Coffee Skills Program Intermediate Online Exam Launch - January

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As announced earlier in the year, SCA has moved to an online exam system to enhance the integrity, validity, and accessibility of the SCA education program. The CSP Intermediate online exams are slated to launch 20 January, 2020.

In preparation for the launch, we want to share some important information with you regarding the implementation of the Intermediate CSP online written exams and the Intermediate AST Guidebooks. 

  • Learners in any Intermediate course, taking place on or after January 20, will be required to take the online written exam (Professional online exams will be available later).

  • If a course begins before January 20 and ends after January 20, the learners should take the paper exam (not the online written exams).

  • ASTs are directed to review the Guidebooks, the AST Online Exam User Guide, and the Online Exam Policies and Learner Rights Document, before teaching an Intermediate course that begins after January 20.

  • To download a copy of the English Intermediate Guidebooks, visit the AST Portal under ‘Exams and Curriculum’ in the module curriculum folder.

  • We are working on translating the Guidebooks into the following languages: English. Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, French, German, Greek,  Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. These translated Guidebooks will be made available via the AST Portal during the week of January 20. Make sure you are following the official AST Facebook page to be the first to receive updates on this.

  • Just like the other curriculum documents, these Guidebooks are only available to authorized trainers licensed in that particular module and should never be shared with other ASTs or learners.

  • Intermediate exam fees go into effect for any Intermediate course beginning on or after January 20, 2020.

Language Availability

The online written exams for Intermediate are available in 14 languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.  ASTs teaching a course in one of these 14 languages, are required use the online written exam.

Online Exam Exemption

ASTs teaching a course for which there is no translated exam will need to complete this application to notify SCA of the situation and receive approval to use paper exams. Additional reasons for exemptions from the online exam requirement are noted in the AST Online Exam User Guide and the Online Exam Polices and Learner Rights document found on the Resource Page of the AST Portal.

AST Guidebooks

The AST Foundation Guidebooks were introduced with the launch of the Foundation and Introduction to Coffee online exams. Intermediate Guidebooks have now been created for each of the CSP Intermediate courses. ASTs should consult the Intermediate Guidebooks prior to conducting any Intermediate course. On January 20, the guidebooks will replace the curriculum documents ASTs use now to create course outlines and materials.

Key features of the guidebooks include:

  • A course outline consisting of Sections, Topics, Subtopics and Objectives

  • Revised and improved learning objectives

  • All online exam questions, aligned with the relevant objective so that you can connect the assessment to the intended outcome.

  • Helpful appendices like glossaries, reading lists, discussion questions, and more

  • Lists of essential SCA training documents

Should you have any questions, we’re always here to help! You can email us directly at exams@sca.coffee.

Translations coming soon!

Specialty Coffee Association