BPS Level A and B Occupational Psychometric Testing Training
A couple of years ago, if you wanted to be registered with the British Psychological Society (BPS) to administer psychometric tests within your organization you would have had to complete three qualifications: ‘Assistant Test User’, ‘Level A’ and ‘Level B’. These were considered the foundation training courses in ability and personality testing for an occupational setting. These courses taught delegates how to:
- administer and score psychometric tests
- give useful, well-received feedback to test takers
- select a suitable test from a range of possible options
- use and apply tests ethically
These qualifications are amongst the most useful that professionals within Human Resource departments, or training consultants can obtained during their career. They enable delegates to advise and support occupational testing for recruitment and selection purposes, for example through coaching individuals and teams to understand their personality and values better, and to thrive as a result. Plus, having the foundation course ‘Level A’ and ‘Level B’ allows delegates to do a number of one-day conversion courses, increasing the range of instruments which they are then qualified to use. Some of the most popular conversion include the Hogan suite of psychometric tests, including the:
- Values Motives Preferences Inventory (MVPI)
- Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)
- Hogan Development Survey (HDS)
These qualifications are considered very useful for those working in an in-house setting, saving organisations money by removing the need to bring in external expertise, and providing a useful skillset and career development to those employees who received the qualifications. Possessing the qualifications to deliver psychometric tests is well received within organizations and it can lead to regular requests to work with individuals and teams to use and apply these tools. They also benefit the CV of those who are trained as it enables them to having some well-recognised qualifications added to it.
Psychometric testing has proven to be in-demand for independent consultants as well. Consultants with these qualifications are able to support a range of clients including recruitment consultants, senior leaders and private clients at a career crossroads. Because you need to be qualified to use psychometric testing, this qualification gives you an ‘edge’ which not all independent consultants in the field are able to offer. Plus psychometric testing can command a reasonable fee, due to their prestige and usefulness.
Following a review of the syllabus by the BPS, the Level A and Level B qualifications have now been updated and have been renamed as:
- Assistant Test User
- Test User: Occupational, Ability and
- Test User: Occupational, Personality
There are some differences in the new syllabus, however, essentially the new qualifications have the same aims as Level A and Level B training and should bring the same value that those who have the previous qualifications already benefit from.
