After a candidate sits an exam, you record the result on their exam registration. Recording the result saves the score, sets the registration status, and can email the candidate their pass or fail letter at the same time. You can also send an exam notice on its own without changing the score.
Prerequisites
- Your role must allow you to open exam registrations in Certifications.
- The candidate's exam registration must already exist. You usually open it from the exam offering's registrations list, the candidate's record, or an exam registration search.
- To have Rhythm propose and send a pass or fail letter automatically, an active pass or fail notice must already exist and be associated with the exam, or with the specific sitting, under Certifications setup > Exams > Notices. Without that setup, the result still saves, but Rhythm does not have a letter to propose.
Record a Score and Result
- Open the candidate's exam registration.
- From Exam Registration Options, choose Record Score.
- Enter the Score:. This field stores a numeric score, such as 85, and does not accept a pass/fail value directly. Enter the candidate's actual score even when you already know the outcome.
- Optionally attach the Scoring Report:.
- After you enter a score, Rhythm shows New Status: and Send an electronic letter. Review or change the proposed status.
- If Send an electronic letter is checked, choose the notice under Send an exam notice:. To skip the letter, uncheck the box.
- Choose Save Changes.
Result
Rhythm saves the score and status. If you left Send an electronic letter checked, Rhythm also emails the candidate the selected notice and adds an entry to the registration's Notices tab. If the registration belongs to a certification application and the saved status is Passed or Failed, Rhythm records today's date on the application as the date that letter was sent. A passing result can also fulfill that application's exam requirement when the exam has a passing score configured.
Give the Scoring Report File a Clear Extension
Upload the scoring report with its file extension in the file name, such as results.pdf or results.jpg, so it opens correctly when you or the candidate download it later. If a scoring report uploaded in the past will not open after downloading, contact Support with the affected exam registrations. Restoring a file that is already missing its extension can take manual cleanup rather than a simple re-save.
Tip
Rhythm proposes the result by comparing the score you enter with the exam's passing score. A score at or above the passing score proposes Passed, and a score below it proposes Failed. If the exam has no passing score, every score proposes Failed. Rhythm also proposes a matching letter, using a pass or fail letter set on the specific sitting before using the exam's own letters. You can change either proposal before saving, and you can set the status to any option regardless of the score. Rhythm does not require the status to match its proposal. New Status: also offers Credited alongside Passed and Failed. Rhythm never proposes Credited from a score, so set it by hand if your process calls for a result other than a straightforward pass or fail.
A Score of 0 Hides the Status and Letter Fields
Rhythm treats a score of 0 the same as no score entered. New Status: and Send an electronic letter stay hidden, and Save Changes only stores the score. If you need to fail a candidate who scored zero, use the score-field workaround your association has chosen, or contact Support.
When you record a score, Rhythm saves in up to three steps: it stores the score and status, sends the notice, and stamps the linked application. If a later step fails, anything from an earlier step stays saved. For example, if the score saves but the notice fails to send, the score and status are already recorded. The Notices tab may still show an entry for the notice because Rhythm logs it before trying to send it. If you are not sure the candidate received the letter, check with them directly and choose Save Changes again if you need to resend it.
If Results Come From an External Exam or Pathway System
If your association gets results from an external exam or pathway system that writes the outcome back into a Rhythm exam registration, that writeback does not send a Rhythm exam notice by itself. Only Record Score and Send a Notice send those notices. The result details also matter: Rhythm can propose a pass or fail letter only when it has a score or pass/fail result to work from, not when the external system reports completion alone. If you only receive a completion confirmation, record or choose the result and notice yourself rather than expecting one to be proposed.
A registration's score or status can also be updated by an import instead of this dialog. The update saves to the registration, but it may not show elsewhere on the record right away. Check the registration itself, and contact Support if an imported result still looks incomplete after the import finishes.
Send an Exam Notice on Its Own
Use this option to resend a letter, send a reminder, or notify a candidate outside of scoring. It does not change the registration's score or status.
- Open the candidate's exam registration.
- From Exam Registration Options, choose Send a Notice.
- Choose the notice under Select the Notice to Send:.
- Choose Send Notice.
Result
Rhythm emails the candidate the selected notice and adds an entry to the registration's Notices tab.
Tip
If the notice you send here matches the exam's own pass or fail letter, and the registration belongs to a certification application, Rhythm records today's date on the application as the letter-sent date, just as it does from Record Score. Rhythm only recognizes the exam's own letters this way, not a letter set on a specific sitting, so sending a sitting's override letter from here does not update the application.
What the Candidate Sees
A candidate can see their score in the Portal as soon as you record it. They see the Passed or Failed status on their exam page only after your association publishes the result. Until then, the candidate's exam page shows the registration as Registered, even though the saved status is Passed or Failed. Their full exam history on My Exams always shows any status you set, so publish the result when you record it if you want the candidate to see the score without finding the status early in another place.
If your association runs an exam progress report, it lists only published exam results. A candidate with a registration but no published result yet does not appear on that report because the report reflects results, not registrations.
If Something Goes Wrong
| What you see | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
Unable to record score | Saving the score, status, letter, or application stamp failed. Check the message for details, then choose Save Changes again. Anything saved before the failure stays saved. |
Unable to send notice | Sending the notice from either dialog failed. Try again, or confirm the notice has not been deactivated. |
| The letter field won't let you save | New Status: and Send an exam notice: are required once they appear. If you do not want to send a letter, uncheck Send an electronic letter first. |
| The candidate says they never got the letter | Check the registration's Notices tab. An entry means Rhythm attempted to send the notice, not that delivery succeeded. Resend the notice if you are unsure. |