Prometric

Prometric, also known as Prometric Testing, is a United States -based company in the test administration industry. Its corporate headquarters is located in Canton (Baltimore, Maryland) in the United States. Prometric operates a test center network composed of thousands of sites in 160 countries. Many examinations are administered at Prometric sites, including those from the:

• American Petroleum Institute
• Architect Registration Examination
• Certified Public Accountant Exam (CPA)
• CFA Institute
• Diplomate of National Board
• PMP Exam Questions
• European Personnel Selection Office
• Graduate Record Examinations (GRE)
• Green Business Certification Inc. (LEED)
• India-Common Entrance Test and some National Eligibility and Entrance Tests^[1]
• Nationwide Mortgage and Licensing System (NMLS)
• North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE)^[2]
• USMLE
• USPTO registration examination
• Dental Aptitude Test (DAT)

History

Prometric's computerized testing centers were founded by Drake International in 1990 under the name Drake Prometric.^[3] In 1995, Drake Prometric L.P. was sold to Sylvan Learning in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $44.5 million.^[4] The acquired business was renamed Sylvan Prometric, then sold to Thomson Corporation in 2000.^[5] The Thomson Corporation announced its desire to sell Prometric in the fall of 2006, and Educational Testing Service announced plans to acquire it.^[6] On Monday, October 15, 2007, Educational Testing Service (ETS) closed its acquisition of Prometric from the Thomson Corporation.^[7] In 2018, Prometric was bought by Baring Private Equity Asia.^[8] In September 2019, Roy Simrell joined Prometric as President and CEO.^[9]

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 3,000 Prometric test centers across the world,^[10] 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.

In the Republic of Ireland, Prometric's local subsidiary is responsible for administering the Driver Theory Test.^[11]

Challenges

Prometric has faced criticism by many test takers as a result of its lack of accountability and mismanagement.^[12] Many accuse the service of having monopoly power, since the test they desire to take is only offered through a Prometric center.^[13][14]

Chronological Listing of Business Challenges:

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.^[15]

In 2011, Prometric lost the contract for conducting the Oracle certification exam and they were replaced by Pearson VUE.^[16]

In 2014, the IBM Professional Certification Program exam delivery was moved from Prometric to Pearson VUE Test Centers.^[17]

In 2014, Prometric lost the bid for conducting it second time to an Indian tech firm.^[18]

In 2014, a latency issue affected one Prometric-administered test, namely the AIPGMEE.^[19]

In 2014, Microsoft ended its exam partnership with Prometric.^[20]

In 2017, Prometric lost the contract for conducting the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) exam. They were replaced with Pearson VUE.^[21] That same year, Charles Kernan was appointed as the new President and CEO of Prometric, replacing Michael Brannick.^[22] Brannick had held the position since 2001.^[23]

In 2019, Project Management Institute (PMI) ended its exam partnership with Prometric. They were replaced with Pearson VUE.^[24]

In 2020, as a result of COVID-19, Prometric cancelled exams including the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) and the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) in compliance with local and national regulations.^[25]

On February 21, 2021, Prometric was found in a civil trial to have terminated a test evaluator in September 2018 as retaliation for his continued attempts to highlight a potential discrimination issue in one of their Washington Home Care Aide tests (poor translation of the Somali version). The reason for termination was found to be a pretext, and after some public exposure^[26] the company changed the test as the evaluator had recommended.

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