Assessment of CAT fair: Prometric

American firm Prometric, which conducted the computer-based Common Admission Test (CAT), today sought to allay doubts raised over the credibility of the assessment of papers and said "fair and equal opportunity" was given to candidates to display their knowledge.

"We have reviewed the test scoring and we are completely confident that the results are appropriately distributed across the population, and that the test were performed well within international standards," Prometric Chief Operations Officer Charles Kernan told reporters here.

The three-step CAT test development process includes calculation, equation and scaling of the raw scores and was conducted in alignment with the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, the American firm said.

The computer-based 'CAT-2009' in the first phase was marred by technical glitches from the very first day as students faced problems while logging on at centres in Gujarat, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Bhopal.

Nearly 7,000 students had to take the test in January this year during the second phase. They could not take the exam in the first phase due to glitches that were attributed by the IIMs and Prometric to virus attacks and hardware problems.

"We take the blame for whatever happened. But, this is the first time in 31 years that the IIMs preferred the computer method. Even EVMs were criticised when they were introduced 10 years ago. Now, they are path-breaking," Prometric India Managing Director Soumitra Roy said.