THE NONDISCLOSED EXAM

WHY IS THE EXAM CALLED A NONDISCLOSED EXAM?

Beginning May 1996, the Uniform CPA Examination is nondisclosed. This means that candidates are not allowed to keep (or receive) their examination booklets after the test. Candidates are also required to sign a statement of confidentiality in which they promise not to reveal questions or answers. The AICPA continues to distribute Selected Questions and Unofficial Answers, which includes a very limited number of questions from the non-disclosed exams. After the exam, only the Institute will have access to the tests themselves. Bisk-Totaltape's editors will continue to update diagnostic tests for your convenience, with questions based upon the questions from non-disclosed exams that are provided, items from previously disclosed tests, and the teaching expertise of our editors.

WHY IS THE AICPA NOT DISCLOSING THE EXAM?

The AICPA made the change to a nondisclosed exam (authorized in June 1991) in order to increase consistency, facilitate possible future computer administration of the test, and improve examination quality by pretesting questions. Because the examination will no longer be completely changed every year, statistical equating methods will be more relevant, and the usefulness of specific questions as indicators of candidates' knowledge can be tested.

WHAT EFFECT WILL NONDISCLOSURE HAVE ON MY TIME MANAGEMENT?

Approximately 10% of the multiple choice questions are questions that are being pretested. These questions are not included in candidates' final grades; they are presented only so that the Board of Examiners may evaluate them for effectiveness and possible ambiguity. The Scholastic Achievement Test and the Graduate Record Exam both employ similar but not identical strategies: those tests include an extra section, which is being pretested, and test-takers do not know which section is the one which will not be graded. On the Uniform CPA Examination, however, the extra questions will be mixed in among the graded questions. This will make time management even more crucial. Candidates who are deciding how much time to spend on a difficult multiple choice question must keep in mind that there is a 10% chance that the answer to the question will not affect them either way. Also, candidates should not allow a question that seems particularly difficult or confusing to shake their confidence or affect their attitude towards the rest of the test; it may not even count. However, this experimental 10% will work against candidates who are not sure whether or not they have answered enough questions to earn 75%. Candidates should try for a safety margin, so that they will have accumulated enough correct answers to pass, even though some of their correctly answered questions will not be scored.

HOW CAN I GET FEEDBACK ABOUT MY EXAM PERFORMANCE?

The AICPA Board of Examiners' Advisory Grading Service will provide boards of accountancy with individual diagnostic reports for all candidates along with the candidates' grades. There is a sample diagnostic report in the Practical Advice section of the most recent Totaltape CPA Review textbooks. The diagnostic reports show the candidate's level of proficiency on each examination section. The accountancy boards may mail the diagnostic reports to candidates along with their grades. Candidates should contact the state board in their jurisdiction to find out its policy on this. Grades are mailed approximately 90 days after the examination.

WHAT IF I DISAGREE WITH THE WAY THE EXAMINERS HAVE STRUCTURED A QUESTION?

Candidates who believe that an examination question contains errors which will affect the grading should fax their complaint to the AICPA Examinations Division, at (201) 938-3443. The Advisory Grading Service asks candidates to be as precise as possible about the question and their reason for believing that it should be re-evaluated, and, if possible, to supply references to support their position. Since candidates are no longer able to keep or discuss the examination questions, it is important to remember as much detail as possible about a disputed question.

WITH WHOM CAN I DISCUSS A QUESTION FROM THE EXAM?

Only the AICPA Board of Examiners. Remember that candidates are required to sign a statement of confidentiality in which they promise not to reveal questions or answers. Due to the nondisclosure requirements, Bisk-Totaltape's editors are no longer able to address questions about specific examination questions, although we continue to supply help with similar study problems and questions in our texts.

DO THE EXAMINERS EVER RELEASE QUESTIONS FROM THE NONDISCLOSED EXAMS?

The examiners annually release about 10% of the questions from nondisclosed exams. The AICPA Board of Examiners is very explicit in recommending that candidates not try to predict future exam questions based on these releases.