Examination Affairs Act Enforcement Rules

Dates of Promulgation

Promulgated by order Kao-Tai-Mi-Yi-Zi No. 3491 of the Examination Yuan (77) on 14 December 1988 in a full text incorporating 20 articles.
Amended and promulgated on 25 December 1989 by order Kao-Tai-Mi-Yi No. 4032 of the Examination Yuan (78), which revised Article 7.
Amended and promulgated on 3 June 2002 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 0910002602 of the Examination Yuan, which revised the full text of the Act in 17 articles.
Amended and promulgated on 27 February 2008 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 09700014931 of the Examination Yuan.
Amended and promulgated on 22 July 2008 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 09700050701 of the Examination Yuan, which revised Article 4-1.
Amended and promulgated on 10 September 2012 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 10100076911 of the Examination Yuan, which revised Article 9,10 and 14 .
Amended and promulgated on 16 November 2015 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 10400043021 of the Examination Yuan, which revised the full text of the Act in 19 articles.
Amended and promulgated on 14 March 2016 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 10500012201 of the Examination Yuan, which revised Article 10.
Amended and promulgated on 9 September 2019 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 10700012781 of the Examination Yuan, which revised Article 11.
Amended and promulgated on 9 September 2019 by order Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi No. 10700012781 of the Examination Yuan, which revised Article 11.
Amendments to Articles 10 and 17, promulgated on September 11, 2021 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 11000063841.
Amendment to Articles 15, promulgated on March 15, 2022 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 11100008441.
Amendment to Article 4, promulgated on July 25, 2022 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 11100053341.

Full text of the Rules

Article 1

These Enforcements Rules are formulated in accordance with Article 34 of the Examination Affairs Act (hereunder referred to as the Act).

Article 2

The name of the examination to be administered shall be affixed to the name of the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) that is established in accordance with paragraph 1, Article 2 of the Act.

Article 3

The Minister of Examination shall attend the meetings of the Board of Examiners, participate in examination affairs decisions, and affix his signature to certificates of examination qualification.

Article 4

After announcement of the examination for which a Board of Examiners is to be established, the Minister of Examination shall immediately request in writing the President of the Examination Yuan to nominate the Chair of the Board of Examiners, who shall be appointed upon approval by a resolution of the Examination Yuan Council.

After the Chair of the Board of Examiners is determined, the Ministry of Examination shall, in consultation of the Chair, select and nominate the chairs of the various groups and Members of the Board of Examiners. Their names shall be submitted to the President of the Examination Yuan, and appointed upon approval by a resolution of the Examination Yuan Council; a Board of Examiners shall be established simultaneously

For all types of examination, the number of Members of the Board of Examiners assigned to each group who are engaged under the provisions of Article 5, paragraph 1, subparagraph 3 and 4; Article 6, paragraph 1, subparagraph 4 and 5; and Article 7 of the Act shall not exceed half of the total number of Members of the Board of Examiners in each group. This provision shall not apply, however, to examination subjects of a special nature if approval to this effect is granted by a resolution of the Examination Yuan Council.

Article 5

Persons described in subparagraph 3, paragraph 1 of Article 5 of this Act as having expertise and an outstanding performance record in relevant subjects refer to those who have served as a senior-rank civil servant or an equivalent thereof for not less than five years, have held a position or qualified in an examination discipline relevant to the appointed examination discipline, and have published specialized writings or research papers, or have practical work experience, and also have an outstanding performance record.

Persons described in subparagraph 4, paragraph 1 of Article 5 of this Act as having expertise and an outstanding performance record in relevant subjects refer to those have not less than ten years of professional and technical work experience, have Senior Professional and Technical Examination qualifications relevant to the appointed examination subject, are without any record of disciplinary action, have published specialized writings or research papers or possess practical work experience, and also have an outstanding performance record.

Persons described in subparagraph 4, paragraph 1 of Article 6 of this Act as having expertise and an outstanding performance record in relevant subjects refer to those who have served as a associate-rank civil servant or an equivalent thereof for not less than eight years, have held a position or qualified in an examination discipline relevant to the appointed examination discipline, and have published specialized writings or research papers, or have practical work experience, and also have an outstanding performance record.

