Currently, the minimum passing score is 64.0 % of correct answers. The minimum passing score is approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (Decree № 106, adopted by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on January 22, 2021).

All the students, who failed their “Krok 2” Test-Based Exam, can take part in their state graduation exams. These students do not obtain their Licensing Exam Certificates, their state certification is considered to be failed, and they receive no Higher Education Diplomas.

Students have the right to

The students participating in the Licensing Exam have the right to write their tests according to the approved schedule, receive their test results, and appeal to recheck their obtained test score according to the standard procedure.

Students must:

• familiarize themselves with the Licensing Exam Procedure;
• timely arrive at the exam site and have their passports on hand;
• comply with the instructions and requests of the Testing Board representatives administering the Exam;
• upon completion of the test, hand over both the answer sheet and the exam booklet to the Testing Board representative administering the Exam;
• avoid bringing into the classroom any objects or substances that are potentially dangerous to the life and health of other test participants.

• use or have on their persons any additional materials, including communication devices or devices that can be used for scanning, processing, storage, and retrieval of information, as well as paper or any printed or handwritten materials that are not allowed by the test procedure;
• interfere with the work of other students and the duties of the persons authorized to administer the Licensing Exam;
• break the rules of conduct;
• communicate with other students or pass them any objects and materials, including exam materials;
• in any way disclose the information about the content of the test items before the exam is concluded;

• leave the classroom without a permission. If a student needs to leave the classroom to feed the baby, to have a bathroom break, because of a medical condition (in this case the presence of a medical condition must be properly confirmed with the relevant documents and the school needs to notify the Testing Board about it in writing in advance), etc., he/she must notify of it the Testing Board representative and receive permission to leave the classroom. When the student returns to the classroom, the officer of the Department of Police Security at the National Police of Ukraine must again use a metal detector or other devices to check, whether the student has on his/her person any gadgets, forbidden in the exam classroom. Additional seats in the classroom must be reserved for the students, who were allowed to leave the classroom during the Licensing Exam;
• take exam booklets and answer sheets out of the classroom during the exam.

General Information

The Exam should be taken by the registered students only if their current health condition allows them to undergo testing.

To administer the Licensing Exams, the Testing Board makes and uses closed exam booklets in Ukrainian (for Ukrainian students) or Russian/English (for foreign students). The Testing Board can provide different examination booklets for different groups of students.

Exam Location

The Licensing Exams take place in the classrooms provided by higher education establishments, with no more than 100 (one hundred) examinees placed in one classroom. The number of examinees in one classroom must not exceed ½ of the seats in the classroom.

The classrooms, where the Licensing Exam is to be held, must be furnished with tables (desks) and chairs. They also must be equipped with a clock and audio and video surveillance systems that automatically record the Licensing Exam in its entirety, to ensure that the proper exam procedure is maintained. The surveillance recordings are then sent to the Testing Board for analysis.

The representatives of the Testing Board and school, as well as an officer of the Department of Police Security at the National Police of Ukraine, must be constantly present in the classroom for the duration of the Licensing Exam. The school representative cannot walk the classroom and communicate with the students.

Public observers can be present in the classroom during the Licensing Exam administration, on the condition that such public observers are properly registered using the approved procedure.

Outsiders are prohibited from entering the classroom, where the Licensing Exam takes place.

The Licensing Exams can be held on the Testing Board premises for the schools, where the total number of the students, who need to take the exam, does not exceed 20 persons. Exam retakes for the students, who were previously suspended from taking the exam due to their violation of the Exam Procedure, can also be held on the Testing Board premises.

Student Identification

The students, who are to take the Exam, are identified based on their passports. The authorized school representative holds the responsibility for accurate identification of the students.

Before Exam Starts

The students must leave their personal effects in the place allocated for this purpose by their school. The school holds the responsibility for the safety of the stored personal effects.

The students are to enter the exam classroom only in the presence of the representatives of the Testing Board, their school, and the Department of Police Security at the National Police of Ukraine. The students are admitted into the classroom and receive their exam materials only according to the list held by the Testing Board representative.

An officer of the Department of Police Security at the National Police of Ukraine uses a metal detector or other devices to detect any gadgets, forbidden in the exam classroom.

