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6. Complaint Resolution Process

Upon receipt of a complaint, EPSO’s dedicated complaint handling team will initiate the following process:

  • Review the details of the complaint provided by the candidate;
  • Verify the candidate's completion of a technical prerequisite check, required synchronisation(s), a connectivity trial, or a system check and/or a mock test;
  • Investigate the reported technical issue and its impact on the candidate's exam experience;
  • Communicate with the relevant technical support team of the test provider to verify how the technical issue was addressed and handled before/during or after the testing event;
  • Request the candidate, if applicable, to provide additional technical files such as screenshots of the computer configuration or the application version in order to verify that all the instructions were followed.
  • Determine whether the issue falls within the scope of EPSO's responsibility and the extent of any impact on the testing process.
  • Provide a timely response to the candidate regarding the outcome of their complaint.

 

In cases where the complaint is found to be valid based on the findings of the investigation, EPSO will take appropriate measures to rectify the situation.

The outcome of a technical complaint may include the following resolutions:

  • If it is demonstrated that the candidate's inability to test or the encountered technical disruptions were justified (not caused by incompatible IT equipment or failure to adhere to instructions), and if the technical issue significantly impacted the tests integrity or unfairly disadvantaged the candidate, the candidate will be given the opportunity to retake the test(s);

  • Other remedial measures deemed appropriate based on the circumstances of the technical problem, when appropriate, in consultation with the Selection Board.

     

The outcome of an Item Specific Complaint may include the following resolutions:


An initial data analysis on the performance of the items will be conducted followed by an in-depth analysis of the complaint to make an informed decision regarding the complaint justification.

  • If the complaint is not justified, no actions will be taken.
  • If the complaint is justified the following action is implemented:

    Neutralisation of item(s): The Selection Board, in collaboration with EPSO’s psychologists’ team, decides to ‘neutralise’ problematic item(s). This means the concerned item(s) will be cancelled, and the points initially allocated to that/those item(s) will be redistributed among the remaining items of the test.
    Only the candidates who received the item(s) concerned in their test will be affected by the recalculation. The scoring of the tests remains as indicated in the relevant sections of the Notice of Competition.


In both instances of complaints, EPSO is committed to answering candidates in the most appropriate manner and as quickly as possible but at latest within 15 working days via the email associated with their EPSO Account, in line with provisions of the Code of Good Administrative behaviour of the European Commission.

Disclaimer: Administrative complaints under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations, judicial appeals and complaints submitted to the European Ombudsman are not covered in this guidance document. Candidates can find further information about the modalities of this type of complaints in the Notice of Competition under General Rules.