*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not  otherwise skewed to reduce participation. Participation in these competitions can be done in parallel to the certification: use all your options!*

Original article: To those of you resitting any part of the Certification, please be aware that you can choose to do any or all of the outstanding exams: the choice is up to you (the deadline for making the choice is Friday 26.01.2024). This flexibility of choice is not particularly clear in the corresponding European School of Administration (EUSA) website.

The certification is ‘all or nothing’ i.e. there is no partial credit possible for those passing 2 of the 3 exams and then exhausting their resit options for the third[*]. We know of at least one colleague who is working on targeting the effort. With all 3 exams to resit (there are a growing number of colleagues in this position) this resitter is choosing to do only the exam where the final score was lowest.

‘There’s no point in again spending time, energy and annual leave on the other two until I know I have the weakest one finished. I don’t want to find my self with two exams done and no further options for the third.’

Please consider also whether you will be available for the (as yet unpublished) exam dates and locations: use the dates published for last year as an indication of the dates for the next exercise. It is not clear how those who find themselves unable to attend would ensure that their resit budget remains intact.

Generation 2004 is aware of the exceptionally poor Certification exam results in 2024, we are awaiting the publication of the corresponding report to make comparisons with the previous 17 certification exercises.

We would like to see more transparency in the whole process from initial application to AD posts available for all participating institutions and an overall evaluation of all 18 editions: is the Certification achieving it stated aims?

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us, we’ve been through many of these processes.

If you appreciate our work, please consider becoming a member of Generation 2004

[*] One institution and those who did the first editions of the Certification have unlimited resits, it is not clear how this affects the published figures or the declaration of equal treatment.