The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) has reacted constructively to a series of findings by the Ombudsman related to how it carried out remote tests as part of the recruitment process for the EU civil service.

In response to four cases where the Ombudsman had found maladministration, EPSO offered the candidates concerned the possibility to redo the tests. The complainants had encountered a variety of problems when they first took the remote tests administered by EPSO’s contractor, including technical problems in launching tests, a lack of or improperly working tools on the testing platform, and excessively long waiting times before a supervisor was available.

In addition to the cases where the Ombudsman found maladministration, EPSO settled a further two cases during the course of the Ombudsman’s inquiries by deciding to invite the complainants to retake the tests.

In response to a suggestion and remarks by the Ombudsman in two other testing-related inquiries, EPSO also said it would ensure it is possible to retroactively review the functionality of tools used by candidates during the tests and make it possible in the future to automatically provide candidates with a copy of their answers and the correct answers after testing.

Relevant inquiries

How the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) dealt with a complaint about technical problems in a selection procedure (EPSO/AST/155/22 - Assistants in the field of operational security) - 413/2023/MAG

How the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) handled a complaint concerning issues in the context of remote testing as part of selection procedure EPSO/AST/151/22-3 - 1027/2023/MAG

How the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) handled a complaint concerning the unavailability of proctors during a remote test in a selection procedure for EU staff EPSO/AD/398/22 - 1030/2023/MAG

How the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) handled a complaint concerning technical difficulties experienced during remote testing - 1735/2023/MAG

How the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) handled a complaint concerning technical issues during a remote test for an EU staff selection procedure - 1039/2023/MAG

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) no longer providing candidates with access to their answers and to the correct answers in the multiple-choice questionnaires (MCQ) - 1360/2024/MAG

How the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) dealt with technical issues in the remote testing in an EU staff selection procedure - 34/2024/MAG

How EPSO dealt with technical issues experienced by a candidate in selection procedure EPSO/AD/398/22 - 261/2024/MAG