Setting Defensible and Credible Cut-Off Scores for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations: The Art and Science of Standard Setting

The standard settingStandardSetting is the process of establishing a credible, defendable, and fair passing or cut-off score for examinations, which can correctly separate the competent from the non-competent candidatesCandidate. Several standard settingStandardSetting methods have been suggested to establish appropriate passing scores in order to avoid categorisation errors. The AngoffAngoff method is one of the oldest standard settingStandardSetting methods that has been used successfully for both multiple-choice questions and objective structured clinical examinationsObjective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) (OSCEs). On the other hand, the applicability of the AngoffAngoff method to OSCEs has been questioned, as it was originally developed for multiple-choice questions. The borderline group method and its variant, the borderline regression methodBorderline regression method (BRM), have been specifically developed for standard settingStandardSetting in OSCEsObjective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) and are well supported by evidence in the literature for their validity, reliability, and feasibility. Most institutionsInstitution have reported the AngoffAngoff and borderline standard settingStandardSetting methods, with their variants, for OSCEsObjective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs).