ISC2 Sends Erroneous Exam Notifications

I took the CISSP-ISSEP, failed. Took it again, failed again. Just got an email saying “woops” you actually passed, there was a grading mistake. My mind went through the following phases

1. Disbelief that this could actually happen, when I first got the email I almost ignored it
2. Anger and frustration (I wanted to sue them on Judge Judy for the 1 million dollars worth of mental anguish they caused me)
3. Happiness and a feeling that weight had been lifted off my shoulders

My ISSEP score was exactly the same both times I took it. Depending on the weight of the questions I failed by either one or two questions. I’m still not exactly sure if I passed both times or just the first time. They did reimburse me for the second exam because I didn’t need to take it.

A quick search of the ISC2 website shows a series of blog post from Executive Director Hord Tipton explaining recent erroneous exam notifications. Here are the important points that ISC2 makes in these postings:

What happened?

Recently, (ISC)² sent incorrect exam result notifications to some CISSP certification candidates who had taken the exam in September and first week of October. Some candidates who received ‘pass’ notices had unfortunately failed the exam; others who had received ‘fail’ notices actually passed.

How did this happen?

The error arose when we implemented a new scoring interface as part of our transition to a new exam delivery and scoring provider.

What are they doing about it?

I wish to publicly offer our heartfelt apologies to the candidates who received the incorrect exam results. We understand the high-level of difficulty the CISSP exam presents to professionals and how hard candidates work to obtain their certifications to reap its many benefits, including better job opportunities and salaries.

For the affected candidates who received ‘pass’ notices and actually failed the exam, we are offering them a full refund of their exam fee, the opportunity to retake the exam at no charge, and a free online CISSP CBK Seminar.

I am pleased to report that we will be, upon candidates’ completion of the certification process, waiving Annual Maintenance Fees (AMFs) for one year for those who received inaccurate fail notices in October. We will also expedite upon request,the processing of endorsements and experience verifications received from affected candidates.

If you obtained the CISSP to be in compliance with DoD’s 8570 requirements

Further, it has come to our attention that candidates who are unable to earn an (ISC)² certification by December 31, 2010 will be able to continue their work, albeit with some conditions. The manual states that “Until certification is attained, individuals in IA [information assurance] positions not meeting certification requirements may perform those duties under the direct supervision of an appropriately certified individual until certification is attained unless the certification requirement has been waived due to severe operational or personnel constraints.” In some cases, additional time may be allowed for the candidates to retest for the exam. For further details, please contact your supervisor and review the applicable manual.

Image courtesy Ntr23

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