We are taking steps to modernize the Service Wide Exam (SWE) system so it is more user-friendly and efficient. The new approach replaces the paper-based exam with an electronic SWE, which we’re dubbing the eSWE. The Coast Guard started looking at ways to improve the way we administer the SWE long before the issues that arose during the May 2024 SWE (if you don’t remember or have blacked it out, here is a refresher). And now we're ready to move forward.
Members of the ME and MST ratings will take the eSWE in the May 2025 SWE competition. All other ratings will continue with the traditional paper SWEs for now. The MST and ME ratings were chosen because they represent diverse unit types and geographic locations.
What’s different
The eSWE will be accessed through the Coast Guard Online World of Learning (CG-OWL) and proctored just like the traditional SWE by your local SWE Officer and command-designated eSWE Proctors. It has 75 multiple choice questions, compared to 150 in the traditional SWE, and will take a maximum of 90 minutes, compared to 3.5 hours in the traditional SWE, and will not contain any EPME questions. Needed action: all MEs and MSTs taking the May 2025 eSWE need to make sure their CG-OWL account is active.
The eSWE allows all eligible members in the ME and MST ratings to compete for advancement on a flexible schedule while minimizing operational impact on the unit. The primary testing period for the eSWE is May 12-15. For members who were unable to test prior to May 16 due to emergent technical issues, the alternate eSWE testing period is May 20-23. After May 24, the respective Rating Knowledge Manager (RKM) may approve a substitute eSWE. Needed action: all members taking the eSWE need to coordinate with their leadership and SWE Officers to schedule their test.
Those taking the eSWE will get their unofficial raw score immediately. During the eSWE, members do not need to take the questions in sequential order. They can jump back and forth as desired and cannot submit as final without selecting an answer for all 75 questions.
Another significant change with the eSWE is the way challenge questions are done. Members taking the eSWE will no longer have to challenge a question. Rating Knowledge Managers will instead challenge questions that have disproportionately wrong – or right – answers. So, rather than relying on testing members to provide feedback on questions immediately following their test, we can use analytics data to impartially spot potential flaws in the question design or ambiguity in the wording. For instance, if the majority of test-takers are choosing the same wrong answer, the RKM will start the review process to identify if the question needs to be removed. This is why the score shown immediately upon submitting the eSWE is considered an unofficial raw score.
Check out more granular details in the FAQs on the eSWE SharePoint site (CAC required). On the site, you can also find a video walkthrough of taking the test so you know what to expect.
Beta?
While we are calling the May 2025 eSWE a ‘beta,’ it’s already been thoroughly tested. Sector Northern New England, Portsmouth, Virginia, and Kodiak all successfully held practice eSWEs to test CG-OWL and the eSWE procedures.
Also, the Coast Guard is standing up an Electronic Service Wide Assist Team (eSWAT) to ensure things run smoothly. The eSWAT will be available to Education Support Officers (ESOs) and SWE Testing Officers from April 28 through May 24 to respond to any questions, concerns, or issues in administering the eSWE. The eSWAT will also be proactively identifying potential issues and reaching out to testing members as necessary to ensure each member is set up for success.
Long term
Eventually the plan is to roll out the eSWE version to all hands and we will announce the timing and next phases of the eSWE as soon as we can. The eSWE can open many doors down the line, such as computer adaptive testing, different forms of questions, testing on-demand, etc.
Got Questions?
We're doing an #AMA (Ask Me Anything) to answer all your questions, featuring MSTCM Bryan Griffiths and MECM Ryan Patterson representing your Rating Force Master Chiefs (RFMCs), and CMC Dan Morales of FORCECOM. We're hoping that as many members as possible will send their questions by video (quick, easy, mobile phone video is perfect), but you can send them in writing if you prefer. Here's how to participate: Got questions about the Electronic Service Wide Exam?.
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