External Assessment

External Assessments are assessments that are both written and marked by YMCA Awards.

Our external assessments can either be completed as printed exam papers or on-screen using a computer.
This page provides guidance on external assessments you will take using your computer and smartphone to allow us to supervise your assessment.

FACE-TO-FACE INVIGILATION (WITHOUT E-PROCTORING)
REMOTE INVIGILATION (WITH E-PROCTORING)

Face-to-face invigilation

Guidance for learners sitting our external assessments without eProctoring.

Before the assessment starts

Check you have at least one pen, a traditional calculator (if permitted) and photographic ID (usually a passport or driving licence).

Arrive at the venue at least 15 minutes before the assessment is due to start.

Switch off your mobile phone and any other smart devices. You’ll need to leave these in the area designated by your invigilator during the assessment so avoid bringing anything you won’t need.

Once you are sitting in the assessment room

Check your name is printed on both the cover of the assessment paper and on your answer sheet or, if you’re completing an onscreen assessment, that the information shown onscreen is correct.

Carefully read the instructions on the front of the assessment paper or displayed onscreen.

During the assessment

Leave your ID on your desk for the invigilator to check.

Follow any instructions provided by the invigilator, on your assessment paper or onscreen.

Sign the bottom of your answer sheet (paper-based assessments only).

Do not attempt to communicate with anyone other than the invigilator.

Do not make written notes on the content of the assessment paper or try to take screenshots.

Once you’ve completed the assessment

Leave all assessment materials (assessment paper, answer sheet and any notes) in the assessment room.

You must remain in the assessment room for at least the first 30 mins of the assessment, unless instructed to leave by the invigilator.

If you leave the assessment room whilst others are still working, please do so as quietly as possible.

Once you have left the assessment room, you won’t be allowed to re-enter.

Remote invigilation

Guidance for learners sitting our external assessments with eProctoring.

System requirements

We use a third-party software application provided by Proctor Exam to allow remote invigilation. You will need the following to enable you to use the software and successfully complete your assessment:

Click to view all you need:

Two days before your assessment

As soon as your training provider has booked the eProctored assessment, you will receive an email from awards.donotreply@ymca.co.uk with a link to complete your system checks. If you do not receive the email please check your junk folder. At least 2 days before your assessment, you will need to follow the instructions in the email and complete the following:

Click to view all you need:

Preparing your environment

On your assessment day you will need to ensure your environment meets the following requirements:

Environmental Requirements

Your room must be well lit – you must always be clearly visible. During the set-up process, you will be able to view what your webcam is sharing. Make sure that your lighting is sufficient, with no backlighting which puts you in shade. Make sure that there isn’t a window directly behind you.

You must be alone – having someone else in the room is not allowed and will result in your assessment being invalidated. You will need to make sure that you will not be disturbed for the duration of the assessment so you may want to consider putting a sign on the door to the room. If you have any pets, ensure that they will not disturb you during the assessment. For these reasons, the exam must not take place in a public setting.

Your camera must be positioned correctly – your webcam must clearly show your face in the middle of the screen. The set-up instructions when starting the assessment will help you to check exactly what is recorded and where you need to sit. Don’t move your computer or camera after setting this up.

Privacy and your surroundings – before the assessments starts you will need to scan the room using your smartphone and the Proctor Exam application. Make sure you cover or remove any unrelated private information or objects you would not like visible to the invigilator (for example, photographs of family members). You will need to ensure that there are no notes or writing anywhere within your environment and your workspace should be clear.

Note-taking – the onscreen assessment includes a note pad which you can use. You must not make any notes on paper or a second device. You must not have any paper or writing materials on your desk or table at all during the assessment. Note-taking that is not onscreen, will result in your exam result being invalidated.

Your smartphone must be positioned correctly – when setting up the assessment you will be instructed to position your smartphone to your side (left or right) so it can record you during the assessment. You must ignore any instruction that the camera can be positioned behind you – behind you is not okay. You should allow for your phone to be around 1.5 metres away so it can show all of you and your immediate surroundings. The camera must show an image that includes the surface of the desk or table as well as the laptop or computer you are using. We need to see the area around your keyboard. Failure to position your smartphone correctly will result in your exam result being invalidated. **Refer to fig 1-3 below**

Equipment – the device that you are using to complete the assessment must only have one screen/monitor connected. If you have any another screen, this must be switched off and visible throughout the assessment.

Starting the assessment

Once you are ready to start your assessment, follow the onscreen guidance. You will need to have the following ready and nearby:

Have the following ready:

During the assessment

During the assessment you should remain focused on the screen and try to avoid looking away. Continually looking away from the screen could be a sign that you’re looking for answers elsewhere in the room and could potentially invalidate your assessment. Other behaviours that will invalidate your assessment include:

Click to view the behaviours

Ending the assessment

Once you’ve completed the assessment you can review your answers by clicking on the coloured numbers on the left-hand side of the screen. Questions that have been answered will be highlighted.

Once you’re satisfied with your responses, click on the finish icon in the top right corner of the screen. You’ll receive confirmation that you’ve finished the assessment and can close the tab.

Finally, you’ll need to click on the finish exam icon in Proctor Exam to stop the recording.

Results

Your training provider will be able to confirm your provisional result once the assessment has been completed.

All results are provisional and are subject to YMCA Awards quality assurance checks. If any suspicious activity is discovered then this will be investigated by YMCA Awards in conjunction with your training provider and may result in your assessment being invalidated.

External Assessment