Q: What does “Angoff score” mean?
A: In simple terms, it is a pass or fail cut-off score for a test.
Think about it, like setting up basketball games for kids. You must decide how high the hoop should be, so beginners have a fair chance to score. You ask a few coaches what height they think most beginners could make a shot at, and then the average of their answers becomes the chosen height of the hoop. This is basically what the Angoff score does for a test – it sets the “passing bar.” Experts set this score by deciding what a “minimally competent” candidate should know.
Q: Why don’t you just use the raw scores?
A: A raw score is the number of questions you get right on a test, before anything is adjusted or changed.
Not every test is exactly the same. Some versions might have harder questions, and others might have easier ones. If we only used raw scores, people with the easier test would have an advantage. Therefore, using raw scores wouldn’t be fair to everyone.
Imagine two grocery stores. Both are selling apples by the pound, but one scale is a little light, and the other is a little heavy. If you paid by the raw scale reading, customers wouldn’t be treated fairly. So, the store adjusts both scales, so a pound is always truly a pound, and the price is the same.
That’s why tests don’t use raw scores — because different versions can be slightly easier or harder. Scaling “adjusts the scales” so passing always means the same thing.
Q: So, what is the “scaled score”?
A: Think back to the grocery store scales. After the store adjusts the scales, they all measure a pound the same way. Every customer can trust that one pound of apples is really one pound, and they are not paying more or less depending on which scale they used.
That’s exactly what the scaled score does for exams. Everyone’s raw scores are converted onto the same scoring scale, where the passing score is always 75 points on ICCs Standardized Scale. So, no matter which version of the test a candidate got, slightly harder or slightly easier, passing always means the candidate is minimally competent.
Q: Does 75 mean I got 75%, correct?
A: No. That’s a common misunderstanding.
The 75 from ICCs Standardized Scale is not a percentage. It’s a scaled score. You may have answered more or fewer questions than 75% correctly depending on your test version, but since tests are adjusted for difficulty prior to administration, your score is placed on the scale where 75 always equals passing.
Example: 55% of the questions answered correctly could equal a scaled score of 75; or 85% of the questions answered correctly could equal a scaled score of 75. It just depends on where the minimum acceptable score/passing bar was set by your expert peers [we cannot tell/disclose the passing bar].
Scaled numbers are not counts or percentages – they are adjusted values that always point to the same standard. Once the scaled score of 75 or higher is obtained a candidate will see “Pass” If it is lower than 75 the candidate will see a “Fail”
Q: Why do you do it this way?
A: To keep it fair. Just like adjusting all grocery store scales makes sure a pound always means a pound; scaling makes sure the passing score always means the same thing. No matter if your test was a little harder, a little easier, or taken at a different time, the standard for passing never changes. ICC exams/tests are built the same way each time!
Closing Line:
So, in short: the Angoff score sets the passing mark, and the scaled score is the adjustment that makes sure passing always equals 75! No matter which version of the test you took! Just like “1 pound” always means the same weight and price, no matter which scale you use.