Persons described in subparagraph 5, paragraph 1 of Article 6 of this Act as having expertise and an outstanding performance record in relevant subjects refer to those have not less than eight years of professional and technical work experience, have Senior Professional and Technical Examination qualifications relevant to the appointed examination subject, are without any record of disciplinary action, have published specialized writings or research papers or possess practical work experience, and also have an outstanding performance record.

Article 6

The term “specific needs of the said exam method” as stipulated in Article 7 refers to situations when actual operation is required in the exam method, and when actual operation experience and professional knowledge and techniques are required. The term “specific needs of the test subject” refers to situations where only a minority of schools has related programs or curricula, or no schools offer related curricula, for the appointed examination subject.

The term “senior grade civil servants” as stipulated in Article 7 refer to those who have served as a senior-rank civil servant or an equivalent thereof for not less than five years, have held a position or qualified in an examination discipline relevant to the appointed examination discipline, and have published specialized writings or research papers or have practical work experience, and also have an outstanding performance record. The term “professionals holding posts of equivalent standing” refer to those have not less than ten years of professional and technical work experience, have Senior Professional and Technical Examination qualifications relevant to the appointed examination subject, are without any record of disciplinary action, have published specialized writings or research papers or possess practical work experience, and also have an outstanding performance record.

Where the selection of Board members encounters difficulty upon having to conform to the above-said restrictions, they may be waived for candidates with approval from the Examination Yuan.

Article 7

When policy dictates such a necessity, the Examination Yuan may offer recommendations to the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners). In the event of serious difficulties, the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) shall report these to the Examination Yuan for resolution by the Examination Yuan Council.

Article 8

The term “examination affairs” in paragraph 1, Article 8 of the Act refers to the following:

a. drafting, proofreading, receipt, and issuance of documents;

b. safekeeping of seals and chops;

c. taking minutes at meetings;

d. determining the dates of examinations;

e. receipt and safekeeping of examination questions;

f. printing and distribution of examination questions;

g. printing, sealing, distribution, and safekeeping of answer sheets;

h. safekeeping of the sealed list of examinees;

i. allocation of invigilators, and invigilation;

j. registration of scores, verification, and tabulation;

k. miscellaneous tasks;

l. other relevant examination affairs from the beginning of examination preparation up to the filing period.

Article 9

When carrying out tasks stipulated in Article 12, subparagraph 3 and subparagraph 5 of the Act, the Chair of the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) may convene a meeting among the chairs of the different groups.

When carrying out tasks stipulated in Article 13, subparagraph 3 through subparagraph 5 of the Act, the chairs of the different groups may convene group meetings at their own discretion or request other members of the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) to convene group meetings.

If necessary, the Chair of the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) shall stay at the sequestered quarters for printing question papers from the day he enters the sequestered quarters.

Article 10

The “sealed name lists,” stipulated in subparagraph 6, paragraph 1, Article 9, may be replaced by digital files and placed in electronic media for safekeeping; the opening and verification of the sealed name lists may be conducted through automatic informatization, and the list of qualified examinees may be further printed. However, the sealed list of examinees’ names shall not be unsealed without the consent of the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) .
All answer sheets shall be sealed or kept confidential in a similar manner.

Article 11

Examinees’ scores shall be calculated and tabulated after each examinee’s answer sheets in the different subjects have been graded; the scores shall be reviewed by the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) to determine the standards for passing or qualification.  The names of successful examinees shall be arranged in descending order of achievement or by examination site entry pass number, and announced publicly. In case of identical total score, the list is sorted by average scores of the professional subjects. Should the average scores of the professional subjects be identical, too, the listing shall be sorted by the scores of the Chinese language section of the examination. Should an examination have no language section, or should identical scores be obtained in the language section, too, or if the examination is qualified by subject, passing candidates will be drawn up in order of examination entry pass number.

