Disclaimer: The views expressed on this website are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Banco de España or the Eurosystem.
I determine the factors that contribute to success or failure at EPSO competitions using a variety of statistical and econometric tools. I collect data from EPSO candidates every year and try to extract as much insight as I can from the information provided. These results can help candidates better prepare for the next competition by highlighting which are the strategies that pay off.
For the second edition, I extended the framework from last year and included a wider range of statistical tools: in addition to the comparison of averages across groups, I also used the data to build an online score predictor.
The conclusions are as follows:
Preparation matters! Candidates who pass all four tests tend to be better prepared than the others. Candidates who have an excellent degree of preparation in the four tests are twice as likely to be called to E-tray as candidates who did not prepare at all. Preparation especially matters for Abstract Reasoning and Numerical Reasoning.
Around 25% of candidates fail VR, NR and AR but not all tests are equally hard: Situational Judgment is easy to pass, but hard to beat. An additional point in SJT can dramatically improve the ranking of candidates.
Investing in preparation material can be helpful as it increases the chances of passing by 40%. While relying on a single source for preparation material is already helpful, candidates who use EU-Training and ORSEU in conjunction have a higher chance of succeeding in EPSO competitions. They score on average 9 points higher in the overall score (out of 60) than candidates who did not use preparation material. As a consequence, buying preparation materials (books, online, webinars) may be a sensible decision by test-takers, although this positive effect seems to top out at 200-500€.
Candidates without prior experience of EPSO competitions score lower than experienced test-takers. Among those, having taken three EPSO tests delivers the best mix between experience and lassitude. Experienced test-takers are therefore 34% more likely to be called to E-tray than unexperienced test-takers.
Though there is a slight variation in the success rate based on academic backgrounds, EPSO competitions do not discriminate based on nationality, age, or gender.
For more information, you can find the report here. An interactive dashboard (by David Apraiz) can be found here. If you are interested in using the online predictor, please click here.
If you have a comment or suggestion, please send me an email.
For the first edition, I collected data on around 170 applicants who took the EPSO AD5 Computer-based tests in 2018.
There are some take-aways from this analysis:
Candidates who reached the passing threshold tend to prepare the tests better.
Situational Judgment Test is the easiest test but the most determinant in the ranking.
The effect of preparation seems negative for Verbal Reasoning and positive for Abstract Reasoning.
The material used has little effect on the score.
Candidates with 3 EPSO competitions under their belt tend to score higher than other candidates.
For more information, you can find the report here.