- What is an EI?
An Examination Institute (EI) is an organisation accredited by APMG through
the ITIL Qualifications Board and which is thereby permitted to operate an ITIL
examination scheme through a network of Accredited Training Organisations
(ATO), and Accredited Trainers with Accredited materials.
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- What can EIs do?
Each Examination Institute is authorised to:
- Download examination questions based on APMG syllabi and guidelines
from the central APMG databank of questions. This is prepared and
maintained by an independent panel of examiners drawn from all over the
world. The examination papers will follow a universal format/structure as
approved by the ITIL Qualification Board so that all examinations are
universally recognised. EIs may produce the examination papers of questions under an agreed commercial arrangement.
- Use the ITIL trade mark and other OGC IPR in their ITIL qualification and
marketing material. Upon accreditation and a valid licensing agreement with APMG, EIs are granted this right.
- Accredit Course Providers to deliver specific training programmes leading to
particular ITIL qualifications.
- Operate a schedule of examinations, including handling all administrative
aspects relating to each examination, hosting examinations, appointing
invigilators, marking exam papers, notifying candidates & APMG of results.
- Sit on the ITIL Qualifications Board.
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- What can EIs not do?
- From 1st January 2008 Examination Institutes must work from a single
APMG approved syllabus and cannot develop their own syllabus for the purpose of any ITIL examination or accreditation activity.
- From 1ST January 2008 Examination Institutes must only utilise the live exam
format, exam questions and marking guidelines developed by the ITIL
Examination Panel and approved by the ITIL Qualification Board.
Examination Institutes are prohibited from developing their own exam questions, exam format/structure and marking guidelines.
- Examinations Institutes are prohibited from appointing/accrediting an
Examination Agent/s with the exception of providing only the following services to the EI:-
- Operational Customer contact as defined in the EI’s Quality Manual
- Distribution of examination papers supplied by the EI to the
Accredited Training Organisations.
- Collection of the examination scripts from the examination
candidates and their return to the EI for marking; and
- Distribution of the ITIL certificates supplied by the EI to candidates
who have succeeded in the examination
- Examination Institutes are only permitted to enter into such agreements with such agents once they:-
- Obtain the written consent of The Official Accreditor to the
appointment of each such Delivery Agent
- Demonstrate to the satisfaction of The Official Accreditor that the
terms of appointment of such Delivery Agent prohibit it from
carrying out any of the functions of the Examination Institute other
than Delivery Agent Services and
- Procure that the Delivery Agent enters into such intellectual property
licences and confidentiality agreements as the Official Accreditor or
OGC require.
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- What conditions do accredited EIs need to meet?
An organisation wishing to become and/or remain an Examination Institute
must satisfy the following conditions:-
- The organisation must be independent from any Course Provider /
Accredited Training Organisations or other party where there is a possibility
of a conflict of interest between the activities in which the organisation
engages. The EI cannot conduct training or consultancy services in ITIL.
- The organisation must be a legally constituted and recognised body according
to the laws of the country in which it is based
- The organisation must be able to demonstrate 2 years’ experience in the
successful operation of examination schemes.
- The organisation must be able to demonstrate, through audited accounts, its
financial viability to operate and maintain the scheme for a reasonable period
in the future.
- The organisation must have or be capable of establishing a set of
documentation, aligned with the key requirements of international standards
ISO9001 (in relation to their quality management systems), EN45011 (in
relation to their accreditation of products relating to ITIL) and ISO17024 (in
relation to their accreditation of personnel).
- The organisation must have defined process for the appointment of assessor
& examiners including eligibility criteria.
- The organisation must have appropriately defined trainer and Accredited
Training Organisation eligibility criteria.
- The organisation must have or be capable of establishing two formal panels
of experienced and qualified subject matter experts who can act as
examination markers and/or assessors. These individuals will be responsible
for marking examinations and assessing candidate ATOs, trainers and course
materials. This panel must comprise the required personal to meet the needs
of the local communities in the areas of the world in which the EI offers
examinations. Those sitting on the examiner / assessor panels should be at
minimum certified to ITIL v2 manager level or v3 equivalent.
- All approved invigilators must agree to maintain the confidentiality and
integrity of the process.
- Examinations offered by the EI must be open to all candidates who meet the
entry criteria defined in the examination specification.
- The organisation must provide statistics covering the following, but to the
level of detail defined in the EI licensing agreement :
- Examination taken by exam type,
- Date and country of the exam,
- Language of the exam,
- ATO who ran the exam,
- Trainer facilitating course,
- Name of the invigilator for the exam
- Candidate details, including name, address, contact details,
DOB & sector in which they work
- Examination results,
- on a quarterly basis to APMG. Exam statistics will be reviewed on a quarterly
basis at the ITIL qualification board.
- The organisation shall only refer to its examinations as being part of the ITIL Qualification Scheme where those examinations are recognised by the ITIL
Qualifications Board as being part of the Scheme.
- The organisation shall not launch into the market place any new
examinations that it has created as part of the ITIL Qualification Scheme,
prior to approval of the ITIL Qualification Board. Furthermore the
organisation cannot develop or launch a qualification in direct competition to
those qualifications recognised by the ITIL Qualifications Board as being part
of the Scheme.
- The organisation shall, in the case of examinations for Certificates
recognised by the ITIL Qualifications Board use only examinations that
conform to the format approved by the ITIL Qualifications Board.
- The organisation shall, upon achieving accredited status, automatically earn a
place on the ITIL Qualifications Board and will be expected to contribute to
the ITIL Qualifications Board’s decision-making processes, and shall respect
the property, rights and reasonable interests of the members of the ITIL
Qualifications Board. All member of the ITIL Qualifications Board will be
required to sign and abide by a confidentially agreement.
- The organisation will notify the ITIL Qualifications Board at the earliest
opportunity (request 3 months notice) of any intention to withdraw from the
scheme. Each EI will sign a 3 year licensing agreement.
- Organisations applying to become an EI must be able to offer the full range
of qualifications offered under the ITIL Qualifications Scheme offered
recognised by the ITIL Qualifications Board.
- An agreed percentage of accreditation and examination revenue based on
non discounted rates will be payable to APMG.
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- How can an organisation apply to become an EI?
The APM Group Ltd, as OGC’s Official Accreditor, is responsible for
accreditation of Examination Institutes. Any organisation wishing to become an
Examination Institute (EI) needs to formally apply to the ITIL Qualification
Board through its chair / agent APMG.
Applications can be requested from:
Email: -
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- How does an organisation submit their application?
There is presently no answer to this question.
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- How do EIs appeal against the result of an accreditation assessment?
There is presently no answer to this question.
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