ePC

paper-based-exams

Capture, verification and marking of pen and paper based exams

eXam is a modular platform for high-stakes paper based exams that performs the following functions:

  • Generation of blank and personalised answer sheets
  • Electronic distribution of exam papers, answer sheets, and other materials directly to test venues
  • Script capture, processing, verification, and export of indexed data from scanned scripts to third-party on-screen marking solutions
  • Auto-marking and verification for multiple-choice questions and short written responses
  • On-screen marking of long and short written responses

At ePC, we understand that every organisation is different, every assessment is tailored, and each candidate is unique. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so we draw upon the platform components to design and build a bespoke process that suits your organisation.

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  • Civica Logo
  • Cambridge English Logo
  • British Council Logo
  • Btl Logo
  • University Of Northumbria At Newcastle Logo
  • Blue Coat Grammar School Logo
  • Chelmsford High School For Girls
  • Colyton Grammar School
  • Reading School
  • Heckmondwike Grammar School Logo

    Platform components

    Our solutions are modular and available as standalone products to integrate with your existing infrastructure, or as an end-to-end capture solution.

    • Answer sheet design

      Answer sheet design

      A structured exam sheet will be designed for each component and optimised for higher capture rates.

      The sheet can offer multiple layout possibilities with intelligent character recognition (ICR) reading short written responses and optical character recognition (OCR) capturing machine-printed text and Optical mark recognition (OMR) marking answers to multiple-choice questions (MCQ).

      Additionally, the answer paper can include cornerstones and ID blocks to reduce manual intervention and barcodes to identify answer paper types and candidates.

      Read more

    • Exam paper distribution

      Exam paper distribution

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      Pre-printed and blank answer papers (APs) as well as supporting materials can be made available in one of three ways, depending on your deployment option.

      First, ePC will print personalised and blank exam papers and despatch them securely by courier to each venue.

      Second, for on-premises deployments, clients can print locally using normal office laser printers or export templates to PDF files for commercial print.

      Third, for distributed systems, exam paper delivery can be via a web portal and grouped by component and/or candidate ready for downloading and printing.

      Read more

    • Scanning candidate responses

      Scanning candidate responses

      The next step is to convert the answer scripts into a digital format for processing. There are scanning options to suit deployments of all sizes.

      The first option involves the on-site deployment of a centralised TeleForm system scaled to meet your volumes. Staff will collect completed answer sheets at the end of the exam and feed them into a high-speed document scanner to begin script capture, processing, and verification.

      Second, if you opt for our document scanning services, completed exam papers can be shipped to our scanning bureau where we will scan and process them accordingly.

      Third, for larger deployments covering multiple worldwide centres, an innovative distributed scanning client called eScan can be deployed to scan candidate responses via a Click-Once installer on the web portal.

      Read more

    • Script identification and data extraction

      Script identification and data extraction

      Once the images are captured, the system will identify the answer sheet based on the template type.

      At this stage, the image will undergo image pre-processing to confirm barcode readability, page size, presence of cornerstones etc.

      After identifying a form, intelligent character recognition (ICR), optical character recognition (OCR), and optical mark recognition (OMR) technology will extract data from a scanned answer sheet.

      Simple rules such as alpha, numeric, dictionaries, date ranges, database lookups and mandatory fields will be checked at this stage with exceptions queued for human review.

      Automated marking for MCQs

      OMR technology can, for example, read candidate responses to MCQs and export a value for each question (i.e. A, B, C, D). Alternatively, OMR can mark each question (if pre-loaded with the answer-key) and export a final score (rather than raw responses).

      Read more

    • Answer sheet verification

      Answer sheet verification

      The next step is to review any unclear papers and verify extracted data. We have deployment options to suit all kinds of test organisations.

      First, if the system is installed on-site, your staff will review uncertain characters in the TeleForm Verifier. This is a high-speed application designed to capture the maximum amount of data with the minimum human intervention.

      Second, if you opt for our scanning bureau service, our verification team will review any ambiguous or borderline candidate responses for you.

      Third, for distributed test centres, the eVerify app allows users to confirm the intended responses or correct misread characters in a web-accessible, high-speed verification interface.

      Once verified, electronic images and data are exported to any required format or made available for marking in on-screen marking systems.

      Read more

    • On-screen marking

      On-screen marking

      The on-screen marking component (see image) extracts the relevant response areas from scanned images and presents them to remote examiners for clerical marking in a secure, online environment.

      Alternatively, if you already have an OSM system, data from scanned scripts can be indexed and exported to your third-party solution.

      Read more

    A deployment option to suit any organisation

    Whether you’re a national hub processing millions of papers every year, distributed centres capturing a few hundred papers per day, or a school looking to process an ad-hoc exam, we have a deployment option to suit.

    • Small volume

      Our scanning bureau service is designed for limited use environments with small volumes or infrequent use such as the 11 plus entrance exam.

      Our services includes:

      •     Design and print APs
      •     Deliver pre-printed or blank APs and other materials
      •     Capture, classify, extract, and validate data from returned APs
      •     Export data to any required format
      •     Electronic storage and retrieval of scanned answer sheets
    • Mid volume

      Mid volume is suitable for schools/colleges/universities who run exam sessions at several venues or locations.

      This option includes the installation of data capture software at a designated hub. Individual venues will collect completed answers at the end of the exam and arrange for secure delivery to the hub for scanning and processing.

      Our service includes:

      •     Design APs (training is available to enable your staff to design APs)
      •     Install data capture software and document scanner at the designated hub.
      •     Deliver user training to enable your staff to process returned answer sheets
      •     Provide ongoing technical support and maintenance
    • Enterprise

      This deployment is suitable for enterprise clients who process high volumes of returned scripts from a single, centralised location.

