The purpose of CGA examinations is to evaluate whether a student has demonstrated the competencies required of a newly certified CGA or to continue in higher level courses of the program at an appropriate performance level. To effectively accomplish this, there are three main stages in the examination process:
Examination development and review
Each year a complete examination set (that is, all examinations required for a course throughout the year) and the corresponding suggested solutions are prepared by a CGA course examiner. Each CGA examiner is a highly qualified academic from the university community or a well-recognized practitioner in the discipline of study. In some cases, the examiner is also the course author. In collaboration with the course author, the examiner prepares a practice examination for the current academic year.
Once an examiner has prepared the complete examination set and the corresponding suggested solutions, the documents are reviewed by subject matter experts. These reviews include independent content and quality control reviews by CGA-Canada staff. In addition, reviews of career elective examinations are performed by two separate committees of subject matter experts administered by provincial/territorial affiliates. The purpose of these reviews is to ensure each examination has appropriate content coverage, relationship to course material, form, accuracy, and clarity. A designated committee chair is responsible for resolving any difficulties directly with the examiner.
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Examination marking and final mark review
After the examinations are written, the papers are sent to the examiner for marking. If a large number of papers must be marked, the examiner selects and supervises a marking team. When a marking team is required, one marker marks the same question on each paper. This process is designed to ensure fairness and uniformity in the marking. After all the papers have been marked, the examiner reviews all examination papers in which the final course mark is in the range of 63 and 64. Each failed paper is rechecked for accuracy.
The final course marks results are reviewed by the National Education Committee.
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Examination appeal process
All written examinations are the property of CGA-Canada. Neither the original nor a photocopy of a marked exam will be returned or made available to the student. There are two procedures available to students who wish to review their results. These procedures apply to all CGA examinations, except Professional Applications [PA1 and PA2] and multiple-choice [LW1, EM1, and QU1] examinations.
Re-grade
A re-grade is available to any student who fails an examination. The student’s paper is re-graded to confirm that no error was made in the marking of the paper. Once this is complete, the student is sent an examination marks analysis and a statement, signed by the re-grader, advising of the results of the re-grade.
For Level 1 to 4 courses, assignment questions can also be re-graded to confirm that no error was made in marking them. Students are required to identify the assignment number and question number when making a re-grade request to their affiliate office. Once the re-grade is complete, the student is sent an assignment marks analysis and a statement, signed by the re-grader, advising of the results of the re-grade.
Critique
A critique is an extensive critical analysis of the student’s examination paper. The student is sent an examination marks analysis and is provided with an individual analysis of the weaknesses demonstrated in his or her examination answers.
Requests for any appeals must be made no later than three weeks from the date marks are released. All requests should be made in writing to the CGA affiliate office. The request should include the student’s name and student number, the course and mark obtained, and the appropriate method of payment.
CAUTION: Response time is approximately five to six weeks. Students who intend to write supplemental exams should not rely on a re-grade or critique to assist them in their examination preparation.
Professional Applications examinations review
Upon request, CGA-Canada will provide a candidate with a review of the assessment documents related to the candidate’s examination paper to confirm that no error was made in the assessment of the paper. All requests should be made in writing to the candidate’s affiliate office.
Multiple-choice examinations re-grade
For multiple-choice examinations, the student’s scan form is re-graded manually to confirm that no error was made in the scanning of the scan form. Once this is complete, the student is sent a performance report and a statement, signed by the re-grader, advising of the results of the re-grade.
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