Most civil service entrance exams to be held again in July after testing 'chaos'

Government announces new dates after receiving over 2,600 complaints

The Catalan government headquarters in Barcelona
The Catalan government headquarters in Barcelona / Marc Rovira
Catalan News

Catalan News | @catalannews | Barcelona

May 4, 2023 06:40 PM

May 4, 2023 07:11 PM

The civil service entrance exams proctored by outsourcing company Cegos last Saturday will be held again from July 1 to 8, the government announced on Thursday evening after receiving a total of 2,691 complaints. 

Presidency minister Laura Vilagrà said those affected by the "egregious" delays, cancellations, and privacy violations would be compensated, though she did not specify how. 

Although these people have until Friday to file complaints, Vilagrà said it was clear the exams would have to be redone. 

The next time around, however, the examination process will not be outsourced to an external company.

Cegos had won a €1.4m tender to organize this process, hiring staff from the temporary work agency ETT Randstad.  

"The company has broken our trust completely," Vilagrà said. 

Civil service director general Marta Martorell was dismissed on Tuesday in response to these incidents, and Vilagrà has twice met with the heads of the CCOO, UGT and IAC-CATAC unions to discuss the matter.

She is also set to speak about the issue in parliament on Friday, while the Ombudsperson's office has already opened an investigation into it.