Article 12

The definitions of the various examinations mentioned in Item 1, Article 20 of this act are as follows

a. Written examinations: Determination of a candidate’s knowledge and relevant competencies by means of written word or signals.

b. Oral examinations: Determination of a candidate’s knowledge and relevant competencies by means of oral question-and-answers or discussion.

c. Tests: Determination of a candidate’s mental or physical status by means of psychometric or physical tests.

d. On-site examinations: Determination of a candidate’s professional knowledge, practical experience and professional skills by means of on-site, hands-on operation.

e. Authorship and invention verification: Verification of a candidate’s written work or instruction manual and all necessary diagrams of their invention.

f. Education and work experience verification: Verification of a candidate’s educational and academic documentations, report cards and proof of service, proving knowledge   and ability necessary for the relevant examination category.

Article 13

“Persons selected by the Chair of the Board of Examiners of the examination in concern are not bound by this rule” stipulated in paragraph 1, Article 17 of the Act refers to when no suitable personnel are found available within the Examination Affairs Human Resources Database, or when encountering difficulties in the members’ selection due to emergency situations, professionals or scholars not included within the Examination Affairs Human Resources Database may be recruited to shoulder examination tasks.

Article 14

The term “examinations of a special nature” as stipulated in Article 23 of the Act refer to oral exams, psychometric testing, computerized exams, exams with drafting difficulties, exams with special question forms, exams of a new category, and other examinations approved by the Examination Yuan.

Examinations which have been approved by the Examination Yuan to not publish its questions and multiple choice questions shall be announced by the Ministry of Examination.

Article 15

Definitions of the various grading forms for essay questions as stipulated in paragraph 1, Article 25 of the Act are as below:

a. Single grading: examination papers are marked once only and by one single grader only, of which the resulting scores are the final grades for that subject.

b. Parallel grading: examination paper is marked by two different graders, and grade of that subject is the mean average of the two scores. However, if the difference between the scores exceeds a certain amount, the case will be handled according to the Examination Grading Regulations.

c. Grading of individual questions: examination papers of the same subject may be graded by different graders, each responsible for one or more questions, and the grade of that subject shall be the total score of all the questions.

d. Parallel grading of individual questions: every question of the examination papers of the same subject shall be graded in two stages by different graders, and the mean average of the two scores of the two stages of grading shall be the grade of each question, which in sum makes up the total grade of that subject. However, if the difference between the scores exceeds a certain amount, the case will be handled according to the Examination Grading Regulations.

e. Online grading: digital image files of examinees’ essay answer sheets shall be saved after being digitally sealed and with digital signature affixed. Graders shall then grade the answer sheets on a computer screen at the designated venue.

Article 16

Members of the various boards or committees of examiners who are required to recuse themselves from certain activities in accordance with paragraph 1, Article 29 of the Act shall inform in writing the agency administering the examination affairs of their situation prior to the preparation of examination questions, grading, review, oral examination, or on-site examination, or upon becoming aware of the need to recuse themselves.

Article 17

The relevant documents to be forwarded to the Examination Yuan for filing as stipulated in paragraph 1, Article 30 of the Act refer to the following:

a. the list of successful examinees;

b. an inventory of the personal histories and scores of the successful examinees;

c. the list of names of the members of the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners) ;

d. agendas and minutes of the meetings of the Board of Examiners (or Committee of Examiners);

e. the test questions of the various examination subjects.

For examinations where a Standing Board of Examiners is established, the documents stipulated under c. and d. above may be forwarded to the Ministry of Examination after the last examination in the current year is concluded. The Ministry of Examination shall in turn forward the said documents to the Examination Yuan for archiving.

Paragraph 3, Article 30 of the Act stipulates that “After the dissolution of the Board of Examiners, matters regarding the examination shall be handled by the Ministry of Examination according to relevant laws.” This means that matters such as the question clarification, grading of answer sheets, additional qualifications, and cancellation of qualification or admissions shall be handled by the Ministry of Examination in accordance to this Act, the Civil Service Examinations Act, Civil Service Promotional Examination Act, Professional and Technical Personnel Examinations Act, National Examination Question Clarification Procedures, Verification Application Procedures for Examinees, Incident Reaction Guidelines and other relevant regulations.

Article 18

The “personnel engaged in examination affairs” as stipulated in Article 31 of the Act refers to personnel who, in accordance with the examination laws and regulations, carry out examination affairs and who administer examinations.

Article 19

These Enforcement Rules enter into effect as of their date of promulgation.

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