According to the Testing Board representative’s instructions, the students take their places in the classroom intermittently, with at least one seat remaining unoccupied between them. In this manner the students (interns) are consecutively seated row by row, leaving several rows free. The free rows are reserved for the reseating of the students, who during the exam need to leave the classroom.

Before the start of the Licensing Exam, the Testing Board representative, the authorized person appointed by the Principal’s (Director’s) decree, the Head of the State Examination Committee of the higher education establishment (if necessary), and the Head (or Deputy Head) of the Student Parliament open the package with the exam materials in the classroom. They confirm the intactness of its seal in the presence of all the students (interns) and an officer of the Department of Police Security at the National Police of Ukraine.

Instructions for Students

Before the start of the Licensing Exam, the Testing Board representative informs the examinees about the Licensing Exam procedure. After that, each student is given a numbered exam booklet.

A student must put his/her signature in ink into the “Additional Information” box on the answer sheet and enter the mandatory ID data and exam data. To personify the exam booklet, a student must fill in the boxes on the booklet cover with his/her identification code and surname and write down the booklet number into his/her answer sheet.

Exam booklets and answer sheets cannot be taken out of the classroom during the Exam.

Testing

The test for the “Krok” Exam consists of 200 questions. Ukrainian students have 3 hours 20 minutes to complete the test. Foreign students have 4 hours to complete the test. There are 99 variants of the test.

In the right part of the answer sheet, a student must write down the answers to the test tasks from the booklet. Only one best answer must be marked in front of each test task. Several answers or no answer will be considered an incorrect answer to the question. The oval corresponding with the chosen answer must be filled completely, so that its area is fully colored.

All test tasks have 5 or sometimes 4 multiple choice answers, from which students need to choose the correct one.

If a student answers all the questions in the booklet earlier, he/she needs to raise the hand and the proctor will come and collect the booklet and answer sheet.

Finishing the Exam

Having completed the work with the exam booklet, a student must put his/her answer sheet into the exam booklet, hand them over to the Testing Board representative, and leave the classroom.

To ensure the transparency of the Licensing Integrated Examination and its results, a procedure of copying the answer sheets of the examinees can be conducted at the higher education establishment. After the Licensing Exam is complete, the school and the Testing Board are both authorized to request that the copies of the answer sheets are made.

If a Student Feels Unwell During the Exam

If the student’s health condition becomes worse during the Licensing Exam, the Testing Board and school representatives must be immediately notified of it. If the continuation of the exam is impossible for such student, the Testing Board representative must discontinue the exam for the student and draw up the relevant report signed by the student and the representatives of the Testing Board and school.

Results

The Licensing Exam results are presented qualitatively and quantitatively.

• The qualitative Licensing Exam results are presented in the “pass” / ”fail” format and are based on the professional competence requirements for healthcare workers, determined by the national standards for higher education.
• The quantitative Licensing Exam results are presented on the Licensing Exam scale (Medical Licensing Exam score), with the grade point average of 200 and standard deviation of 20, that is, within the interval from 140 to 260 points.

The Licensing Exam results are presented in the relevant report forms, drawn up and approved by the Testing Board.

The Licensing Exam results are entered into the Testing Board database.

Based on the results of each exam, the Testing Board prepares an Analytical Report about the Licensing Exam results within the period of 30 days after the Exam results are published. The Analytical Report is published on the official website of the Testing Board.

Certificates

The students (interns), who have successfully passed their Licensing Exams, obtain their Licensing Exam Certificates. The Certificates are drawn up and issued within the period of 30 days after the exam results are published. The students, who failed their Licensing Exam, still can take part in the other stages of the state certification.

All Certificates are entered into the Certificate Register of higher education trainees majoring in Medicine and Pharmacy. A Licensing Exam Certificate is an annex to the Higher Education Diploma of the corresponding level in the corresponding branch of knowledge. The Certificates are handed to the authorized representatives of higher education establishments, which is recorded in the relevant register.

In case of loss or damage to the Certificate, a student can receive a duplicate of the Certificate upon the written request made by the administration of his/her school to the Testing Board. The duplicate of the Certificate can be handed to the student in person or to the representative of the school administration, if both the written request and the student’s passport are presented.

