Botched EU Entrance Exam Sparks Backlash

Nearly 10,000 hopefuls looking to start a career in the European Union’s civil service have been told they’ll have to retake a key entry exam after a technical error invalidated their previous results.

In an email sent to candidates this week, the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), which runs recruitment for EU institutions like the Commission and Parliament, admitted a "set-up defect" had compromised the test for aspiring EU translators. The online test, taken last month by 9,663 people, was supposed to allow only one answer per multiple-choice question — but due to a glitch in the system, applicants were able to select more than one.

‘Utterly incompetent’

“All I can say is EPSO are utterly incompetent and not fit for purpose who couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery,” wrote one frustrated candidate in a Facebook group for applicants, as per a report from Politico.

EPSO blamed an external contractor for the error, saying in its email that the problem “led to a high number of candidates submitting more than one answer, despite the explicit mention in the instructions that there was only one correct answer.”

The office added, “EPSO understands well the impact of this regrettable situation and wishes to apologise on behalf of its external contractor.”

Frustration over wasted time

For many candidates, the news is devastating — not just because they’ll need to sit the test again in May, but also because of the time and effort they already put into preparing.

“I don’t have kids, I’m not studying, I just have a tiring job, which made it difficult to get back to [revise] math in the evening,” one candidate told reporters. “But for people who have kids and families and very demanding jobs, it’s absolutely horrible to go back home and study.”

Another added, “I was actually talking to a friend of mine who got this notification and is about to give birth so probably won’t be in the best shape in May.”

On social media, backlash was swift. “This is insane,” one person wrote. “How to be unfair to absolutely everyone at once lol.” Another asked, “How can EPSO be such a failure every single time?”

Recurring problems

This isn’t the first time EPSO’s exams have sparked controversy. Just last year, tests were paused amid warnings that offering them only in English could trigger legal challenges. And now, the Commission is facing pressure to scrap recent promotion exams for current staff, following reports of confusing questions and poor formatting.

The U4U staff union called the translator test debacle “yet another fiasco” in a message to Commission HR director Stephen Quest.

A spokesperson for the European Commission, Balazs Ujvari, said the institution is in a “transition phase” as it adopts a new IT system.

Meanwhile, discussions are ongoing between EPSO and the external contractor over who will foot the bill for the botched exam.

For thousands of applicants, however, the immediate concern is more personal — clearing their schedules to take the exam all over again.