      Our services include:

      •     Design APs (training is available to enable your staff to design APs)
      •     Provide PDFs of answer sheets (and other materials) for venue staff to print locally on standard office printers or to be printed centrally at a professional print shop
      •     Install multi-user scanning infrastructure at the central hub
      •     Training for users to process returned answer sheets
      •     Ongoing technical support and maintenance
    • Distributed

      Distributed is suitable for enterprise clients and awarding bodies who process high volumes of test papers from remote venues/centres across the world.

      Our services include:

      •     Design blank or personalised APs
      •     Web portal for centres to download and print APs and other materials (e.g. exception reports)
      •     Remote web scanning with the eScan app to capture and classify completed APs at the test centre and to have them uploaded back to HQ
      •     Remote verification with the eVerify app to confirm intended responses or correct misread characters on APs in a web-based interface
      •     Data export to third-party OSM systems for on-screen marking or standard file formats
      •     Web portal dashboards to provide real-time status monitoring of any session or venue
      •     User training
      •     Ongoing technical support and maintenance

      Built-in features for paper based exams

      Flexible and easy to use features to support a modular and more progressive approach to script capture, processing, verification, and marking.

      Exam paper design
      QP / AP redesigned and optimised for distributed printing and scanning
      Barcoded personalised test papers (with candidate name, number, centre, session date, component etc.)
      Non-personalised (blank) test papers
      Multiple question types e.g. MCQ (multiple choice questions), short answer, long text, and drawing or diagram areas
      Barcoded to identify candidates and reconcile answer sheets
      Question randomisation
      Web portal for exam paper distribution
      Single sign on (SSO) for secure worldwide access
      Custom branding
      Download personalised QP/AP from the portal for printing
      Download non-personalised QP/AP from the portal for printing
      Print test pages to calibrate printer/scanner settings
      Dashboard reports monitoring the status of any session or centre
      Request regeneration of PDF packs
      Mark as re-scan required / unscannable / absent
      Accept last-minute candidates and amendments
      Launch scanning module via the portal
      Exam paper scanning with eScan
      Scan AP’s at the venue immediately after a paper based exam
      Real-time validation of AP’s
      Traffic light warnings to alert users to problems with scanned images
      Uninterrupted scanning in the event of poor Internet connectivity
      Exception reporting to identify absent candidates or malpractice investigations
      Batch reference number generated upon successful transmission of images (‘proof of delivery’)
      Image pre-processing e.g. image correction for skew, scanner distortion and print margin adjustment
      Identify AP & candidates
      Read constrained print fields (one cell per letter/number/character)
      Read multiple choice questions with optical mark recognition (OMR)
      Read short written responses with intelligent character recognition (ICR)
      Read machine printed text with optical character recognition (OCR) e.g. pre-printed candidate details (name, school, date of birth)
      Minimum confidence thresholds
      Exam paper vefication with eVerify
      Display character or field for an operator to review
      Minimise keystrokes with operators automatically progressing to the next character or field for review
      Request re-scan if an image is unreadable or insufficient quality
      Make decisions about duplicate images (retain, re-assign, discard or append)
      Export data to any required format e.g., CSV, Excel
      Export data to third-party on-screen marking (OSM) solutions
      On-screen marking
      Item level marking
      Bulk item entry (submit ‘correct marks for all’)
      Submit marks
      Team management structure (Admin User, Team Leader, Monitor, Marker)
      Quality assurance rules enforced (double marking, error rates, marker probation periods, escalations, hierarchical marker monitoring)
      Access to noticeboard and support messaging system
      Remote marking

      Case studies

      • Civica

        Civica

        Following a OJEU tender process, the British Council commissioned Civica as the prime contractor to deliver an on-screen marking (OSM) solution to mark up to 5 million ‘pen and paper’ IELTS tests each year.

        As part of the agreement, Civica appointed ePC as its sub-contractor for the script capture, processing and verification work.

      • Cambridge English

        Cambridge English

        Expert in language assessment automates paper-based assessments with OMR exam processing and on-screen marking system.

        Read more

      • Northumbria University

        Northumbria University

        Leading UK university uses TeleForm to design, scan and verify OMR answer sheets from undergraduate and postgraduate examinations.

      • Reading School

        Reading School

        Reading School release exam results faster by outsourcing 11-plus exam marking to ePC.

        Read more

      • Colyton Grammar School

        Colyton Grammar School

        Colyton Grammar School (CGS) mark 11 plus entrance exam in two days with ePC’s scanning bureau services and automated marking system.

        Read more

      • Chelmsford County High School for Girls

        Chelmsford County High School for Girls

        ePC capture the 11-plus entrance test for Chelmsford County High School for Girls.

        Read more

      • Heckmondwike Grammar School

        Heckmondwike Grammar School

        ePC process the 11-plus entrance test for Heckmondwike Grammar School.

      • The Blue Coat School

        The Blue Coat School

        ePC capture and mark the 11-plus entrance test for The Blue Coat School.

        Integrations

        If you already have an OSM system, images and data from scanned scripts can be indexed and exported to your third-party solution for marking on-screen. Recent integrations include:

        • Mark Manager
        • Janison Logo
        • Surpass Assessment
        • Nesa Logo

          • stars

            I also want to thank you for your excellent service and support this year, it is always much appreciated and you are a valued supplier.

            Technical Analyst, Cambridge University Press & Assessment

            Automated marking of exam papers

            The following statistics were observed during a 2024 TeleForm pilot scheme for one education client.

            • 1

              Hour to scan, read, verify, and export 2,000 TeleForm papers (with a single operator)
            • 1.5

              Seconds to identify and read each paper
            • 57%

              Of papers require no verification
            • 97%

              Of all fields required no verification
            • 3

              Seconds (on average) to verify papers requiring verification

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