08 September 2020

CILEx Statement: ProctorExam Issue

At a time of heightened anxiety across the UK where professional exams are being taken under unfamiliar circumstances, no-one wants additional stress or anxiety from a technical glitch and regrettably this was the experience for a small number of our students who took examinations on Monday 7^th September 2020.   

We are really sorry this happened, and although this third party supplier technology failure was not a CILEx specific issue having affected all those providers using this technology at the time of the incident, we want to make it clear that we are doing everything to ensure that everyone affected is being supported fully. We are in constant communication with the supplier and have made it clear to them that we expect an urgent explanation and a commitment that this will not happen again.

Our e-assessment provider experienced a technical failure with the ProctorExam server which enables remote invigilation. This led to some candidates sitting examinations in the 2pm session to experience difficulties logging into the online assessment platform.

The incident was managed in accordance with agreed contingency plans and once the server was up and running again the examination proceeded.

Our investigations have verified that all candidates sitting the examination were given the allotted time despite the delayed start, meaning all candidates had the opportunity to complete the assessment. This does not mean that every candidate completed all of the questions as, in this and every examination, there are always a small number of candidates who do not manage to complete all of the questions in the allotted time.

The Special Consideration Process allows us to consider the impact of the technical difficulties and increased stress and anxiety the situation placed on candidates. We have already written to those affected confirming that these circumstances will be taken into account through the results determination process and therefore candidates are not required to submit individual special consideration applications in respect of this issue.

Whilst it is clear from investigations that the technical difficulties experienced were the result of a failure of the ProctorExam server over which CILEx has no control we continue to work with our e-assessment provider to understand the cause of the server failure experienced and to seek reassurance from them that no further issues will occur with the technology.   

We fully recognise how the temporary failure of this third-party technology has impacted on both those sitting the specific examination, but also in creating increased anxiety for candidates sitting other examinations this week. Our customer service team remains on hand to provide support and guidance and all candidates are encouraged to access the additional welfare support services we have made available.