New standards for the MCT-M and MCT-H
The labor market is changing. And with that, the group of people who take NOA's tests is also changing. In order to be able to assess candidates in a reliable and fair way in the future, NOA is introducing new standards for the MCT-M and MCT-H. From 1 November 2026, these new standards will be available in NOA Talent Portal.
A standard that fits today's practice
A test score only really says something if you can compare it with an appropriate norm group. That is why NOA believes it is important that the standards continue to match the people who participate in selection and development processes today.
The Dutch working population has changed in recent years. For example, the share of people with a (non-western) migration background has increased and there are more expats working in the Netherlands. When developing the new standards, various background characteristics associated with test performance were therefore examined, including education level, gender, age and migration background. This is used, for example, to do analyses to see whether it makes sense to create different norm groups based on age or specific education levels.
NOA has data on these four characteristics thanks to the many assessments that are taken. These data are then compared with the figures from Statistics Netherlands on the composition of the labour force and then weighed where necessary. "In this way, we ensure that our norm groups remain representative, as close as possible to current practice," says Carin Bossink, researcher at NOA. The labour force is divided into two groups: adults (18-75 years old) and students between 15-25 years old.
NOA's capacity tests and associated standard groups comply with the COTAN guidelines (Committee for Test Affairs in the Netherlands) and NOA wants to keep it that way in the future. It is therefore important that standards remain representative of the workforce. Carin: 'We don't just develop good tests and standards behind a desk. Candidate data is essential to update standards and monitor the quality of our tests. We can only do this if candidates complete the questionnaire with a number of background data in addition to the capacity test. We notice that our customers are sometimes reluctant to do this because of the GDPR. At the same time, it is good to know that candidates always complete this questionnaire voluntarily and that the data for research is immediately anonymized. Without this data, we cannot examine our tests for any test bias (measure our tests fairly) and submit our tests to the COTAN for review. And that is also important for our customers.
What can you expect?
From 1 November 2026, the new standards will be available in NOA Talent Portal. Users of the MCT-M and MCT-H will receive an email in October with more information about the new standards and what they mean for the reports. In addition, we are organizing a webinar in November. In it, we will take you through the background of the new standards and discuss what the new standards mean for the interpretation of test results.
