Question Drafting Regulations

Dates of Promulgation

Establishment of the complete text of 11 articles, promulgated on December 21, 1988 as per Examination Yuan (77) Kao-Tai-Mi-Yi-Zi Order No. 3590.
Amendment to Article 4, promulgated on August 10, 1994 as per Examination Yuan (83) Kao-Tai-Mi-Yi-Zi Order No. 10085.
Amendment to Article 4, promulgated on May 11, 1998 as per Examination Yuan (87) Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 02169.
Amendments to the complete text of 12 articles, promulgated on July 11, 2003 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 09200057691. These amendments shall come into effect upon promulgation.
Amendments to Articles 6 and 12, promulgated on September 9, 2009 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 09800071371. The amended Article 6 shall come into effect on January 1, 2010.
Amendments to the complete text of 12 articles, promulgated on April 16, 2012 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 10100032331. These amendments shall come into effect upon promulgation.
Amendments to Articles 3 to 5, promulgated on January 20, 2015 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 10300098201.
Amendments to Articles 1, 3, and 9 to 11, promulgated on August 7, 2015 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 10400046691.
Amendment to Article 10, promulgated on May 2, 2016 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 10500025881.
Amendment to Article 6, promulgated on December 28, 2023 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Kao-Yi-Zi Order No. 11206002251.

The text of these Regulations is as follows:

Article 1
These Regulations are established as per Article 19, Paragraph 4 of the Examination Affairs Act.

Article 2
All exam questions should be drafted in accordance with these Regulations.

Article 3
Essay questions: Depending on the nature of the subject and the number of exam takers, a team comprising three members or more may be formed to draft questions; otherwise, one or two drafters may be assigned to create two sets of exam questions. If necessary, questions may be drafted in advance and kept confidential for future use after review.
Multiple-choice questions: If no question bank exists, questions should be drafted in advance and kept confidential for future use after review.
One drafter may draft questions for a maximum of two subjects for each exam category at the same level. However, this provision does not apply to exams and categories of a special nature.
The Chair of the Board of Examiners shall have team conveners or board members select questions from the question bank or from questions which have been drafted and kept confidential for future use.
Unused questions will be reviewed and may be kept for future use if (a) they include complete answer keys or mathematical processes and grading standards; and (b) they are not identical or similar to exam questions which have been tested in the recent three years. Questions that are deemed unsuitable for use should also be reviewed, modified, and kept confidential for future use.
All exam questions are selected and finalized at exam quarters. If the previously drafted set of questions is insufficient in number, the original drafters shall draft the necessary questions. If the original drafters are unavailable, the questions which have been drafted previously and kept confidential for future use may be selected with approval of Chair of the Board of Examiners. Additional drafters or question reviewers shall be assigned in accordance with Article 15 of the Examination Affairs Act.

Article 4
Essay questions should be drafted in accordance with the following:
1.Questions shall reflect curriculum standards, syllabi, exam drafting guidelines, and reference materials.
2.The difficulty level and number of the exam questions shall be commensurate with exam level, average candidate educational attainment, and exam time limit.
3.Exam questions should be designed to assess candidates’ memorization, understanding, application, analytical ability, and creativity.
4.When two exams of the same level in different categories have an exam subject with the same name, the exam questions for the subject may be drafted separately.
5.When two exams of different levels have an exam subject with the same name, the exam questions should be drafted separately to accommodate candidate educational attainment and exam time limit.
6.The weight of each question section should comply with applicable guidelines.
7.Questions must be numbered; if a question has multiple sublevel questions, all questions must be numbered.
8.Question text should be punctuated.
9.All exam questions should be in the national language with the exception of foreign language exam subjects, definition questions with foreign language terminology, or subjects of special nature. Where a translated text is quoted, the text in the original language shall be provided.
10.If a problem-solving process requires the use of laws or calculations, useable provisions, relevant data, or calculation tables may be provided and noted on the exam paper bag. If a question includes an image, the original image must be provided with definite colors, symbols, or text.
11.Permission to use a calculator shall be noted on the exam paper bag and on the exam question paper. For exam subjects where calculators may be used, questions should request a detailed problem-solving process and must not be designed to test rote memorization of math formulas.
12.Exam questions must not be an exact copy-and-paste of a section of text from a source; questions should be concisely worded. No ambiguous wording is acceptable.
13.Exam questions must not correlate with each other, relate to ideologies, or discriminate based on race, religion, ethnicity, or political preference.
Exam subjects which are tested using only essay questions must not have more than ten questions, except for Chinese and Architectural Design subjects. Subjects which are tested using both essay and multiple-choice questions must not have more than five essay questions and the number of questions and question weighting may be adjusted to accommodate exam time limit and exam nature.

