Institute of Professional Editors Limited

The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) held its second accreditation exam on 12 September 2009. Of the 85 candidates who sat the exam, 43 passed. IPEd congratulates all successful candidates and welcomes them to the community of Accredited Editors.
Overview of 2009 candidates
Just over half (51%) of the candidates sat the exam in Melbourne (23 candidates) and Canberra (21). Numbers for the other centres were Perth (13), Sydney (10), Brisbane (8), Adelaide (6) and Hobart (4). Seventy-two candidates (84%) were members of a state society of editors.
Seventy-seven candidates (91%) sat the exam for the first time. At registration, 80% of candidates provided some information about themselves. Of these, 50% reported that that they had six or more years working as an editor; 14% had only one to two years’ experience. Of the candidates who provided information about their area of editorial practice, 49% described themselves as generalists and 51% as specialists.
As the pass rate of 51% for the 2009 exam is significantly lower than the 2008 rate of 66%, the Accreditation Board is working to determine whether the result relates to any particular characteristics of the 2009 candidates.
Feedback from 2009 candidates
IPEd undertook a formal feedback process after the 2009 exam and received a response from 40% of candidates. Time allowed for the exam was a concern for some. However, many candidates also recognised – and approved – that the bar is set high. IPEd and its Accreditation Board endeavour to respond to candidates’ concerns while also meeting their responsibility to ensure an equitable, consistent and fair, yet rigorous, assessment of editors’ knowledge and skills.
Parity of 2008 and 2009 exams
As in 2008, the exam was developed by a team of Distinguished Editors and Accredited Editors appointed by IPEd. Key positions are advertised and remunerated.
The Accreditation Board is confident that the 2009 exam was closely comparable to the 2008 exam, as a result of steps taken during the development and marking processes.
In response to feedback from candidates in 2008, the board modified the 2009 exam to allow additional reading time, and directed the exam development team to reduce the length of the copyediting extract in Part 2. The copyediting extract, author queries sheet and one question in Part 3 were provided as loose pages in response to difficulties candidates reported with the layout of the 2008 exam.
A significant development in 2009 was the institution of a trialling phase. Six Accredited Editors, who passed the exam in 2008, sat (and passed) the 2009 exam under test conditions. Their papers were marked and their results, as well as their detailed feedback, informed the finalisation of the exam by the development team.
Marking and moderation process
As in 2008, candidates’ papers were marked by a team of Distinguished Editors drawn from the Assessors Forum. The 2009 markers met in Adelaide after the exam to begin marking papers. They discussed the varied approaches of candidates to each question, and worked to extend the marking guide to accommodate this while maintaining consistency across the whole group. Everything possible was done to ensure the utmost fairness to candidates. The weekend meeting was followed by several weeks of email correspondence on specific points as marking proceeded.
A Moderation Committee then reviewed the overall results. Exam papers that were borderline were re-marked by different markers to ensure an accurate and consistent assessment. Comparisons of papers marked independently by two or more markers showed extremely close agreement (sometimes to a fraction of a percentage point) among markers.
During the entire marking and moderation process, all papers were identified only by the candidate reference number to ensure that candidates’ confidentiality was protected at all times. Candidates who fail the exam receive a brief report from the examiner on their performance and areas of weakness to help them plan their next steps towards future accreditation.
Next accreditation exam
The Accreditation Board is working towards providing an onscreen accreditation exam, and has started planning for the next exam, which it expects to hold in 2011. As part of its planning, the board will be looking closely at candidates’ feedback and the results from the exam.
IPEd Accreditation Board