Rules Tests Available Announcement

Rules Tests Available Announcement

The rules tests for the 2022-23 rulebook are now available.  Along with the new tests, there have been some changes to the nature of the tests and the testing system.

The most significant changes are in the recertification tests. First, recertification tests will now only offer a single attempt to pass.  If any recertification test is failed once, the referee candidate will need to go through the normal initial certification tests.

Additionally pass rating has been increased to 85% for the recertification tests only.  Initial certification tests will remain at 80%.  This is in part due to the fact that the focus of the recertification tests is completely on the changed rules.  While not every question will have an answer that has changed with the new rulebook, every question will be related to changes.

Finally, there will be no recertification test for scorekeeper/timekeeper certification.  This certification will be held separately, is a shorter test, and rarely has enough changes to run its own test just on changes.  Therefore, members wishing to recertify as timekeepers or scorekeepers will simply take the original test again.  The IQA Officials Team will review the need for continued retesting on scorekeepers and timekeepers in the future.

Please note that as the site works now, any official who currently has 2020-22 head referee certification will only be able to see the recertification tests after they pay the head referee testing fee.  Any 2020-22 head referee who would like to take the recertification test but would only like to certify as an assistant referee or flag referee this year, should reach out to the gameplay department directly so that their 2020-22 certifications may be adjusted to allow access to the AR or SR certification tests.  They may also simply take the initial certification tests instead up to their desired level.

On the initial certification tests, there are fewer adjustments.  However, the focus of the tests have been adjusted to remove cases where the information would be easily and appropriately checked in the rulebook in real time any time they would reasonably come up.  This largely consists of the removal of field setup related questions from the tests.  While our officials may at times assist with field set up, and may be required to check a field, these would generally occur prior to the event.  It is appropriate to consult the rulebook to double check the dimensions during field setup.  So while it is useful to know such information, it is not necessary to memorize it to be able to officiate a match well.  Therefore such questions have been removed.

Candidates will have 6 total attempts at each level of the initial certification tests, and will continue to need to take the assistant referee, flag referee, and head referee tests in that order to progress (paying the testing fee is also required to access the HR test).  However, the scorekeeper and timekeeper test is no longer a prerequisite for taking any of the other tests.  If a candidate fails 6 tests of a single level (SK/TK, AR, FR, or HR), they will not be able to attempt to gain that certification again until the tests for the following rulebook come out.

The tests are currently only available in English.  However teams are currently working hard on translating them into French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, and will become available as soon as that work is finished.  The tests for the 2020-22 rulebook will remain available in each language until the equivalent 2023 test is officially released for that language.

The IQA is aware of the fact that these tests have been significantly delayed.  This is largely due to the fact that shortly after the rulebook was released, there were no volunteers left in the IQA Officials Team.  Volunteers from other departments and from outside the IQA came together to make these tests happen, and will maintain the testing system for now.  However, the IQA would prefer to have this department fully staffed again to ensure efficient and effective operations of certification and the resumption of officials training.  If you are interested in joining the Officials Team to help with future testing and training, please apply to join the IQA here.