Prometric

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Prometric is a U.S. company that possesses significant market share in the test administration industry. Prometric operates a test center network comprised of over 3,000 sites in 135 countries. Many important certifications — including Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, the American Association of Medical Colleges, the European Personnel Selection Office exam, the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, Architect Registration Examination, and the USPTO registration examination — are all administered at Prometric sites.

The Thomson Corporation announced its desire to sell Prometric in the fall of 2006, and the Educational Testing Service announced its plans to acquire it. ^[1] On Monday, October 15, 2007, Educational Testing Service (ETS) closed its acquisition of Prometric from the Thomson Corporation.^[2] Prometric is now a wholly owned, independently operated subsidiary of ETS.

The testing environments they provide are highly secure, although some specific security requirements may differ from test to test. Up to two forms of identification may be required in order to be admitted for testing. The primary id being a government issued picture identification, and secondary requiring name and signature. Both must be valid in order to be accepted. Many tests require biometrics, and capture candidates' fingerprints as a way to verify their identity. Candidate's pictures may also be taken depending on the exam. A "notice to schedule" or "authorization to test" issued by the testing authority may also be required. The testing rooms themselves have video cameras and microphones recording the activity in every cubicle. No hats, digital watches (analog watches for some tests), pagers, cell phones, or other equipment that could facilitate cheating are allowed in the testing room.

There are 3000 Prometric test centers across more than 130 countries, ^[3] including every U.S. state and territory. However, whether a particular test can be taken outside the U.S. depends on the testing provider. For example, despite the fact that Prometric test centers exist worldwide, some exams are only offered in the country where the client program exists. The locations where a test is offered, as well as specific testing procedures for the day of the exam, are dictated by the client.

Prometric offers a suite of services, including test development, test delivery and data management capabilities,^[4] and allows clients to develop and launch global testing programs, as well as measure program results and data. Prometric delivers and administers tests to approximately 500 clients in the academic, professional, government, corporate and information technology markets.