Regulations Governing the Custody of Examination Papers

Dates of Promulgation

Establishment of the complete text of 7 articles, promulgated on November 5, 2002 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 0910008432
Amendments to Articles 1, 3, and 4, promulgated on September 4, 2012 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 10100075081.
Amendment to Article 6, promulgated on March 10, 2014 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 10300019901.
Amendments to the complete text of 7 articles, promulgated on August 7, 2015 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 10400046691. .
Amendments to Articles 3 and 4, promulgated on March 15, 2022 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Zu-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 11100008441.
Amendments to Articles 3 and 7, promulgated on September 21, 2023 as per Examination Yuan Kao-Tai-Kao-(1)-Yi-Zi Order No. 11206001651.

The text of these Regulations is as follows:

Article 1
These Regulations are established as per Article 25, Paragraph 2 of the Examination Affairs Act.

Article 2
After each examination session is completed, personnel responsible for handling the papers shall count the examination papers, seal them immediately in accordance with the regulations, and deliver them for centralized custody.

Article 3
During the grading period, essay-type examination papers shall be centrally kept at a designated location by the examination administration agency. After the examination is completed, multiple-choice examination papers shall be sealed in boxes and centrally stored at a designated location by the examination administration agency. Under the supervision of the Chair of the Board of Examiners or a designated member of the Board of Examiners, the unsealing and answer-sheet reading procedures shall be conducted jointly by the Department of Computer-Based Testing and Information Management of the Ministry of Examination (hereinafter the “Department of CBT and IM”).
After the completion of answer-sheet reading, the multiple-choice examination papers shall be boxed, sealed, and centrally stored by the examination administration agency together with the Department of CBT and IM. The electronic files generated from the reading process shall be recorded and stored on electronic media and kept by the Department of CBT and IM and the Civil Service Ethics Office (hereinafter the “Ethics Office”). Where special circumstances require reopening sealed boxes to verify multiple-choice examination papers after the reading process and boxing, the examination administration agency shall handle the matter jointly with the Ethics Office, and personnel from both units shall jointly sign or affix seals before resealing the boxes.
For computer-based testing, the electronic examination papers shall be recorded on electronic media and kept in centralized custody by the examination administration agency.
For paper-based examination papers graded online, after scanning, the papers shall immediately be returned to their original envelopes, sealed, and delivered to the examination administration agency for centralized custody until grading is completed, and then be transferred to a designated location for safekeeping. Image files of examination papers used for online grading shall be stored on electronic media and kept by the Department of CBT and IM and the Ethics Office. Backup copies of image files recording the grading process shall also be produced. After examination results have been reviewed by the Board of Examiners, the Department of CBT and IM shall record the files onto electronic media and deliver them to the Ethics Office for safekeeping.

Article 4
Examination papers, electronic files containing recorded answers and scores, and electronic files such as image files of examination papers and image files of the grading process used for online grading shall be retained for one year from the date of announcement of examination results. They may be destroyed or deleted with written approval after the required retention period. Where necessary, the destruction or deletion may be postponed or otherwise handled.
The start and end dates of the retention period and records of destruction or deletion shall be documented for reference.

Article 5
For examinations administered on a commissioned basis, the examination papers shall be kept by the commissioned agencies, schools, or organizations. The retention period shall follow the provisions of the preceding Article.
The Ministry of Examination may retrieve and review examination papers kept by such agencies, schools, or organizations when necessary.

Article 6
Unless otherwise provided, the custody of works, inventions, academic papers, original essay-type questions temporarily drafted, answer keys, scoring standards, and other important materials submitted for review shall be handled mutatis mutandis in accordance with these Regulations.

Article 7
These Regulations shall come into effect upon promulgation.
The provisions amended and promulgated on September 21, 2023, shall come into effect on September 1, 2023.