Introduction. This symposium builds on the theme of the conference - Improving Policy and Practice: Opportunities and Challenges in an International Context - to explore how psychometric science has and continues to respond to the policy context of a large international organisation with changing needs.  The context for this session is the redesign of selection processes for EU institutions resulting in a substantial investment in psychometric tests ranging from cognitive ability to specific skills as well as competency-based situational tests (SJTs) administered in multiple languages to a total population exceeding 400,000 applicants.

Objectives. The session will explore policy themes such as the need to satisfy a range of stakeholder perspectives including the end client, trade unions, national governments as well as applicants themselves; the need to ensure that the tests support employment decisions that are fair by gender, age and nationality of applicant; the need to ensure that the tests are robust to cheating and other threats to their integrity in terms of content and administration; the need to demonstrate value for money given that the testing programmes are a public investment; the need to educate stakeholders throughout the R&D and deployment cycles on the value of using tests to support valid and fair employment outcomes.

Format. The format for this symposium will be a dialogue between the customer and the supplier of psychometric solutions.  Each theme will be explored by the customer first describing the policy need and the consultant then describing how the testing solution met that need.  Questions and audience perspectives on each theme will be invited before moving onto the next theme.  A recognised international expert who has shaped ITC, international and national guidelines will then reflect on the learning from the symposium for how testing practice can be more responsive to real world policy needs.