Pearson VUE are not doing Microsoft Exams anymore

WanBoy67

Just saw this link posted on Trika's Microsoft Learning blog

http://www.pearsonvue.co.uk/home/gsn/msvoucher

Anybody got more info on this?

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Comments

snadam

wow, this is just getting weirder and weirder. I guess the pearson vue test center I normally went to has closed down permanently because the owner of that center died about 2 weeks ago...

Looks like I had to go to the other place anyway....WOW

matradley

snadam wrote:

wow, this is just getting weirder and weirder. I guess the pearson vue test center I normally went to has closed down permanently because the owner of that center died about 2 weeks ago...

Looks like I had to go to the other place anyway....WOW

That is sort of ironic. Well, at least you have a somewhat local option.

royal

Please post your concerns on Trika's blog as Microsoft executives are watching Trika's blog entry and will perhaps change their decision to only use Prometric. I personally am hoping that Microsoft will continue to use VUE.

http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2007/07/06/microsoft-learning-announces-prometric-as-exam-provider.aspx

taktsoi

royal wrote:

Please post your concerns on Trika's blog as Microsoft executives are watching Trika's blog entry and will perhaps change their decision to only use Prometric. I personally am hoping that Microsoft will continue to use VUE.

http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2007/07/06/microsoft-learning-announces-prometric-as-exam-provider.aspx

I JUST DID IT A MIN AGO.

YES, ROYAL. YOU ARE CORRECT. The more messages people posting, the more concerns MS noticing. Eventually, MS will change their mind. I just did it because MS is not making a wise choice. I hope they will change their mind soon.

manic

Hmm...i guess my testing center isnt the norm, it handles both pearson vue and prometric...is that strange?? New Horizons just a little fyi how ever the new job im trying to get does testing for vue on site and it would be rather convenient...

JDMurray

manic wrote:

Hmm...i guess my testing center isnt the norm, it handles both pearson vue and prometric...is that strange??

Nope, that's perfectly normal. I always test at a local college whose testing center contracts with both Prometric and Vue. Contracting with multiple testing agencies allows the college to offer more tests which, in turn, gets more revenue into their coffers. In other word, their testing center is a profit center.

Hey, how do *I* get into that business?

Paul Boz

I wish LSU still had their testing center. Being able to take a cert test between class was so nice

Webmaster

And now Prometric doesn't do Cisco exams anymore: (seriously, no joke)
www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24999

markieman31

Well my VUE center I always test at just got their notification of this whole thing. The TA there forwarded me their e-mail they received. They are both VUE and Prometric, so it doesn't effect me, but they are just as unhappy as we are

LukeQuake

This is really bad news for me, my closest Vue Centre is 5 minutes walk from work….

My closest Prometric centre is over 100 miles away….

After my MCSE I’ll most likely stop doing MS exams apart from the Server 2008 upgrades as I really have no choice!

WanBoy67

On the plus side, you will be able to take your Cisco exams only a 5 minutes walk away from work!

LukeQuake

Hehe, Citrix 1st

antonio banderas

Why would Microsoft do this? I understand that many team leads and managers have deemed the Micrsoft Exams as paper certifications, but this is just stupid. Microsoft will lose alot of credibility do to this. I may not even bother going for anymore Microsoft Certs...Its starting to get pointless...

CISCO it is ...for now on

dtlokee

The explaination I was given is that it Pearson VUE and Prometric use 2 totally different delivery engines and it requires too much development time to create the same exam two times. Now they can implement new features into the exams without having to accomidate 2 different delivery methods. Also heard they're going to implement biometrics in the ID process, hmmm.

Tristor

I hope this problem gets resolved, because my school just became a Pearson VUE testing center last Fall. Prior to that, all my tests were taken through a Prometric testing center. Both of my experiences were much the same, and I didn't see any issues with the security at my school's Pearson testing center. It really sucks though for me because I'm just now starting on my MSCE: Security and I get discounts if I sit for my exams at my school.

