Preliminary Report
When we receive you data, we send you a preliminary report, where we compare your results to the Reference Laboratory's results. We ask you to review the preliminary report to ensure that we have captured your data correctly.
Download the Sample Preliminary Report
Final Report
When the proficiency testing round that you have participated in is finished (this can be up to 6-12 months after you submitted your results, depending on the popularity of the test), we send you the final report, where we compare your results both to the Reference Laboratory's results and to the other participants' results.
Download the Sample Final Report
The sample reports are based on fictional data. No actual participant's data are listed on this web site.
Establishing Reference Values
For the type of proficiency tests offered by HN Proficiency Testing, the reference values are normally established by using a reference laboratory.
There are two cases where the use of a reference laboratory can lead to incorrect conclusions about the participants.
The first is where the reference laboratory has made a mistake and reported a wrong value. In spite of the best efforts from us and the reference laboratories we choose, this is a possibility. In this case a participant may be listed as having failed the tests when, in fact, it was the reference laboratory that made the error.
The second is where a participant reports an unrealistically low uncertainty, but is "saved" by the uncertainty of the reference laboratory.
To check for these two types of error, we always perform a second analysis. This analysis is based only on the results of the participants. First we identify the laboratories that agree with the average of all measured values within their uncertainty. This is a fairly severe test that eliminates all questionable results and leaves us with a set of results we can have a very high confidence in. We calculate the reference value and reference uncertainty based on a weighed average of these results using a weight of (1/U2).
Generally, there is a lower probability that this reference value includes a gross error than the reference value obtained from one laboratory, so this analysis corrects the incorrect conclusion that might be drawn if the reference laboratory has committed a gross error.
Further, because this reference value is based on several independent measurements, the uncertainty of this reference value is generally lower than the uncertainty of the value obtained by one laboratory. Consequently, there is a much lower probability that a laboratory quoting an uncertainty that is unrealistically low will pass the proficiency test based on this analysis.
