Implementing statistical equating for MRCP(UK) parts 1 and 2

BMC Medical Education

Table 1 Average pass rates in UK and non-UK candidates, before and after equating

		UK all	UK 1st	Non-UK all	Non-UK 1st
Part 1	Pre-equating	47.4%	52.7%	25.0%	27.6%
	Post-equating	50.0%	54.0%	36.2%	41.8%
	Increase post-equating	1.11x	1.06x	1.70x	1.88x
	Mann–Whitney U-test	P = .448	P = .647	P < .001	P < .001
Part 2	Pre-equating	77.3%	81.2%	50.9%	56.0%
	Post-equating	77.5%	81.1%	56.5%	63.1%
	Increase post-equating	1.01x	0.99x	1.25x	1.34x
	Mann–Whitney U-test	P = .892	P = .723	P = .091	P = .010

Based on 30 pass rates for Part 1 (15 pre- and 15 post-equating) and 25 pass rates for Part 2 (15 pre- and 10 post-equating). Mann–Whitney U tests show exact significance calculated by SPSS.

ISSN: 1472-6920