WanBoy67

If you register for them before the 31st of August you can still take your exams until the end of the year, otherwise you'll have to go through Prometric after that date. Maybe your school will switch to Prometric in future, it could happen.

slothrop

Like a lot of folks, I really like the testing center I have always used for Vue vouchers. It is a local community college with a brand new building. The staff is friendly, always offers a locker, and there are over 10 cameras and microphones in the celing and 2-way mirrors all along the walls.

Luckily for me, the same spot is also affiliated with Prometric. I just checked out their site to be sure. It looks to be a little less intuitive then Vue, but I could just be accustomed to the Vue layout.

Hopefully everyone else with a good Vue site will learn they also are Prometric sites!

WanBoy67

A reply to concerns by Chris Pirie head of MSL Global Sales and Marketing team
http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2007/07/24/you-think-we-don-t-but-we-really-really-do.aspx

Oleh

I thought, it wasn't easy to go every time 120km to the nearest VUE center

. And now the closest Prometric is 550km away

matradley

wanboy67 wrote:

A reply to concerns by Chris Pirie head of MSL Global Sales and Marketing team
http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2007/07/24/you-think-we-don-t-but-we-really-really-do.aspx

This just shows that they "really do not 'care'." I note this because they probably went through a lot of research and have made a decision. Rescinding on this decision now would make the executives look bad. So, instead of correcting the problem, we all, now, have to travel a large distance to test at a smaller testing company - Prometric. I have heard some complaints that candidates having to travel to different countries to take exams! I have to travel 2-2.5 hours outside of my area to examine in a city. We had a Prometric in the area, but they went out of business along with the "Networking Center" than ran it.

matradley

cabrillo24 wrote:

I just took a MS exam with them on the 3rd of August.

You can buy vouchers for PearsonVUE until 31 August and you have to take the exam by 31 December 2007.

blargoe

I haven't tested with Prometric since 2003. Today I went to their site to register for an exam and remembered why I stopped testing with them. God their site is terrible compared with VUE. Also there are less exam sites than there were back in 2003 in North Carolina, somehow. There's only one within an hour of where I live and work and I'm not exactly in the boonies either.

Oleh

From the MCP Flash august 2007
"Efforts to add Prometric test center locations are in high gear. Prometric's goal is to ensure that no candidate needs to travel more than 30 miles to take a Microsoft certification exam. "

LukeQuake

I'm looking foward to seeing that...... my current nearest centre is over 50 miles away!

blargoe

There used to be a pretty nice prometric center in my area, apparently it isn't affiliated anymore.

matradley

Oleh wrote:

From the MCP Flash august 2007
"Efforts to add Prometric test center locations are in high gear. Prometric's goal is to ensure that no candidate needs to travel more than 30 miles to take a Microsoft certification exam. "

People like to dream.

JDMurray

Oleh wrote:

From the MCP Flash august 2007
"Efforts to add Prometric test center locations are in high gear. Prometric's goal is to ensure that no candidate needs to travel more than 30 miles to take a Microsoft certification exam. "

What MS fails to realize is that it's not the mileage but the travel time. In Southern California, traveling 30 miles by freeway on a Saturday morning may take less than 30 minutes. That same 30-mile trip on a Tuesday evening could take 60 minutes. On a Friday afternoon those same 30 miles might be 90 minutes to travel. Is it any wonder why I always take my cert exams on Saturday morning?

matradley

JDMurray wrote:

Oleh wrote:

From the MCP Flash august 2007
"Efforts to add Prometric test center locations are in high gear. Prometric's goal is to ensure that no candidate needs to travel more than 30 miles to take a Microsoft certification exam. "

What MS fails to realize is that it's not the mileage but the travel time. In Southern California, traveling 30 miles by freeway on a Saturday morning may take less than 30 minutes. That same 30-mile trip on a Tuesday evening could take 60 minutes. On a Friday afternoon those same 30 miles might be 90 minutes to travel. Is it any wonder why I always take my cert exams on Saturday morning?

We do not even have that option around here. Our exam center (PearsonVUE) is only open on Wednesdays between 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

blargoe

That's another thing, none of the prometric centers within a couple hours do exams outside of 9-3:15, monday through friday.

I forgot how good I had it until I couldn't use VUE anymore.

Illusionking

Anyone think Microsoft dropped PearsonVue because Cisco had dropped Prometric or vice versa?