Discontinuation of the Exam for a Student

In case of Licensing Exam procedure violation, the Testing Board representative has the right to discontinue the Exam for a student, if:

• during the Licensing Exam a student has on his/her person or in his/her workspace any communication devices or devices for information readout, processing, storage, and retrieval, as well as any printed or handwritten materials that are not allowed by the test procedure;
• the test is being written not in the workspace assigned to the student by the Testing Board representative;
• the test is being written by someone else instead of the student;
• communication occurs between the students during the exam;
• answers are being copied from another student’s work;
• answer sheets are damaged beyond the possibility to process them automatically;
• students refuse to hand over their answer sheets to the Testing Board representative on expiry of the time allotted for the testing.

Annulment of the Results

The decision about the annulment of the results can be made by the Testing Board based on the records about the Licensing Exam Procedure violations, entered into the Exam Administration Report that was signed by the Testing Board and school representatives. The results can also be annulled, if video surveillance analysis reveals the fact of Exam Procedure violation.

If unsanctioned access to the test items in the exam booklets is detected:

• before the Licensing Exam begins – the exam is cancelled and another date for the Licensing Exam is chosen;
• after the Licensing Exam begins and before it is completed – the results of the exam are not published and another date for the Licensing Exam is chosen.

In such cases the Testing Board draws up the relevant report and immediately informs the schools and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. If necessary, the Testing Board can make an official inquiry into the incident and contact the law enforcement authorities.

A student has the right to file an appeal, in which he/she may request to recheck his/her test score. This appeal will be then processed by the Testing Board.

An appeal can be submitted by a person, who took the test and received a negative score.

Appeals, submitted by those, who violated the testing procedure and were suspended from taking the test as a result, will be rejected by the Testing Board.

An appeal is submitted as an official request addressed to the Testing Board Director.

An Appeal Request must contain the following information:

• full name of the examinee;
• residence address of the examinee;
• name of the school;
• site, where the exam took place (address and classroom number);
• name and date of the exam;
• name of the school representative that was present in the classroom during the exam;
• reasons, why the appeal is being submitted;
• the list of attached documents (if any).

An appeal to the Testing Board must be verified by the Principal (Deputy Principal) of the higher education establishment, where the examinee undergoes training.

All appeals are processed within 30 days after the date, when the exam results were published, in the presence of the examinees who submitted them.

Appeal procedure consists of comparing the answer sheet of the examinee with its processing protocol that is the basis of the exam result calculation.

After the Appeal Procedure is complete, both the examinee and the Testing Board representative sign the Statement of Appeal Procedure that is regarded as final.

When preparing for the Licensing Exams, students should pay attention to various aspects of the preparation.

1. Studying exam content.
2. Knowing Licensing Exam Procedure (regulations, conditions for admission, and repercussions for late arrival or absence).
3. Knowing how to fill in the answer sheets and booklets (see sample answer sheet here).
4. Choosing personal testing tactics, undergoing training tests, mastering time management.

Prior to preparation for the Licensing Exams it is recommended to undergo a trial test individually or in a group, with the Licensing Exam conditions emulated. For a trial test you can use open booklets from the previous exams that should be available in every university library. This way you can obtain impartial information about your initial knowledge level, as it is assessed during the Licensing Exam, and manage your preparation accordingly.

The branch standards of higher education are the basis both for the Licensing Exams and curriculum content. Therefore, the main source for preparation for the Licensing Exam is standard instructional materials that are used by the students when studying various relevant subjects covered by the test – textbooks, lecture notes, tutorials, etc.

Consequently, the first step towards being prepared for the Licensing Exams is studying and revising instructional materials.

The Testing Board also recommends using open booklets of the past years to prepare for the Licensing Exam. However, to successfully pass the License Exams you should not limit your preparation only to open booklets – study the subject material and revise it systematically!

Starting from September 2017, the Testing Board publishes the exam booklets of the last three years on its website. The booklets are published with the cover, where the names of the test item authors and names of the experts, who revised these test items, are stated. If you need to familiarize yourself with the booklets of the past years, we recommend you to contact the Dean’s Office of your school, because after the exam the booklets usually remain with the school.