Here is another article which introduces this new scoring system:
http://www.wreb.org/currentpubs/newsletters/DS_Fall04.pdf
Here is the article from page 4:
Notice they say the overall pass rate is 94% but they factor in those people who take it after five times. First time pass rate is 86% second time pass rate is 76%. This is opposite for the NERB first time pass rate is 70% second time pass rate is 98%. This is very scary.
OK, so there is an obsession with the pass rate on WREB examinations. I've written about the fact that the pass rate only reflects the results obtained
by the small minority of candidates who were not prepared to take the examination. I've stated that the average and (even better for small groups) the
median score are much better indications of a group's performance and/or the difficulty of the examination. But, you still want to know about pass rates,
so here is a summary of dental candidate passing performance by examination attempt for the past seven years.
t o t a l p a s s f a i l p e r c e n t
Years 1997 through 2003 TO TA L C A N D I D AT E S 7391
TO TA L Candidates Pass/Fail 6946 445
% of Candidates That Pass the WREB 9 4 . 0 %
% of Candidates That Do Not Pass WREB 6 . 0 %
t o t a l p a s s f a i l % pass
All candidates on their first attempt 7391 6419 972 8 6 . 8 %
Candidates on their second attempt 619 463 156 7 4 . 8 %
Candidates on their third attempt 85 52 33 6 1 . 2 %
Candidates on their fourth attempt 16 11 5 6 8 . 8 %
Candidates on their fifth attempt 2 1 1 5 0 . 0 %
TO TA L EXAM A t t e m p t s 8 113
TO TA L EXAMS Passed / Failed 6946 1167
WREB Overall Examination Pass Rate 8 5 . 6 %
Note that the candidates who take the examination more than once have a lower percentage chance of passing than first time exam takers. The data
shows that the pass rate decreases with additional attempts and increases after the third attempt. We expect that this results from having a higher percentage
of poorly qualified candidates in the pool of candidates making additional attempts. Remediation required after the third attempt could cause the
fourth attempt candidates to become better qualified, resulting in a higher pass rate.
It might provide comfort for you to notice that, of the 972 candidates that failed on their first attempt, only 445 candidates did not succeed in passing
the exam by the end of 2003. Of the 445, there were 100 candidates from 2003 who failed on their first attempt and may not have had an opportunity
to make another attempt prior to the end of 2003.
You might also like to know that a representative median score for this seven-year period, where the minimum passing was 70, would be about 80.
You should feel confident that if you are qualified and have studied the candidate manual, your chances for success are excellent.
