Skip to main content
Current Body of Knowledge and Competency (BoK-C) for the CPPO and CPPB   Click here for details

UPPCC News & Announcement Archive

572

October 2010 Administrative Report: UPPCC Releases Key Data

January 31, 2011 -The Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) are globally recognized credentials offered exclusively by the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC). The certification programs systematically raise the level of professionalism within the public procurement profession by offering recognition to those individuals who meet an established standard of competency for public procurement demonstrated through a rigorous application process and superior examination performance.

In January, the UPPCC announced that 187 individuals successfully completed the October 2010 certification exams, including 125 who earned the CPPB certification and 62 who earned the CPPO. To date, 8,482 CPPB and 1,953 CPPO certifications have been awarded by the UPPCC.

Obtaining either UPPCC certification requires the candidate to demonstrate, through an application process, that they meet specific requisites, which includes education, procurement related coursework/training and public procurement employment experience. A comprehensive written examination (specific to each certification) is required to confirm the candidate's mastery of a variety of public procurement concepts found in the UPPCC Body of Knowledge.

Today, the UPPCC released key performance data from the October 2010 examinations:

Overall Scoring/Passing Rates
The UPPCC reports that 73% of the 85 total candidates who tested for the CPPO passed while 58% of the 217 candidates who tested for the CPPB passed. Mean passing scores for CPPB candidates were only 3 points higher than for CPPO.

Testing Time
The total testing time permitted for both examinations is 3.5 hours. This equates to a total of 210 minutes for 190 questions (175 operational or scored and 15 pre-test questions); or an average 1 minute and 10 seconds for each test question.

The UPPCC reported that for CPPO, the average completion time was 2.72 hours with a range from 3.5 hours maximum to 1.42 hours minimum. For the CPPB, the average completion time was 2.65 hours with a range from 3.5 hours maximum to 1.20 hours minimum.

Exam Content & Candidate Preparation 
Content for both the CPPO and CPPB examinations are dictated by the 2008 UPPCC Body of Knowledge (BOK). A total of 10 domain areas comprise the BOK and are as follows:

  1. Administration Aspects of Purchasing

  2. Procurement Requests

  3. Solicitation and Evaluation of Bids/Proposals

  4. Supplier Analysis

  5. Negotiation Process

  6. Contract Award and Administration

  7. External/Internal Relationships

  8. Materiels Management

  9. Human Resources/Personnel

  10. Forecasting and Strategies

The UPPCC reports that for the CPPO, candidates performed the best in Domain 4: Supplier Analysis nd performed the poorest in Domain 8: Materiels Management.  Conversely for CPPB candidates, the strongest performance area was Domain 8: Matereiels Management while performing the poorest in Domain 3: Solicitation and Evaluation of Bids/Proposals(see Table 1).

UPPCC reports that a high percentage of candidates indicated, via a post examination survey, spending between one and three months preparing for their respective examinations (see Table 2).

The organization also reports that in reviewing candidates as a whole, those who indicated spending between three and six months preparing experienced the highest rates of passing compared to other timeframes of preparation; however, in evaluating CPPO candidate performance, preparation times between one and three months, as indicated by high passing rates, appeared to be the optimal timeframe(see Graph 1).

Passing Rates and Public Entity Types
UPPCC reports that when comparing passing rates for both examinations with various entity types; K-12 experienced the highest rates of passing at 73% followed by Counties at 69% (see Graph 2).

Testing for both credentials is offered via a network of professional testing centers twice annually in May and October. The UPPCC will continue to accept applications for the May 2-14, 2011 testing window through the late deadline of February 14, 2011 with a $50 late fee.

The Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC) is an independent entity formed to govern and administer the Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) certification programs. The CPPO and CPPB programs are highly regarded and respected among procurement professionals and employers involved in the public sector. To date, the UPPCC has certified well over 10,000 professionals primarily within the US and Canada as well as in other nations around the globe.

Share

Print

Theme picker