Prometric
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Baltimore |
| Parent | Educational Testing Service |
| Website | Prometric |
Prometric is a U.S. company in the test administration industry. Prometric operates a test center network composed of thousands of sites in 160 countries. Many examinations are administered at Prometric sites including those from NMLS, the European Personnel Selection Office, the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), USMLE, the Diplomate of National Board-Common Entrance Test of National Board of Examinations, the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, Architect Registration Examination, the USPTO registration examination, and American Petroleum Institute. Prometric's corporate headquarters are located in Canton (Baltimore, Maryland) in the United States.
History
Prometric's computerized testing centers were originally founded by Drake International in 1990 under the name Drake Prometric.[1] In 1995, Drake Prometric L.P. was sold to Sylvan Learning in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $44.5 million.[2] The acquired business was renamed Sylvan Prometric, then sold to Thomson Corporation in 2000.[3] The Thomson Corporation announced its desire to sell Prometric in the fall of 2006, and Educational Testing Service announced its plans to acquire it.[4] On Monday, October 15, 2007, Educational Testing Service (ETS) closed its acquisition of Prometric from the Thomson Corporation.[5] Prometric is currently a wholly owned, independently operated subsidiary of ETS, allowing ETS to maintain non-profit status.
Business
Prometric sells a range of services, including test development, test delivery, and data management capabilities. Prometric delivers and administers tests to approximately 500 clients in the academic, professional, government, corporate and information technology markets. While there are 3000 Prometric test centers across the world,[6] including every U.S. state and territory (except Wake Island), whether a particular test can be taken outside the U.S. depends on the testing provider. For example, despite the fact that Prometric test centers exist worldwide, some exams are only offered in the country where the client program exists. The locations where a test is offered, as well as specific testing procedures for the day of the exam, are dictated by the client.
Controversy
In 2009, the company faced a hurdle due to widespread technical problems on one of India's MBA entrance exams, the Common Admission Test. Over 8000 test takers were affected.[7]
CAT 2012 saw scorecards of 80 tampered with. After declaration of CAT 2013 results, controversy broke over the scoring and normalisation processes because around 95,000 candidates had scored zero or negative.[8] In 2014, Prometric lost the bid for conducting it second time to an Indian tech firm.[9]
In 2014, technical issues again affected Prometric-administered tests, namely the AIPGMEE.[10]
International
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2012) |
- In the Republic of Ireland, Prometric's local subsidiary are responsible for administering the Driver Theory Test.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Drake International early years
- ^ Sylvan to acquire test firm
- ^ Thomson Acquires Prometric
- ^ ETS news ETS to Acquire Prometric
- ^ Press Releases. Thomson Reuters (2013-06-30). Retrieved on 2013-08-17.
- ^ QAI India Ltd Announces A Partnership with Prometric
- ^ Time of India - Viruses Cause CAT Failure
- ^ 95,000 Scored 0 in CAT
- ^ CAT 2014 exam: Why TCS got CAT 2014 and Prometric lost
- ^ Medicos Irked by technical glitches in NBE exams
- ^ the official Irish RSA Driver Theory Test booking site. TheoryTest.ie. Retrieved on 2013-08-17.