What Happens After Your Examination?
Understanding the scoring process and why results take time
When you complete a board certification examination, it’s natural to want your results right away. While ABPath examinations are administered electronically, determining a candidate’s final score involves more than counting the number of correct and incorrect answers. It’s a careful, multi-step process built to make sure every result is accurate and fair.
ABPath works with its psychometric team and an information technology partner to review and validate examination data before any results are released. For both, accuracy is the top priority — even when that means the process takes time. While timing can vary, this process generally takes around six weeks from the examination window closing.
The scoring process at a glance
- Testing window closes
- Data checked
- Questions reviewed
- Scores calculated
- Final quality checks
- Results released
Generally around six weeks from the examination window closing
Timing can vary.
Step 1: The Examination Administration Window Closes
ABPath examinations are administered during a scheduled testing window. Once every candidate has completed their examination, response data is securely transferred for review and scoring.
Step 2: Data Is Checked for Completeness
Before scoring begins, the data is reviewed to confirm that each candidate has a complete set of response data and the data is formatted properly for analysis.
Step 3: Examination Questions Are Reviewed
Psychometric experts look at how the examination performed overall, and how each individual question performed. If a question didn’t perform as expected, it’s reviewed further — and rescored or removed from scoring if needed — so no candidate is unfairly affected by a flawed item.
Step 4: Candidate Performance Is Analyzed
Once the questions themselves have been reviewed, the psychometric team calculates scores — looking not only at the candidate’s overall performance, but at how each candidate performed across different content areas. Scores are reported on a scaled system, with 500 as the passing score. Scaling allows results to be compared fairly across different versions of the examination.
Step 5: Final Quality Checks
Before any examination results are released, ABPath and its psychometric team complete final checks to confirm that every candidate’s score and result are accurate. Because certification is a high-stakes decision, ABPath does not release preliminary results — every result you receive has already passed this full review.
Step 6: Results Are Released
Once scoring and all quality checks are complete, ABPath creates the result letters and its information technology partner posts your official results to your secure PATHway account. You will receive an email letting you know when they are available.
There’s nothing you need to do while you wait.
Just make sure your email address and mailing address are current in PATHway and watch for that message.