Competency Assessment: Topics and Format

You will need to take different papers based on your IHRP certification level. Find out the requirements for each paper, including coverage, grading criteria and test structure.

Assessment by certification level

Find out the papers you need to take for your certification level:

For this certification levelYou will need to take
IHRP Certified Professional (IHRP-CP)Papers A and B
IHRP Senior Professional (IHRP-SP)Papers A and C
IHRP Master Professional (IHRP-MP)

There will be no Papers for this certificate level (by nomination only).

Assessment will take the form of a structured Professional Dialogue (face-to-face, panel format)

What is covered

Find out the requirements for each paper.

Tip: To help you prepare, a list of sample questions have been provided for your reference.

Certification level: IHRP-CP, IHRP-SP

Duration

90 minutes

Coverage

Labour policies and legislation:

  • Employment Act
  • Employment of Foreign Manpower Act
  • Work Pass rules
  • Fair Consideration Framework (FCF)
  • Central Provident Fund (CPF)
  • IR Act (including Tripartism and Employee Relations)
  • Retirement and Re-employment Act
  • Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA)

Reference materials

  • You should familiarise yourself with the above labour policies and legislation, found on Singapore Statutes Online and the Ministry of Manpower website.
  • You are not expected to memorise the labour policies and legislation as links will be provided for each question.
  • You may also visit MOM’s website to prepare.

Structure

30 MCQs

Format

  • Open-book assessment (links to the respective legislations will be provided).
  • Legislation will be covered in the context of a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) and will be application-based. Hence, you don't need to memorise the labour policies and legislations.

Grading criteria

  • 1 mark per correct answer
  • No negative scoring

See sample questions for Paper A.

Certification level: IHRP-CP

Duration

2 hours

Coverage

Functional and foundational competencies, focus on Mindsets and Behaviours

Structure

  • 6 scenarios
  • Each scenario will have 4-6 MCQs
  • Total of 30 MCQs

Format

  • Closed-book assessment
  • Questions will be application-based

Grading criteria

  • 1 mark per correct answer
  • No negative scoring

See sample questions for Paper B.

Certification level: IHRP-SP

Duration

3 hours

Coverage

Functional and foundational competencies, focus on Mindsets and Behaviours

Structure

  • 3 scenarios
  • Each scenario will have 4 short-answer questions
  • Total of 12 short-answer questions

Format

  • Closed-book assessment
  • Questions will be application-based

Grading criteria

  • 1 mark per operational answer
  • 2 marks per strategic answer
  • No negative scoring
  • Each question has a maximum attainable score

Key Information on Paper C

  • Each question has a maximum attainable score established which will be visible to you. It will be further broken down into the marks allocated for Operational Application and Strategic Application
  • More marks are assigned for Strategic Application as compared to Operational Application
  • Each question is stand alone. This means that it should be taken purely on its own merits and information provided in the case scenario and question, not in reference to other questions from the same case

Guidelines and Tips for Paper C

  • Time yourself based on the marks allocated per question, it is easy to get carried away in finding the perfect solution
  • Ensure you have a healthy mix of strategic and operational application in your answer
  • Your answer may be in bullet points OR as a paragraph according to your preference
  • The context of the business is provided in the case and will help you understand the situation the company is in (e.g. if you are working for a start-up or MNC or the public sector). It will also tell you what your role in that company is. It is important to keep in mind the case context as you think of the answer, as the best answer considers the situation & complication listed in the case
  • There will be no negative marking for spelling or grammatical mistakes but a clear, concise and comprehensible answer will help your marker

See sample case for Paper C.

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