from form to form, and candidates comparing notes will reach the wrong conclusions.
Show domains in bands
Domain feedback is the most useful part of a report for a candidate who did not pass, and the easiest to overstate.
The problem is size. A domain with 12 items produces a score that can move a lot with two or three answers. Reporting “Domain C: 58 percent” suggests a precision the data does not have.
A safer common practice is to report each domain in broad bands relative to the passing standard:
- Below the passing standard
- Near the passing standard
- Above the passing standard
Add the number of items in each domain, so candidates can see which domains carry the most weight. If a domain has too few items to report even in bands, say so rather than leaving it off silently.
Ask your psychometrician which domains have enough items to report, and how wide “near” should be. The standard error of measurement for each domain is usually the basis for that decision.
Example: reporting a result below passing
Here is an illustrative layout for a 150-item certification exam with five domains. The content is invented to show structure.
Result: Not passed
Your scaled score is 462. The passing score is 500. Scores are reported on a scale of 200 to 800 so results mean the same thing on every form.
How you did in each area
| Domain | Items | Your result |
|---|---|---|
| Patient assessment | 42 | Near the passing standard |
| Treatment planning | 36 | Below the passing standard |
| Procedures | 33 | Above the passing standard |
| Safety and infection control | 24 | Near the passing standard |
| Professional practice | 15 | Near the passing standard |
What to focus on. Treatment planning is your weakest area and carries 36 of 150 items. It is the area with the most room to improve.
When you can retest. You may retest after 30 days. Register in your candidate portal. You may take the exam up to three times in 12 months.
Questions about your result. You can request a score verification within 30 days. The candidate handbook explains how.
Everything on that page is specific, short and within what the scores can support. The retest rules shown are examples; use your program’s own.
Pass reports matter too
Candidates who pass need less feedback and more administration. A good pass report covers:
- The credential earned, its number and its start date
- When it expires and what renewal requires
- How to share it, such as a verifiable digital badge
- How employers or regulators can verify it
- Where to update contact details so renewal notices arrive
Many programs leave domain bands off pass reports, or show them in a collapsed section. A passing candidate rarely needs them, and it keeps the decision clear.
Protect the item bank
Candidates often ask to see the questions they missed. For exams that reuse items across forms, showing items would expose the bank and weaken future forms for everyone.
Domain bands give useful direction without revealing items. Explain this in one line on the report: items are not released so the exam stays fair for future candidates. Offer a formal review process for candidates who believe a specific item was flawed.
Make it readable by everyone
A score report is content candidates must be able to use.
- Write at a plain reading level and define any term such as “scaled score.”
- Offer the report in every language your candidate portal supports.
- Meet the same accessibility standard as the exam itself, including screen reader structure and contrast.
- Do not carry meaning by color alone; bands need words, not just red and green.
- Provide a downloadable version that keeps its structure for screen readers.
If your team is unsure what terms such as scaled score, standard error or cut score mean in plain language, our assessment glossary defines each.
Test the report with candidates
A report that makes sense to the people who designed it may still confuse the people who receive it. Before a new layout goes live, test it.
- Recruit five to eight people who resemble your candidates: recent test takers, students in a prep course or new practitioners.
- Show each a sample report for a fail and for a pass, with invented results.
- Ask three questions. Did this person pass? What should they work on? What do they do next?
- Note every hesitation. Words people reread, numbers they misinterpret, and sections they skip.
- Revise and repeat with a fresh group until the answers come quickly and correctly.
This takes a few hours and catches most of the problems that would otherwise reach your support inbox. Keep the notes in your validity file; they are evidence about how candidates interpret the report.
What to do this week
- Read your current score report as a candidate who just failed. Can you answer all three questions in a minute?
- Move the decision to the first line, in words.
- Check how many items each reported domain has, and ask whether bands would be more honest.
- Write the “what happens next” section for both pass and fail.
- Check the report with a screen reader.
Where we can help
The online testing platform builds score reports from your blueprint and passing standard, with domain bands, retest rules and next steps, delivered through the candidate portal in English and Spanish and built to WCAG 2.1 AA.
For candidates who pass, certification management issues the credential, an Open Badges 3.0 digital badge and public verification, then tracks renewal and sends reminders on your schedule.