Article 5
Multiple-choice questions shall be drafted in accordance with the following:
1.Questions shall reflect curriculum standards, syllabi, exam drafting guidelines, and reference materials. Sources and pages should be cited and referenced for review.
2.The difficulty level and number of the exam questions shall be commensurate with exam level, average candidate educational attainment, and exam time limit.
3.Exam questions should be designed to assess candidates’ memorization, understanding, application, analytical ability, and creativity.
4.When two exams of the same level in different categories have an exam subject with the same name, exam questions for the subject should be drafted separately.
5.When two exams of different levels have an exam subject with the same name, the exam questions should be drafted separately to accommodate candidate educational attainment and exam time limit.
6.The weight of each question section should comply with applicable guidelines. In the absence of applicable guidelines, the weight of each question section must be properly assigned in accordance with subject scope.
7.Question text should be punctuated.
8.All exam questions should be in the national language except for foreign language exam subjects, definition questions for terminology in a foreign language, or subjects of special nature. Where a translated text is quoted, the text in the original language shall be provided.
9.If the problem-solving process requires the use of laws or calculations, useable provisions, relevant data, or calculation tables may be provided and noted on the exam paper bag. If a question includes an image, the original image must be provided with definite colors, symbols, or text.
10.Permission to use a calculator shall be noted on the exam paper bag and on the exam question paper. Questions must not be designed to test rote memorization of math formulas.
11.Exam questions must not be an exact copy-and-paste of a section of text from a source; questions should be concisely worded. No ambiguous wording is acceptable.
12.The difficulty level of each question should be noted on the question drafting card. Questions should be assigned difficulty levels – challenging, moderate, and easy – using the 25% - 50% - 25% rule. 
13.If all answer options contain the same section of text, the shared text should instead be in the question stem and options arranged in a logical order; if the answer options are numbers, the options should be arranged in an ascending or descending order and the numbers should not overlap.
14.Multiple-choice questions should generally allow only one answer to be chosen unless otherwise necessary.
15.Exam questions must not correlate with each other, relate to ideologies or discriminations based on race, religion, ethnicity, or political preference.
If an exam subject is tested using multiple-choice questions only, the number of questions should generally fall between 40 and 80. If the exam subject is tested using both multiple-choice questions and essay questions, the number of multiple-choice questions should generally be between 20 and 40. The number and weight of questions may be adjusted to accommodate the exam time limit and nature of the questions.

Article 6
For the exam subject Chinese, question types may include writing, multiple-choice questions, and other types of questions approved by the Examination Yuan.
Questions for the Chinese subject should be drafted in accordance with the following:
1.Exam questions must not relate to ideologies or discriminations based on race, religion, ethnicity, or political preference.
2.Obscure wording and irrelevant knowledge of Chinese classics should be avoided.
3.Wording, usage of words, or pronunciation that has yet to become standardized or customary should be avoided.
Question types and weightings are specified in the specific exam regulations.

Article 7
Answer keys to multiple-choice questions should be provided at the time of drafting. Sample answers to essay questions, problem-solving processes, and grading standards should be provided to the exam graders.
Sample answers must not only include citations of law articles, government documents, text book summaries, or personal opinions from exam drafters’ published works or teaching materials.

Article 8
Exam questions must be drafted using the MOEX official paper sheet, typed using a computer or clearly written using the ballpoint pen, fountain pen, or calligraphy brush, and include the drafter’s signature or seal.
Foreign language texts or other exam subjects should be printed or typed using a computer.
Any additions or deletions must include the drafter’s signature or seal placed beside the changes.
If exam questions are drafted using word processing software, the electronic file and hard copies of the exam questions should be submitted to the Ministry of Examination in a confidential manner.
If questions are drafted online, electronic signatures may be used to replace signatures or seals and should be transmitted to the MOEX.

Article 9
Drafted exam questions, answer keys, sample problem-solving processes, and grading standards shall be submitted to the Chair of the Board of Examiners in a confidential manner via the Ministry of Examination on the date designated by the Board of Examiners or the Ministry of Examination. Materials must be packaged using the designated bag with seals affixed across the page edges. Before delivery, a thorough examination must be carried to make sure the exam questions comply with applicable regulations. 
The Chair of the Board of Examiners and reviewers shall affix their signature or stamp after completing selection or review of exam questions.

Article 10
Those whose spouse, blood relative, or relative through marriage within three degrees of relation, or who themselves will take the examination must not draft the particular exam questions. Violators will be restricted from drafting exam questions.
Drafters shall draft exam questions personally and confidentially. Disclosure is prohibited and subject to Article 31 of the Examination Affairs Act.

Article 11
These Regulations shall apply mutatis mutandis to the drafting of oral and practical exam questions.

Article 12
These Regulations shall come into effect upon promulgation.

In case of any discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese version, the latter shall prevail.